We would posit that Frankford Avenue is one of the great success stories of the current real estate cycle. If we turn back the clock even a decade, this corridor was nothing to write home about, a mix of corner bars, industrial buildings, vacant lots, and a smattering of local businesses. We don’t have to tell you that Frankford Avenue has traveled light years in a very short time period, with more new businesses than we can count, bushels of new buildings, and hundreds of new residents living on or very close to the corridor.

Despite these amazing changes, the corridor still has room to improve. Take, for example, a couple of vacant lots on the 2400 block. We were last here over the summer, when we told you about a handsome new apartment building at the corner of Frankford & Hagert, a structure which replaced a surface parking lot. Today we turn our attention to 2446-50 Frankford Ave., three properties across the street.

You’ll notice, there are a couple of zoning notices posted in the image above. Those notices pertain to 2446 Frankford Ave., a property that has been sitting vacant for a very long time. This lot, along with the lot next door, has been owned by a family trust of some kind, and even though it’s not reflected in public record, we would think a developer tracked down the decision-maker for the trust and convinced them to sell the properties. The plan calls for a duplex here, with a variance necessary because the property is zoned for mixed-use. The ZBA granted the variance last week, so look for construction to get started relatively soon.

Next door, the same owners have permits to built a second duplex, which they pulled back in 2016. Interestingly, they didn’t need to go to zoning for that project, as the properties were zoned residential at the time, and were remapped in the interim. We wonder whether the ZBA was willing to grant the variance for the second duplex because of the relatively recent remapping. At 2450 Frankford Ave., you can see a fairly new building, another duplex that was built before the block got remapped. The two units sold at the end of last year for a combined $635K, giving a good indication that the units next door will sell at good prices.

It makes sense that people are investing in condos and homes on and around Frankford Avenue, given the numerous amenities on the corridor. There’s the amazing holdover corner bar Atlantis just a few doors down from here, with Philadelphia Brewing Company a few more steps away. And there are so many more shops and restaurants in both directions. Soon enough, there won’t be any vacant land left on Frankford Avenue, and we can’t wait to see how the corridor continues to evolve as that process continues.