Almost 200 high-end apartments are slated for 21st and Ludlow in Center City

At a moment when few ambitious new real estate projects are being announced, a newly formed company called Eclipse Development is planning a 12-story, 190-unit building at 26 S. 21st St. in Center City.

Parkway Corp. sold the plot of land at 21st and Ludlow Streets, where it once planned a 304-unit apartment tower, to Eclipse’s Ryan Kalili and Michael Dinan earlier this year.

Previously the two men were associated with Archive Development, which is known for developing smaller apartment complexes — often dominated by studios — in the Fishtown area.

“We’ve always wanted to do a higher-end project, a taller building with nicer finishes,” said Dinan. “We really want to design something that we’re not just proud of, but that’s an extension of ourselves and our vision for what high-end apartment living in Philadelphia can be.”

The project would be outfitted with underground parking, a second-story restaurant with an outdoor patio, and a 16,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space — not including accompanying loading dock — which they anticipate attracting a national retailer.

The residential section of Eclipse’s building will be over 70% one-bedroom apartments, with most of those over 700 square feet — much bigger than the studios the duo have helped develop in the River Wards neighborhoods. The rest of the units would largely be two-bedrooms, with no family-size units planned.

Eclipse’s project is just south of Market Street, to the west of Rittenhouse Square and walkable to University City. It will be aimed at the high end of the market.

“It’s going to be a very high-end and expensive product,” said Kalili. “But Philadelphia is uniquely positioned because a lot of young professionals here can still afford the luxury of having a one-bedroom to themselves, when you compare it to other major East Coast cities.”

That’s why the developers are planning to build a lot of parking too. Although there won’t be one space per unit, they plan to have more than the minimum required by the zoning code. They anticipate that the people who will be able to afford these units are more likely to be car owners.

“We’re really trying to get as much parking as we can for this building,” said Kalili, who notes that such a proposal only really works in higher-income areas like Center City. “There’s cost implications with a lot of the things that we want to do and budgetary limitations of what people are willing to pay, particularly in certain neighborhoods.”

The building will also include amenities like a gym, sauna, Jacuzzi, and private work areas.

The previous building planned for this surface parking lot at 21st and Ludlow was larger than Eclipse’s proposal, and included affordable apartment units on site in exchange for zoning bonuses that allowed greater density.

That 31-story plan from Parkway was unveiled in 2022. (The same company built the new Morgan Lewis office building around the corner.)

But like many large-scale projects, the plan was paused after the Federal Reserve began aggressively hiking interest rates and construction costs remained elevated. It became increasingly difficult to finance such a large-scale project.

“Construction loans now are hard to find. You have to raise a tremendous amount of equity, and the interest on the debt is much higher,” said Robert Zuritsky, CEO of Parkway Corp. “It’s so challenging to get any development going, and our original plan was a skyscraper. We fell in love with the project, but it just didn’t make sense anymore.”

Permits for new houses and, especially, apartments in Philadelphia have plummeted in recent years as many proposed projects have hit similar barriers. Kalili and Dinan hope that with construction slowed, their building will be able to gain an advantage.

“Obviously there are challenges in the market currently,” said Dinan. “But sometimes that can play into your favor. There’s probably a bit less competition right now than there was a few years ago. That created opportunity, and the ability to find better deals.”

Eclipse plans to break ground at 26 S. 21st St. this year. And the parking lot isn’t the only Center City acquisition they have made recently.

They also acquired the Red Cross building at 2213-21 Chestnut St., a block away from the former Parkway lot. The building is currently vacant and they plan to maintain it as offices while they develop the 21st and Ludlow property. In the long-term future, they are considering a residential conversion or demolition of the property for new construction.

“The two are entirely distinct projects, but it highlights our intention to really develop in this neighborhood and continue our growth into Center City,” said Dinan.