These Are The 10 Most Affordable Homes in Logan Square

As with Wash West, they're all condos. They're not all in the same building, however. And they're definitely bigger and nicer than dorm rooms.


1600 Arch St. #510 is the more spacious and up-to-date of the two studio condos on our 10 Most Affordable list in Logan Square. | TREND image via Coldwell Banker Preferred

As we make our way through the city’s hot ‘hoods on our 10 Most Affordable Homes tour, we have come across yet another neighborhood where all of the ten most affordable homes are condominium units.

But unlike the dorm rooms we found in Washington Square West, these 10 most affordable Logan Square residences are places you might want to live in yourself.

The units are divided among four buildings. Two of the buildings contain the majority of the listings:  the City View Condominium at 2001 Hamilton St., where four of the units are located, and the Kennedy House at 1901 JFK Blvd., with three.

Two of the units are in The Phoenix, the condo at 1600 Arch St. fashioned out of the former Insurance Company of North America headquarters building in 2002. The last, most expensive, newest and second-most-spacious of the ten is located in the 2200 Lofts at 2200 Arch St., the onetime home of the Philadelphia Daily News, which was converted into condos by Orens Brothers in 2007.

The units range in price from $199,000 to $375,000.

In contrast to the affordable condos in Wash West and Rittenhouse, these units offer a decent amount of living space. The smallest (and least expensive) unit is a 552-square-foot studio, and the sizes run up to a 937-square-foot two-bedroom condo, the only two-bedroom unit on this list.

When we look at the prices on a per-square-foot basis, this subset within Logan Square ranges from $310 to $447 per square foot,” said Constantine A. Valhouli, director of research for NeighborhoodX.

NeighborhoodX excludes homes with income or purchase restrictions as well as listings with incomplete or contradictory information from this analysis. Because of this, two less-expensive condos in the Penn Center House, a co-op at 1900 JFK Blvd., didn’t make it onto the list: Apt. 1522, a 605-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath unit priced at $78,000, and Apt. 408, a one-bedroom, one-bath unit priced at $99,900. The monthly payments on these two units would be a bargain even after factoring in the monthly maintenance fees of $667 and $761 respectively, except that you can’t buy these units with a mortgage. This building’s co-op board requires buyers to pay cash and demonstrate that they have assets equal to twice the purchase price. Not only that, but the Membership Committee could still turn you down even after you meet with them and prove your net worth.

Clear those hurdles, however, and you’ll have yourself a nice-sized apartment in good condition, albeit with a dated kitchen and bath, for a relative song.