A reader reached out to us the other day, wondering about a new hole in the ground on the 1300 block of Frankford Avenue. This block is one of our favorites in Fishtown, as it’s home to La Colombe, Jinxed, and Kensington Quarters, among other businesses. And it’s also steps away from the 1400 block (obviously), where there’s all kinds of action going on.

Across from Snap Kitchen, 1317 Frankford Ave. has been sitting empty for a number of years, though for a long time it was a nicely landscaped, privately owned garden space. We especially appreciated the fishy details on the fence.

Developers bought the property last summer, and the garden space got a little overgrown in the interim. All of that is now in the past, of course, as construction has gotten started.

The developers are building a by-right mixed-use project here, with three apartments above ground-floor retail. This is a rather cut and dried project, only leaving us to wonder what kind of tenant will be taking over the retail space. Considering the numerous retail options nearby on the corridor, it seems this will indeed be an attractive space for just about any use other than a coffee shop. One regret is that there’s a large open space behind this lot that’s connects to 1313 Frankford Ave., a flag lot just a few doors down. That open space could have been combined with this property in a project that would have resulted in a much larger and more attractive retail space. But with construction now moving forward on the project we just described, it seems that ship has sailed.

The parcel is about 1,700 sqft, so we’d expect a roughly 1,000 sqft space will be available. What type of business would you like to see here?