Despite a strong showing by neighbors concerned with parking issues, the Fishtown Neighbors Association recently supported plans for eight new single-family homes on a mostly vacant lot on the 2400 block of E. Gordon St., just a block away from a couple of our favorite restaurants in Fishtown.
Developers plans to build five homes on Gordon Street and three on Dauphin Street, moving around lot lines on this parcel which runs street to street. The project, designed by JKR Partners, will also include some demolition, and would animate an under-used Fishtown block.
The community vote at the July 15th FNA zoning meeting was sixteen in favor to fifteen opposed. Near neighbors were more strongly opposed than the community at large. According to Matt Karp, FNA zoning chair, the high number of no's was due to parking because the proposal offered nothing in that department. According to Karp, there's a question as to whether the ZBA will even listen regarding parking concerns for this project considering it's not required by the code. The developers are only seeking a variance for lot size, and a minimal one at that.
Developers 2412 E Gordon LLC bought the parcel for $475K last summer. While it seems we don't typically have much residential development to report in this area, last summer we did share news of a 140-seat brick oven pizza place coming around the corner, and that building was recently demolished. Also very close to here is 2424 Studios, home to many offices, a diner, and an event space. So this Gordon Street project is in the ballpark, if you will.
As of now the lot contains a newer home you'd see expect to see in the working class neighborhoods of the suburbs, with vinyl-siding and a Ford pickup truck parked in the yard. And located right across the street from this project is one of those parcels with nothing but what looks like an under-used one-story garage on it. We've seen several such properties transformed into single-family homes in Fishtown, like here, on Shackamaxon Street. And right next door is a gritty warehouse that screams out for a conversion into lofts (yes, we can hear it). Might it be only a short while before these properties are redeveloped?