Philadelphia-based developer Post Brothers opened Piazza Alta in April 2023 with 868 units across three structures. It’s part of The Piazza, a 28-acre master-plan in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood that comprises residential properties and multiple retail concepts.
Piazza Alta, designed by Minneapolis-based architect BKV Group, consists of five-, 12-, and 16-story buildings built from light-gauge steel, according to Tate Gunnerson, a spokesperson for BKV Group. It is located within walking distance of the local elevated transit line at Girard Station on Broad Street.
“Our firm has a Northern European and Scandinavian design aesthetic,” Jack Owen Boarman, managing partner and senior design leader for BKV Group, told Multifamily Dive. “In other words — natural materials, very urban-pedestrian, a lot of sunlight and an organic, kind of textural feeling to the architecture.”
Each of the Piazza Alta buildings has a different design aesthetic and massing. The white five-story structure on North Hancock Street is scaled down to match the single-family townhomes nearby, while the taller buildings, facing retail, will convey a darker industrial aesthetic with brown paneling and thick black window frames.
“The goal of the urban design was to create a fabric of buildings that look like it had been there forever, and was therefore timeless and at the same time an innovative sort of 21st century residential environment that has great urban pedestrian connectivity,” Boarman said.
Units range from studios to four bedrooms in size, with a limited number of penthouses and bi-level apartments available. Features include in-unit laundry facilities, tilt-and-turn windows, hardwood flooring, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and waterfall showerheads. Terraces, balconies and dens are included in select units.
A broad plaza
Piazza Alta’s neighbors at The Piazza, all developed by Post Brothers, include Montesino, an adaptive reuse conversion from the former Schmidts brewery; Liberties Walk, a walk-up and townhome property; and Navona, a mid-rise apartment complex across two buildings.
The Piazza Alta properties are interconnected by a “woonerf” — a Dutch term referring to a space meant for shared use by pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles, particularly emergency services. An 800-foot pedestrian promenade connects this woonerf to nearby Hancock Street.
“It's got pavers, planters and seating,” Boarman said. “It's like a linear plaza that has the open center of it available for vehicles.”
Amenities are shared between all four properties, including two separate pool decks, each with its own unique approach to design. The one on the north side of the property features an angular design aesthetic with sloped, triangular stone cabanas. The other, which covers the top of a parking garage, is a 25,000-square-foot plaza with a variety of interconnected pools and curved stone structures.
Other resources available to tenants include two fitness centers, a coworking space, a cocktail lounge, concierge services, bike storage, a parking garage and EV charging stations.
Correction: An earlier version of this story cited incorrect information from the architect that that the second phase of Piazza Alta construction is underway. The story has been updated with the correct information.
