Fairmount Ave. west of Broad Street is one of the quaintest commercial stretches in the city. It feels like its own little hamlet, yet it sits remarkably close to Logan Circle and Center City, with the low-rise buildings lining the stretch creating a very human scaled experience. We were here earlier this year at the corner of 18th Street, and now we’re shuffling a block to the east to the corner of 17th & Fairmount, where two beer-adjacent projects are making their way forward.

Our first stop is 1701 Fairmount Ave., where a former beer distributor is likely making way for a mixed-use project, at least temporarily. We first told you about this possibility nearly five years ago, after checking on an MM Partners project at this same corner a couple years before that. We bring up this fact because MM Partners is also developing the building here that housed Stone’s beer distributor until the end of July. And for another little bit of fun, Stone’s actually just moved into another MM Partners project, the lovely Poth Brewery project we visited several months back in Brewerytown.

This appears to be a short-term move for Stone’s, as the team has plans to return to the Fairmount (technically Francisville, but who’s counting) neighborhood, perhaps even as part of this new project. The current building will be demolished, with a four-story, 24-unit building with two commercial spaces taking its place, according to construction permits. Let’s see the site and how it looks now before we check out the lovely designs from Marshall Sabatini Architecture.

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Slightly angled facade along N. 17th St. provides some visual interest to the industrial throwback look
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Rendering of the 24-unit building coming to the corner
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A recent look at 1700 Fairmount Ave.

Directly across the street at 1700 Fairmount Ave., yet another project is coming our way. Thanks to a recent sign application, we are happy to report a new business will be taking over the former location of the 17th Street Spot. Look for the Fairmount Tavern to open here soon, with designs for the sign (and we assume the full building) from Canno Design. This is a wonderful outcome for the handsome but lonely building that stands on this corner. Let’s check out how it looks and what’s to come for this building which received construction permits in June.

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Proposed signage and awning addition for the building
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Owl give you a closer look at the sign

These additions would make an already awesome block that much nicer. A number of mixed-use projects have been completed here recently and these newest entries certainly will add to the vibrancy of the area. We wish that perhaps the Fairmount commercial area could get a bit of a zoning boost to allow for a few more floors for mixed-use projects, but this is definitely an improvement over the low-rise structure, whether it was a purveyor of tasty suds or otherwise. May we at last offer a toast: to both of these projects getting moving in short order.