Former McDonald’s near Broad and Christian slated to become 84 apartments

Longtime residential developer Carl Dranoff unveiled plans for his fifth residential high rise on the Avenue of the Arts this week, an 84-unit rental apartment building at 914 S. Broad St.

Dranoff has been planning a building of this size at the site for years, and the project will occupy the land formerly held by a drive-through McDonald’s, which closed in 2021.

He is developing the project with Jeffrey Herskowitz of New Jersey, whose Kingsway Realty largely owns retail businesses. The pair initially teamed up in 2022 with plans to transform the former McDonald’s site.

Meanwhile, other large residential developments have opened nearby: Alterra Property Group’s 322-unit Lincoln Square at 1000 S. Broad St. and the Post Brothers’ 650-unit One Thousand One at 1001 S. Broad St. Both have retail on the ground floors.

“[Kingsway] thought it would be more appropriate to build a more dense and more worthwhile project on a key site like this,” said Dranoff. “Because of the anchors to the south of us now it’s a tremendously walkable site. You’ve got two major grocery stores and a Target literally within steps.”

The project will include 36-one bedroom units (over 600 square feet), 36 two-bedrooms, and 12 three-bedroom units (over 1,000 square feet). That proportion of larger, family-size apartments used to be unusual, but more developers have been offering them as millennials are having children, and are more likely to stay in the city than previous generations.

Dranoff has often built larger units and not just in his condo towers. His 777 S. Broad St., an apartment building, is 80% two-or-more bedroom units and was built in 2010, a time when studio apartments were dominant.

But he says the current environment, with homeownership difficult to obtain and hybrid work more common, makes larger apartments more appealing.

“You’ve got older renters who might be priced out of the ownership market, either because of interest rates or the need for a down payment,” said Dranoff. “They just want a nice, quiet place where maybe the residents have more longevity in the building.”

The project will include one retail space with over 5,000 square feet. The developer hopes to attract a high-end restaurant akin to the Loch Bar in the foot of his Arthaus condominium building at 311-319 S. Broad St.

The project is designed by Philadelphia-based JKRP Architects. It sports red brick cladding as a nod to Philadelphia’s architectural traditions.

It will also include 20 parking spaces in a small surface lot, one more than required by the zoning code.

At a Wednesday night meeting held by the South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA), some attendees questioned why more parking wasn’t included. But Dranoff dismissed those concerns, noting that surrounding developments have unused spaces in their garages that could be tapped if there is a meaningful shortage.

“I think there’s adequate parking,” said Dranoff. “Fewer and fewer people own cars. Many cities are going to no parking requirements and we have excess parking in many of our other projects.”

Dranoff presented his plans to neighborhood groups Wednesday night because the project will go before the advisory-only Civic Design Review committee on Sept. 2, which necessitates a community meeting beforehand.

The project does not need any zoning relief to move forward, giving critics of the project little ability to push for more parking or to pursue the other concerns aired at the meeting, which related to height and potential disruption caused by the construction process.

But the reception was friendly overall, and SOSNA’s zoning committee largely welcomed the project.

“I applaud this ratio of three bedroom units,” said Richard Gliniak, vice-chair of the community group’s zoning committee. “And I loved what I heard about emphasizing families and longer-term occupants.”