Almost 400 new homes for students in one giant tower are proposed for University City

A massive new student-housing tower is proposed for University City, offering 263 residential units and 127 dorm-style shared living units.

Dubbed the Mark at Philadelphia, the slender 34-story structure would be one of the city’s largest housing complexes targeted toward students.

The developer is Landmark Properties, based in Athens, Ga., a major national student housing developer. The Mark is their second building in University City. The first is the Standard at Philadelphia, a 19-story, 280-unit tower on 31st Street that is nearing completion.

“We’re very much viewing this project as one of our flagship properties nationally,” said Aaron Stange, director of development for Landmark.

The Mark will be at 3615-3635 Chestnut St. on land owned by the Ralston Center, a 200-year-old organization focused on care for and advocacy on behalf of elderly people.

Landmark also plans to buy the group’s neighboring building and longtime home, the Ralston House, which is historically protected and will remain intact.

“We view it as a really attractive historic building, and we plan to maintain it and keep it,” Stange said. “There is also a large green lawn area out in front, which we think will be attractive to our residents. [Our plan is to] hold it for the long term.”

The Ralston Center no longer operates services out of the historic house, which is now occupied almost entirely by the University of Pennsylvania. The organization declined to comment on Landmark’s plans.

The new tower will be built on a plot between the Ralston House and the University Lutheran Church, replacing a parking lot.

“Replacing a surface parking lot with new housing options for students and local employees would be a win for a neighborhood looking for more density,” said Chris Richman, director of marketing and communications for the University City District.

The building will have space for amenities like a club house, sauna, and pool near the roof and then quieter study space on a floor inside the building. On Chestnut Street, where pedestrians will access the building, there will be additional study space. Stange said they ruled out retail due to the small size of the ground floor. The Ludlow Street side of the building presents a blank wall that includes a loading zone and an entrance to the underground parking lot.

Ninety-six parking spaces will be provided on-site, a relatively small amount for the number of residential units because shared-living apartments require less parking under the Philadelphia zoning code.

Stange emphasized that the building won’t just be for undergraduates. But the shared-living accommodations allow undergraduates to afford newly built units that they might be priced out of otherwise.

“It’s a multifamily project with the student renter in mind, but we will lease to anyone,” Stange said. “In our major urban markets, we see a mix of general non-student populations, students, sometimes grad students.”

No units that meet the city’s affordable housing criteria will be available in the Mark itself. But Landmark Properties used the city’s low-income housing zoning bonus, which allows them to build a bigger building in exchange for $6,934,964 paid into the city’s Housing Trust Fund. The money will go toward affordable housing projects elsewhere in Philadelphia.

The Mark was awarded a permit before Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s mandatory inclusionary zoning law went into effect in University City, requiring any residential project of 10 or more units to price 20% of the available spaces below the market rate.

The project requires no zoning variances, although it will be subject to Civic Design Review, an advisory critique from municipally appointed architects, developers, and planners on Oct. 11.