Hard Hat Tour: The Rebirth of Alden Park

Philadelphia's most photogenic apartment complex is in the midst of a grand restoration. Here's a look at the work in progress and a taste of what's to come when everything's done.

By Sandy Smith· 8/16/2016, 3:41 p.m.

Work on replacing the leaded casement windows in the Manor building lobby is under way. All of the windows in the complex will be replaced by its end. |Photos: Sandy Smith

The three buildings that together comprise the Alden Park apartment complex are without a doubt the most photogenic apartment buildings in the city. Begun in 1926 on the former estate of department store founder Justus C. Strawbridge, they began life as the city’s first cooperative residences, attracting an exclusive community of residents during the Depression.

Sometime between World War II and the 1980s, the original cooperative dissolved and the complex became a trio of rental buildings. But their parklike setting and their picturesque English Tudor Revival architecture, the work of architect Edwin Rorke, has kept the buildings among the most popular apartments in the city. The Manor building, which terminates the view down Chelten Avenue, may well be Germantown’s most iconic apartment building.

Except it isn’t in Germantown, technically speaking. The complex may lie within Germantown’s ZIP code of 19144, but it sits on the East Falls side of Wissahickon Avenue. The desire to eliminate arguments over Alden Park’s exact community affiliation, combined with its location right next to Wissahickon Park, has led At Media, which is handling the branding campaign for the complex, to dub the Alden Park experience “living in Wissahickon.” (Fortunately for the firm, not too many people attach that term to the neighborhood surrounding the SEPTA Regional Rail station of the same name about a mile away, even though the city lists “Wissahickon” as the name of the neighborhood many consider part of Roxborough.)

Alden Park’s owner, L3C Capital Partners, is in the middle of a roughly two-year-long, $60 million top-to-bottom restoration of the three Alden Park buildings — Manor, Kenilworth and Cambridge. The reconstruction is repointing brickwork, replacing deteriorated stone, terra cotta and stucco, replacing roofs to stop water seepage, and replacing all of the casement windows with modern, energy-efficient windows that will also reduce the risk of objects (or people) falling out of them. On the inside, the apartments are being reconfigured with more open layouts that make better use of space, up-to-date kitchens, and new hardwood and wood veneer floors.

Finally, the complex is getting new and upgraded common amenities, including a fitness center, dog park, jogging trail and outdoor terraces with seating and grills. The building’s pool, also a highly photogenic space, has also been refurbished and upgraded.

Eric Comp, managing director for project contractor Briarwood Construction, and Stacy Generaux, executive manager of Alden Park for complex manager Village Green, conducted a tour of the ongoing reconstruction late last week. At Media CEO Antoinette Marie Johnson came along for the ride. What follows are scenes from what was, what’s becoming, and what will be.

Alden Park Reconstruction

If you look carefully at the well-known view down Chelten Avenue, you will see a scaffold near the top of one of the buildings where masonry restoration is taking place.

Begun in 1926, the Manor building, with its three cruciform wings, is the oldest and largest of the buildings that together comprise Alden Park.

That speck of blue visible through the balcony window over the main entrance is a tarp...

...that's covering the space where two large windows have been removed for replacement.

The remaining window openings are just covered by gypsum board for now.

Comp explained that, in contrast to current practice, the windows were installed as the walls were being built, which makes replacing them more time-consuming.

Seepage has led to water damage in numerous places in the complex; the roof and wall repairs should put a stop to it.

One of the renovated hallways on the first floor of one Manor building wing.

The living room of a renovated apartment in the Manor building.

The renovated units retain many of their original features, like the fireplace, built-in bookcases and bay windows in this unit.

The view down Chelten Avenue from the renovated unit. The lobby is at the base of this view.

The hallway has built-in shelving as well.

The bathroom has also been modernized with a tile tub enclosure.

A bedroom in the redone unit. The refurbished units also have air conditioning.

The kitchens have been completely updated. Most are open plan, but as the wall separating this kitchen from the living room contained electrical wiring for the apartment, it was left in place.

The subway tile backsplashes, stone counters and stainless steel appliances add a touch of modernity to the refurbished units.

The washer and dryer in the unit, next to thekitchen.

The pathway from the Manor building to the clubhouse. New jogging paths are also slated to be added to the complex.

The weight room in the new fitness center.

The exercise room in the center.

The center was done in an industrial style...

that was inspired in part by the barrel-vaulted ceilings.

The refurbished pool...

...is likewise highly photogenic.

The pool's retractable roof is original to the structure.

All of the original tilework has been preserved.

Planters, the open skylight...

...and new lounge furniture give the pool the feel of an indoor resort.

New tile accents complement the furniture.

A terrace outside the pool has been transformed into the first of several planned outdoor lounges.

This one has a ping-pong table. Others will be equipped for outdoor cooking and dining.

Restoration of the two-wing Kenilworth building is just getting under way.

The Kenilworth's porte-cochère.

The Kenilworth lobby is also a grand space.

The first-floor halls in the Kenilworth have dark wood paneling.

We didn't get to go up in the construction elevator cage attached to this crane, which carries workers to the roof.

The terrace behind the lobby will be restored and transformed into an outdoor lounge with seating and new landscaping.

Each wing of the Kenilworth has two penthouse apartments accessed by stairs from the top full floor.

The layouts of the larger apartments, like this penthouse now being rebuilt, are idiosyncratic, as you shall see.

This window in the anteroom was installed after the building was completed, most likely as part of an earlier remodeling sometime after World War II.

The penthouse units have large arched windows...

...fireplaces, and access to a wraparound terrace.

The terrace entrance from the sun room adjacent to the living room.

The view to the south from the terrace.

The view to the northwest from the terrace.

The view to the north.

The anteroom, with the entrance to the kitchen in the background.

The 1960s-era kitchen pre-reconstruction.

Another view of the kitchen, showing the appliances.

There's also a terrace off the kitchen.

Past the kitchen is the former maid's quarters, which has a separate entrance from the stairs. It will function as a guest bedroom in the renovated apartment.

The bathroom in the maid's quarters.

The old heating and air-conditioning unit, in mid-removal.

Two of the penthouse's other three bedrooms are off this corridor.

The first of the two bedrooms.

The bathroom attached to this bedroom appears to have been renovated in the 1940s or 1950s.

Comp said that some of the tilework may be preserved.

Even if it's removed, however, the new tile floor will have a pattern like this one.

The door to the third bedroom.

Talk about idiosyncratic: the natural light in this bedroom...

...comes from two small and oddly placed windows. This probably won't keep management from getting a good rent for this penthouse, given all its other attractive attributes.

One more terrace, off the fourth bedroom.

The other under-construction unit on the tour was a full-wing unit on the floor below the penthouse. This is the foyer of that apartment.

This apartment has a large living room with a light-filled sitting room, seen here, attached.

As in the other units, there's a fireplace in the living room.

Next to the sitting room is a sun room with even larger windows and built-ins.

One of the bedrooms is connected to a second sun room.

The closets in this bedroom are being reconfigured.

One of two back-to-back bathrooms, each attached to a bedroom. You can see into the other bathroom through the hole where the vanity mirror used to be.

A second bedroom.

A third bedroom.

Unusually deep closets that stretch beyond the door are a feature of this layout.

Work in progress on one bedroom.

Comp said he is proudest of the kitchen reconstruction on these full-wing units.

While the kitchens were large, a square protrusion in their middle cut down severely on the usable space.

You can see the size of the protrusion here, where the floor inside it is bare.

Decorative cherubs and creatures grace the hallways of the Kenilworth and will be preserved as they are renovated.

That was before, this is after: L. Armistead Edwards, a retired entertainment manager, was gracious enough to allow us to tour his refurbished apartment, which is identical in layout to the unfinished apartment we toured. The light fixture in the foyer is his.