Philly residents, design experts bash latest proposal to replace Hoa Binh Plaza

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OCF Realty wants to bring 285 homes and nearly 40,000 square feet of commercial space to a vacant industrial site at 1601 Washington Ave. in South Philadelphia.

The proposal also calls for 154 underground parking spaces, a public courtyard and a pair of roof decks for residents.

If approved, the seven-story development would rise along a changing corridor, where a Southeast Asian shopping center — Hoa Binh Plaza —  stood for decades.

“I’m thrilled to continue doing my small part to improve what has been a blighting corridor for many, many years,” said founder Ori Feibush.

Feibush’s comments came Tuesday following a presentation before the city’s Civic Design Review committee — the first public discussion of the company’s latest plan for the 1.35-acre site.

The advisory group, composed of architects and planners, provides feedback on proposed developments early on in the approvals process. And while developers are not required to adopt the committee’s recommendations, they are strongly encouraged to incorporate them into their designs before finalizing them.

The new proposal is the product of a roughly yearlong process that sought to incorporate feedback from residents and stakeholders. The revisions resulted in reduced massing and height, as well as fewer apartments and more commercial space.

“We have worked exhaustively with both the larger community and near neighbors to continue to massage this project from meeting to meeting … to make sure that we are trying to meet as many considerations and thoughts from as many impacted parties as possible,” said Feibush.

The first phase of the project would bring 275 apartments as part of a large mixed-use development. The majority of those units would be one or two bedrooms.

The second phase, which was not the subject of Tuesday’s review, is expected to add 10 townhomes on an adjacent and separate lot.

Under a community benefits agreement, 10% of the development will be affordable to households earning 50% of the area median income, a data point that includes places outside of Philadelphia. That translates to $59,700 for a family of four.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the proposal got a largely negative response from residents and committee members, with many raising concerns about its design and potential impact on the immediate area.

Over the last decade, neighbors have witnessed hundreds of new apartments rise along Washington Avenue as the corridor transitions away from its industrial past. But Madeline Shikomba, co-founder of the North of Washington Avenue Coalition, said neighbors want to see this site keep its industrial zoning, so it could serve the community with well-paying jobs.

Shikomba also shared fears about the mostly market-rate development displacing longtime residents, saying it would raise property taxes and make housing in the area unaffordable.

“We need jobs and this will not bring jobs. All they’re doing is bringing more people and making this area more congested than what it has been,” Shikomba said.

Several residents focused on the height of the mixed-use building, saying it would cast unwanted shadows on existing rowhouses near the site, including homes on South Chadwick Street. They also panned the development’s overall design for being decidedly closed-off and unwelcoming.

Committee chair Ximena Valle said the building feels like a “fort,” adding that it “needs to give back to the community more than it is.”

Resident Steven DeLaurentis likened the design to the J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters for the FBI in Washington.

“I am pro-development in this lot, but this iteration of this project I cannot support,” DeLaurentis said.

Following a two-hour discussion, the committee unanimously voted for a continuance, meaning OCF Realty will return for a second review after the company has made changes to its proposal.

The company does not need the committee’s approval to move forward with the project. It will have to secure a pair of zoning variances to start construction, however. The site’s current zoning does not permit residential uses, and there’s a need for loading spaces, requiring permission to deviate from the law.

A hearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled for Aug. 20.