On 40th Street, a new Hub for retail, housing

The Hub, the colorful apartment and retail building on the corner of 40th and Chestnut streets, will soon be expanding across the street.

Teres Holdings, LLC, the developer behind The Hub, is currently planning the construction of Hub II, which will be built on the other side of 40th Street, at 4001 Chestnut St. Hub II is in its final stages of planning and construction will likely start by summer.

Penn bought the land on which both Hub buildings currently stand in 1999 and began planning for Hub II upon completion of the first Hub in December 2006.

Paul Sehnert, Penn's director of real estate development, said he hopes the new building "continues the renaissance on that corner," which he said had previously been a "forlorn corner."

Sehnert also said he views Hub II as a "companion building" to The Hub, adding that it "is really just phase two" of the first building.

Hub II, like its predecessor, will contain both residential and retail space for lease. Hub II will have 18 residential units, compared to 101 in The Hub. Hub II will cost $4.1 million, according to the Penn Connects Web site.

The building has already been approved by the zoning board and the final stages of construction-cost planning are nearing completion.

The construction of Hub II could begin within the next two months, but possibly not until this summer. Depending on the construction's start date, Hub II could be open for residents as early as January 2009 or as late as August of the same year.

Jim Piatt, the Boston-based architect behind the first Hub, was again hired to design its cross-street partner.

"We learned that The Hub was appreciated enough that they suggested that we make the next building a cousin of the first," Piatt said.

Hub II will be five stories tall, replacing the smaller building currently located on the lot, which had until recently been used as The Hub's temporary leasing office.

The current construction plans call for saving time and money by preserving most of the existing structure and building the additional stories on top of it.

According to Sehnert, the developer had at one point received zoning approval to build a seven-story building there, but chose not to because it was proven to be "un-economic."

The construction of the Hub buildings has caught the attention of local residents and business owners. John Birch, the manager of the Fatou & Fama restaurant across the street, said he is still unsure of what to think of the project.

"If the rent is so high that only middle class people can afford it, then it's not worth it," Birch said.

According to Teres Holdings Chief Operating Officer Robert Hoe, units in The Hub currently lease from $625 to $1,400 per month. Hub II's rates are expected to be similar, he said.

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