Last week, we gave you the heads up about a proposed mixed-use development at the corner of 19th and Fairmount Ave., currently a vacant lot with a lovely Noam Chomsky mural. On Monday, neighbors in the Francisville neighborhood voted to support this project. Looking at this thread on Philadelphia Speaks, there was definitely some opposition from near neighbors on Olive St. and Fairmount Ave.

As we mentioned last week, the developers, Fairmount Ave Lp, are proposing a four-story building with fifteen residential rental units, seven interior parking spaces, and a gourmet market on the first floor. Some people are apparently concerned about the height of the building, the density, the lack of 1:1 parking, and the fact that this would change the character of the block. One other apparent fear was that the grocery would fail, leaving the possibility of an undesirable business taking over the space. As you can imagine, the uncertainty of the future is one of our favorite anti-development arguments. <face-palm>

Here’s a look at a current view of the lot:

The lot, last week

And now, a rendering of the proposed development, from a similar angle.

Wow

Take a look at these additional elevations drawings, and you’ll notice that architects Canno Architecture & Design have put a really handsome building on the boards.

From Fairmount Ave.

From 19th St.

From Olive St., notice it's only three stories high, casting fewer shadows on the narrow, mostly two story block

As we said, this impressive and important project was approved by the voting community (which excluded neighbors on the south side of Fairmount Ave., who live outside of the neighborhood’s boundaries). Hopefully, the developer will be able to get through the zoning process relatively unscathed and the efforts of NIMBYs won’t derail this development.

Looking west on Fairmount Ave., the future looks bright.

Unless- are we way off base here? Should this be maintained as a fenced-in, vacant lot forever?