Apartment proposal for Queen Village is back with a new owner and affordable units

A long planned four-story apartment building at 1015 S. Third St. is set to break ground this summer after a five-year delay.

Zoning permits were issued for a 63-unit building last week, and Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture, the designer for the project and its earlier iteration, say that seven affordable apartments will be included in the building.

That’s partly why the building is denser than what is usually allowed in this neighborhood, which largely zoned for rowhouses.

By providing seven units for prices attainable at 50% of area median income — currently $41,800 for a one-person household — the developer can build 50% more units than would usually be allowed.

Including a green roof allows another zoning incentive, which boosts allowable density by a further 25%.

Neither version of the plan includes retail or parking. The lack of space to put vehicles stirred some controversy in the neighborhood in 2021, when the project was considered by the city’s advisory-only Civic Design Review board.

Proponents of the project at the time noted Queen Village’s walkable nature and the fact that smaller rental units are lacking in the area. Those who would choose to rent in a building with no parking are more likely to not own a car.

The current proposal includes five studio apartments, 48 one-bedroom units, and 10 units with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

An earlier version of the apartment proposal, vetted by local authorities in 2021, would have included 67 units.

“The new owner requested we change the unit count and add an additional elevator,” said Eric Quick, of Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture.

In 2021, the owner was Hong Yan, who purchased the lot for just over $2.5 million under the name LYC Investments LLC.

But after winning zoning approvals for the project, the owner decided to sell. In February 2025, the property sold for $3.5 million to Summer Corner LLC, which is listed on Bay Hill Drive in Montgomery County’s Blue Bell.

An email to the owner of that address was not returned.

The new owner plans to use the same architectural renderings released in 2021, when the project went through the Civic Design Review process.

Local neighborhood groups do not have a means to compel changes or give feedback to the project, as the developer is building within the zoning code.

This has induced some frustration, given the project’s scale, and the similar dynamics at the 157-unit apartment building at Fifth and Bainbridge and a 51-unit building at 704 E. Passyunk Ave.

“We welcome growth and investment in Queen Village, but this is the third large ‘by right’ project announced within a relatively short period of time,” said Cait Allen, president of the Queen Village Neighbors Association.

“Any of these can have a significant impact on the community but lack a true mechanism to understand and mitigate potential concerns in advance,” Allen said. “This is challenging, even when the neighborhood is supportive of the project.”