New homes to replace dog park at 48th & Chester:
Developer offers a mini dog park space on property
BY ALICE WELLS - Special to the UCReview
Neighbors and dogs at the Chester Ave, site. Photo Carol Dubie
The good news for Philadelphia is that the market value of houses has, after nearly half a century, returned to a level high enough that it pays a developer to build new, market rate homes in the city – in the outer rim of University City even. Vacant lots are being re-inhabited!
The distressing news for the 55 members of the Chester Avenue Dog Park, on a spacious lot at 48th and Chester Ave., is that their five year old, lovingly gardened, fenced in dog park has been sold and, sometime this summer, will become a construction site for ten to twelve single family, two and a half story, twin homes, facing 48th St.
Two weeks ago, the developer offered to keep a dog park on the lot, albeit significantly smaller. Having met with representatives of the Dog Park last month, developer Tom Lussenhop recently e-mailed an initial proposal to them that he reserve an area of roughly 5000 to 6500 square feet (about the size of a tennis court, he told the UC Review), likely in the southeast portion of the property, for a dog park. Details like whether he would lease or sell them the property, and the amount of “financial consideration,” were left for future discussions.
Members of the Dog Park had already begun to search for a property they can control and won’t be bumped from. They have set their sights on finding something larger than what Lussenhop offered, but they are keeping their options open at this point, according to Linda Amsterdam, one of the founding members of the Chester Ave. Dog Park. Unfortunately, a proposal for an enclosed dog run in nearby Clark Park had been voted down at a Friends of Clark Park membership meeting early this year, before the Chester Ave Dog Park members knew their park was being sold.
Also part of the development project at 48th and Chester Ave. is the long vacant twin house on the Chester Ave. side of the corner. It will be turned into eight condominiums, or rented, as the market will bear, according to Lussenhop, who, last fall, entered into the agreement of sale with Nancy Kleinberg, owner and administrator of Park Pleasant Nursing Home, to purchase the corner lot and building from her. The nursing home is just east of the lot and its property extends from Chester Avenue, south through the block to Kingsessing Ave.
Kleinberg had not formally listed the corner lot for sale, but said “people are always approaching me about the land,” which may be the largest undeveloped lot in University City, especially in a residential section. “When Tom approached me I was a little more interested because of other things he has done. He made it clear it’s going to be in a style in keeping with the neighborhood,” she said.
Last summer she visited the three-story condominiums he built on the 4200 block of Os-age Ave., where he met with neighbors several times beforehand to accommodate some of their interests. Lussenhop now lives in one of those units, which are all sold. The larger, 3 bedroom condos went for well over $500,000, he said. He also oversaw the building of the Penn Alexander School when he worked in real estate development at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kleinberg said she has since received a higher offer for the 48th and Chester property, but wants to stay with Lussenhop; any development there will be Park Pleasant’s neighbor, too.
Many of the dog park members are homeowners. They understand the concept of increasing the number of home owners – people with a vested interest in the neighborhood – to enhance the quality of life and their own property’s value, while adding to the City’s tax base.
But, original member Greg Schopp, who lives half a block from the Dog Park, is satisfied enough with the recent ballooning in property value throughout the area. “It would be greedy to want more at the expense of the dog park,” he said. For many, the dog park itself adds to the value of the neighborhood.
“What is really the best for revitalization?” asks dog owner Nadia Adawi. “New town homes or open space? There’s a lot of existing housing stock that could be redeveloped instead of taking the few remaining open parcels.”
Until five years ago, the south east corner of 48th and Chester was a testimony to disinvestment in the city.
Two apartment buildings with a house in between had been long neglected, then finally abandoned, fire damaged and lived in by vagrants. Over a decade ago, Kleinberg’s father, Ed Brody, who ran Park Pleasant until his death last summer, bought the properties and tore the derelict buildings down, in part to stabilize the area and to be a reserve for possible expansion of the nursing home. (Kleinberg has since decided that smaller is better when it comes to nursing homes, so won’t be expanding.)
Even though Park Pleasant kept the lot mowed and mostly fenced in, for years it was a barren, gaping space in the neighborhood. Putting a dog park on the corner five years ago was a win-win situation for neighbors, the nursing home and especially dog owners, who had been displaced from the enclosed dog run on the Divinity School property on 43rd St. near Spruce St. when construction began on the Sadie Alexander School. Their written agreement with Brody was contingent upon dog park users completing the fence, keeping it locked, purchasing insurance, and regularly cleaning the area. Hence, the need for a private, membership group to raise money and distribute keys.
The Chester Avenue Dog Park was born as an outgrowth of the University City Dog Club. A sign on the gate invites new members. There is a canine socialization trial visit to make sure prospective dog members don’t start fights and owners clean up after their charges. The original eight members grew, at one point, to 75, and now number inthe 50’s. Membership dues, $50 – now $65 - a year, go toward insurance, maintenance and improvements like the $1100 water line they installed last year, so there is fresh water for canines and the thirty trees, 500 bulbs and assorted flowering shrubs that member Carol Dubie and, more recently, other members have planted in a five foot border around the lot. UC Green provided a grant for many of the plantings and members donated the rest. A spirit of neighborhood camaraderie has emerged that transcends flowers and dogs.
“People who would never speak to each other, otherwise, are in there with their dogs,” said Dubie. Last weekend she set up dog agility equipment for dogs and their owners to play with.
Dubie also visits the nursing home residents, bringing flowers and friendly dogs from the park. Neighbors who were nervous about having the dogs nearby have been won over by the beautification and the friendly, community spirit of the dog owners.
“The dog people have been good stewards of the land for several years,” stated developer Lussenhop.
However, as the original dog park members acknowledge, the arrangement was always temporary.
“It’s pretty disappointing, but inevitable…,” said Linda Amsterdam. “We’re very grateful to Park Pleasant that they allowed us to use the land as long as they could… I don’t want to be one to block it. I’d rather keep it as green space, but I respect the Park Pleasant right to sell it,” she said, adding, “We’re really sad to see it go.”
Kleinberg said that both Dubie and Schopp have talked to her about the possibility of purchasing the whole vacant lot, but she said that, with recent increases in property values, the price is way beyond what either one suggested. Nonetheless, she has promised them the first option to make an offer if Lussenhop’s project does not go through. Neither she nor Lussenhop will say what her price is.
The property is in the Cedar Park neighborhood and Lussenhop has met with Maureen Tate and Josh Schneider, vice presidents of Cedar Park Neighbors, to inform them of his intentions.
“He said he’s open to community input, will share his plans when he has them, and expects to stay within the zoning,” Tate said. “The reality is it’s private property. The sale does not need approval from Cedar Park Neighbors.” However she added, “We’ll want to see that it will fit into the architecture of the neighborhood. A lot of people will be watching it.”
Tate says she is sympathetic to the dog owners, but likes the opportunity to increase home ownership in an area that she described as “isolated.” CPN president, Carol Walker, said that, to her knowledge, “Dog Park people have not approached CPN regarding this site.” She knows that CPN members are divided on whether to keep the open space and dog park, or to develop it as homes, but there has been no official poll to see where the majority opinion lies. If an interest is expressed, she said CPN will facilitate a members’ meeting with Lussenhop, but, at present, there is no movement to do so.
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03-21-2006, 06:25 PM
New homes to replace dog park at 48th & Chester
