Diamond Street Apartments I, II & III
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Leasing Information

Description

• Substantial historic rehabilitation of National Historic Register Buildings in severely at-risk neighborhood
• Phase I   48 units in 16 buildings
  Placed in service in 1990
• Phase II 32 units in 11 buildings
  Placed in service in 1991
• Phase III 35 units in 11 buildings
  Placed in service in 1996

1991 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Bureau for Historic Preservation Certificate of Merit

Developer
Pennrose Properties

Architect
Zimmers Associates
Philadelphia, PA

General Contractor
Delran Builders Co., Inc.
Wyndmoor, PA

Management
Pennrose Management Company

The Challenge

Like many urban areas, Philadelphia is a city with a tremendous stock of historic housing that has fallen into disrepair. Damage from vandalism, fire, weathering, and a lack of maintenance has left entire neighborhoods vacant and a threat to the city's historic landscape.   The Diamond Street scattered site consisted of 35 buildings that comprised more than one-third of the housing stock in a three-block area of a very tough neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Distinguished by their architectural character and unity of scale, these buildings represented the only continuous blocks of unbroken sandstone row houses facing each other in this part of the city.   Pennrose chose to rehabilitate these homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a means by which to create much-needed affordable housing in an at-risk neighborhood.

The Solution

Pennrose assembled a development team that included the firm of Noble Preservation.   Working together, the team was able to acquire from the city nearly three dozen row houses.   Dilapidated, burnt-out, roofless, and uninhabitable, the buildings were transformed into more than 100 well-maintained, low-income, 2-bedroom apartment units.    This major reconstruction work provided critical affordable housing for families and simultaneously stabilized and preserved an extensive series of buildings that are characteristic of Philadelphia's 19 th   century streetscape.   Though the neighborhood remains in transition, this effort instilled a renewed sense of community pride among many.   The success of these efforts garnered the project a 1991 Historic Preservation Commendation from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's Bureau for Historic Preservation.

This multi-million dollar project underscores the development team's willingness to work in difficult neighborhoods to begin a process of stabilization.   It demonstrates that our commitment to change is accompanied by a commitment to a sustained community presence.   The Diamond Street Apartments   are owned, managed, and maintained by Pennrose.

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