The project coming soon to 2120 E. York St. is making us feel like we’re going crazy, but it has nothing to do with the project per se. At some point over the last several years, we distinctly remember doing a little bit of research about this large industrial property that has been home to Feeherty Machine & Grinding Co. for decades. The property is quite large, covering 13.5K sqft, and goes from York to Arizona Street. As we’ve pointed out on many occasions, residential development in Fishtown and East Kensington is waxing and industrial uses are waning in the area. Considering the whole picture, the property was a very obvious development opportunity, the likes of which we like to bring to your attention on this here website. But it seems we never wrote a story about the property. And we’re therefore feeling a little nuts at the moment.

But enough about us. It wasn’t just obvious to us that this property would make more sense redeveloped, and Civetta Property Group wisely scooped up the parcel just a couple of months ago, paying $1.2M. Not only were they smart to buy the property in the first place, and at the price they paid, but they’re looking even more sagacious because they’re able to build a new building here by right. According to public record, they’re going to build a five-story mixed-use building with 56 apartments, 6,000 sqft of ground floor commercial space, and 23 parking spots. Because of its size, the project had to go to CDR last month, and that’s why we have these renderings from KJO Architecture.

The CDR panel had a number of small recommendations about the design of the project, but as we’ve mentioned previously, the feedback from CDR is non-binding so the developers are now free to proceed with the project as they wish, as long as it continues to fit within the requirements of the zoning code. And that’s not a bad thing, as this project makes will fit in nicely at this location. It’s just steps from Frankford Avenue, and we are hopeful that the ground floor retail will complement the corridor and the delightful Martha across the street. Certainly, it makes more sense for this location in the present day than a company specializing in machine and grinding work, whatever that actually entails. Sure, the new building will be a huge upgrade over the current structure from a functional standpoint, but it’s hard to argue that it’s not a huge step up architecturally as well.