Oakmont Brings More Apartments to South Kensington
South Kensington continues to see massive amounts of new apartment development. Much of this development is moving further north to York Street. Several new apartment buildings are being built on York Street, east and west of Front Street and Kensington Avenue and the Market/Frankford line’s York/Dauphin Station. Most of these buildings are mid-rise apartment buildings, with some attached to townhouses or low-rise duplex and triplex buildings. One site where a development like this is planned is at Second and York Streets, at 2401 North Second Street, where an existing warehouse is located. That warehouse is owned by developer Fiqiri Skendaj and will be demolished. This new residential complex is being designed by T + Associates. It will be called Oakmont.
Oakmont will have 102 rental units. It will consist of a large apartment building at Second and York Streets with 69 rental units, most of which will be two-bedroom units. The other 33 units will be in eleven triplexes built along Palethorp Street, which will have sizeable stoops at the entrances to each building. The apartment building will be five stories on the York Street side and six stories along Second Street. The triplex buildings will be four stories tall. There will be 44 parking spaces on the first floor of the apartment building. The exterior will have brick and metal corrugated panels and several bays, and a vertical sign along the brick at the Second and York corner spelling out “OAKMONT”. There will be two green roofs and several terraces, and a roof deck and trellis facing York Street. The parking garage will have artistic panels on the street front and small landscaped planters on the sidewalks. There will be new street trees along the sidewalks, as well.
The redevelopment of South Kensington will continue as developers build market rate housing for the growing number of middle class residents moving into the neighborhood. Development is moving further north into Central Kensington, Norris Square, and Harrowgate. The development includes residential, creative space, and retail. The proliferation of mid-rise apartment buildings is changing this section of the city, which had much vacancy for a long time. Oakmont helps extend the redevelopment further up towards Norris Square and Lehigh Avenue and further west into Ludlow.
