For being such a key entrance to one of the coolest neighborhoods in town, the intersection of Delaware Ave. and Frankford Ave. is about as placeless at it gets. Despite being the location of the oddly named Northern Liberties Loop that’s part of the 15 trolley line, the parcel at 1000 N. Delaware Ave. consists of a patchwork of asphalt at different grades and serves mostly as a surface parking lot, in spite of the lack of any lines demarcating spots. In fact, it can be difficult to even conceptualize this space without seeing it, so let’s familiarize ourselves with this underutilized corner.

Thanks to a recent zoning meeting by the Fishtown Neighbors Association (FNA), we are thrilled to report that we have some updates for the corner. It turns out that there’s a property that’s separate from the station, and now the folks from Archive Development are teaming up with Canno Design to bring us what we hope is a new landmark for the neighborhood. Plans call for seven-story, 78-unit building with nearly 5,000 sqft of ground floor commercial space with frontage on both Delaware and Frankford Avenues. This building will sit directly behind the station structures at the site, while offering an open public space to extend the neighborhood closer to the water. The white brick-faced building will rise 84 feet and feature a classy combination of arched windows on the lower levels, with industrial style windows deeply recessed above the second story cornice.

Quite the glow-up, don’t you think? This building is an absolute stunner and will feature 26 bike parking space, with no car parking thanks to difficult soil conditions. The development team is hoping to keep the commercial spots exciting to continue to add to the offerings in this burgeoning entertainment mecca. This project is seeking a zoning variance in August, but we are pleased to report that preliminary voting results show that the FNA is likely to support this wonderful project, which could break ground before year’s end if all continues forward.

Fishtown deserves to have a worthy entrance coming from this major thoroughfare, especially given all the action close by. Just up the block, Canno has another building that recently wrapped up at the Common Frankford. This influx of new residents (along with several hundred more just to the south), will make this area even more bustling. Let’s just say we like this plan a bit more than the parking lot.