SOSNA hosted the second community input meeting for 1600 Carpenter, the site of Hoa Binh Plaza (You can read the recap of Meeting #1 here.) The project was presented via ZOOM on Wednesday, February 16, 2021 to over 40 neighbors and impacted parties by the project’s Attorney, Dawn Tancredi of Zarwin Baum, Rustin Ohler of HDO Architects and developer representatives Mike Stillwell, Jessie Lawrence, Keith Casey
Steve Kosloski from Streamline Philly.
The project included updated plans that include 1601 Washington Avenue (the northwest corner of 16th & Washington triangle shaped lot owned by a different party) and a proposal to either put the loading dock curb cut on Washington Avenue or 16th Street. The proposal still plans to demolish the existing building and construct:
12 single-family dwellings with 1 car garage
5 seven-family dwellings with 2 car garage
7 two-family dwelling
7-story mixed use building with
ground floor commercial: 23,000 sq ft
underground parking: 119 parking spaces
residential units above: 223 units (a mix of studio-two bedrooms)
You can review project plans here.
Other additional features:
Rowhomes on the northside are accessed by a common drive-aisle with a curb cut on 16th
The two-family dwellings in the middle of the property are accessed via a walking path that cuts through the property.
Trash for all properties will be removed by private hauler
3 areas for trash storage, indoors, air conditioned, picked up by private hauler 1-2x a week from 16th, 3x a week at the end of the month during move outs
Applicant proposed wider sidewalks on Washington Avenue, support for bike lane infrastructure and street trees where allowable
Green roof accessible to tenants in mixed use building
The project will maintain walking, landscaping corridor between property and Chadwick homes (3 foot alleyway + pedestrian pathway)
SOSNA’s Board Chair, Nolan Tully, stated that SOSNA, North of Washington Avenue Coalition (NOWAC) and VietLead are in negotiations with the applicant for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that includes affordable housing, local job creation, diversity hiring of contractors, standardized building materials, etc. VietLead representative, Nancy Nguyen, stated that they had met with previous tenants of Hoa Binh Plaza and wanted to state the concerns of first right of refusal, First right of rental, caps on lease fees, affordable units and community use.