Mysterious Manayunk construction | Real Estate Newsletter
And unaffordable apartments.
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What’s happening on 30 acres of undeveloped land on Manayunk’s Venice Island? That’s what neighbors want to know.
They’ve been watching trucks and equipment roll in and pile soil onto the site, which spans almost half of the island’s land mass.
There have been previous plans to develop the property, including from an NFL star, but no one’s submitted building plans for the site yet.
Neighbors are worried that a big new development will make flooding worse and endanger residents.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Unaffordable apartments: Find out how much money a typical renter in the Philly area has to make to comfortably afford the typical apartment.
Fewer fees?: Read about the bills Philadelphia City Council will consider that could reduce upfront costs for renters.
Construction damage: Learn what happened when debris fell from a student housing tower that’s going up in West Philly.
Playing with plants: Peek inside this Elkins Park home owned by a woman who’s had a “50-year love affair” with floral art.
📮In response to my story last week about the Philly area’s hot housing market, a reader, Ted A., told me what his dad said about home buying: “It’s like buying underwear. You try to get it on sale, but in the end you get it when you need it, and you pay what the price happens to be.”
That’s pretty accurate for buyers who aren’t priced out of buying “underwear.” Usually, life changes are why people buy homes. If you need to move, you need to move.
Do you have any pearls of wisdom or advice you got from older generations about home buying? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.
— Michaelle Bond
If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.
Manayunk’s Venice Island is home to a bunch of people. And it’s also in a high-risk flood zone. Those two facts have residents worried about ongoing and mysterious construction on the island.
The property: A 30-acre stretch of land at 5000 Flat Rock Road
Former plans: Former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith once planned to develop the site and add labs, offices, and homes.
The current owner: Manayunk Renaissance LLC, a subsidiary of a South Jersey-based construction company, bought the property in 2021 for $23 million.
The construction company has worked on big projects in the region, including the Manayunk Bridge trail and park. But it hasn’t said publicly what it ultimately plans to do with its Venice Island property.
The president of a neighborhood group said he thinks it’s “inevitable” that future plans for the large undeveloped property on the island will include a large residential development.
Keep reading to learn more about just what Venice Island is, how homes came to be allowed there, and what could happen on it next.
We often hear that homes in and around Philly are affordable. But of course, that’s relative. They’re affordable compared to other places.
I’ve written about how a lot of homebuyers in our area can’t comfortably afford the homes for sale.
Well, apartment renters are in the same boat.
A new Redfin analysis found that, actually, the Philadelphia metro area is one of the least affordable major metros for its renters, based on their incomes.
The online real estate brokerage looked specifically at renters living in apartment buildings with five or more units. There’s been a lot of apartment construction across the country and in Philly, which helps to tame rent growth.
Still, the typical renter household in the Philly area makes $15,630 less than they need to comfortably afford the typical apartment that was listed for rent last month.
Keep reading to see where the Philly region ranks among major metros in rental affordability for residents and how much renters here need to make to afford apartments.
The latest news to pay attention to
Philly lawmakers will consider two bills that would reduce upfront costs for renters.
A man who got in trouble for replacing native plants around his Avalon home with sod has signed a plea agreement.
A new $62 million school building is under construction in Port Richmond.
Debris from the construction of a student housing tower fell through the roof of a neighboring West Philly church.
Cooper University Health Care in Camden celebrated the start of construction on a $650 million patient tower.
The Fashion District was a key piece of the Sixers' now-abandoned plans for a Center City arena. Here’s what Philadelphians really think of the mall.
A proposed self-storage facility in Northeast Philly will likely be a lot smaller after neighbors pushed back.
House of the week: For $875,000 in Media, a three-bedroom townhouse near a wildlife preserve.
A couple weekends ago, I found myself sitting sweaty on my dirt-covered living room floor after wrestling my spider plant out of its too-small pot and transferring it to a bigger one.
I’d known for a while that the plant needed a bigger home, but I kept putting it off. I waited too long, and now I keep having to pull brown leaves off it.
Wilfreta Baugh is a much more responsible plant parent. And she’s also got way more house plants than my seven.
Her century-old, colonial revival home in Elkins Park is filled with succulents, ferns, roses, sunflowers, and more. And that’s just inside.
Baugh says she’s had a “50-year love affair” with creating floral art, and she’s won a bunch of ribbons through the years at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
Peek inside her home (where the air quality must be off the charts) and see the flapper costume she made with dried grasses and ferns and twisted vines.
🧠 Trivia time
A $2 billion project to widen the N.J. Turnpike between Exits 1 and 4 will bring the roadway closer to homes and the historic house-turned-museum that was an Underground Railroad station.
Question: In which South Jersey municipality is the Peter Mott House?
A) Camden
B) Lawnside
C) Swedesboro
D) Mount Laurel
This story has the answer.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Shout-out to Janet P., Dorothy V., Deborah S., and Matthew T. for knowing that a view of Manayunk (and specifically, the pedestrian Manayunk Bridge and the Green Lane bridge for cars) was featured in last week’s photo quiz.
Matthew told me he lived in Manayunk right by the bridge for six years.
“That bridge was my source of sanity and exercise, especially during the pandemic,” he said. “I remember after Hurricane Ida running to the bridge to see how bad the flooding in the area was.”
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Have you ever heard someone use a Philly neighborhood name that made you go “huh?” In case you missed it, my colleague Charmaine Runes put together a poll asking for your feelings about questionable neighborhood names like “LoMo” and “Lovely.” See how your answers compare with other readers' answers.
And enjoy the rest of your week.
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