About a year and a half ago, we looked at two large vacant buildings on Frankford Avenue across the street from Barcade, and wondered when they might be redeveloped. After passing by the other day, we have good news indeed for one of them.
For years, 1039-55 Frankford Ave. was a work in progress. Back in the 1990s, it was being used as a storage facility, but about a decade ago a residential conversion got underway. For reasons we don't exactly know, that conversion was stopped in its tracks, and the unfinished building sat vacant since at least 2008. In 2011, Gibor Partners Lp purchased the property at sheriff's sale for $1.25M. And about a year ago, a new entity bought it for just under $3.4M. Hey if anyone from Gibor Partners Lp is reading this, care to loan us some money? Over the last year, interior and exterior work were completed. The building has been converted into 28 apartments, with units for rent between $1,500 and $2,000 per month.
Sadly, the building across the street looks the same as it did eighteen months ago. The former hosiery factory sold at sheriff's sale in 2012, but you wouldn't necessarily suspect it's got new(ish) owners just from looking at it.
Hopefully, it will soon come back to life, and the lines for games at Barcade will get just a smidge longer. Not the worst trade-off in the world.