Whether you're laying bricks for a new row home or painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, you're gonna need some scaffolding to reach those areas that sit more than the first few feet off the ground. And that scaffolding needs to come from somewhere. Many builders (and famous Renaissance artists), get their scaffolding from Eastern Scaffolding, located for many years on Front Street, in the shadow of an I-95 onramp. But a zoning notice recently appeared at their address at 408 N. Front St., indicating that the scaffolding business is out and apartments are in.
According to the notice, developers are planning a small apartment building here, with 8 units and 4 parking spaces. New owners bought the property in the middle of last year, paying $705K for the privilege of building something on this improving block of Front Street. You can see in the image above, there are some relatively new homes located immediately to the north, part of the 412 Luxe development that went up a few years ago. Previously, when that parcel was sitting vacant for many years, a scaffolding yard made some sense at this location. With a bunch of luxury homes on the block though, it seems a little less intuitive.
We also previously covered another project nearby, a couple of new triplexes just south of Callowhill Street. Those buildings are now finished, with condo units listed between $400K for a lower unit and $520K for an upper unit. We wonder, will the units in the building planned at 408 N. Front St. be offered as condos or rentals? Perhaps it bears watching just how successfully the builders across the street are able to sell their units.
As we said, this little pocket has improved significantly with projects that have come down the pike in recent years, but it's still separated from town by the highway which could give some people pause. On the other hand, access to Old City is easy, simply requiring a one block walk on Callowhill Street. And access to the Delaware River is just half a block in the other direction. But perhaps most importantly, Dave & Busters is just a few steps away from here. That Carnivore Pizzadilla, isn't gonna eat itself, folks.