We’ve “enjoyed” many a late night meal over the years at the Manayunk Diner, an establishment whose best trait may be its all-night hours on weekends. And often during those visits, we’ve wondered about the Wilde Yarn Mill, an old warehouse building across the street that we were sure had been abandoned years ago.

Wilde Yarn Mill

Turns out, the mill was still in operation into 2008, according to Hidden City. But with the mill business now gone, what to do with this collection of buildings, some of which date back to the late 1800s? Why, a residential conversion, of course!

Developer Scott Janzen is teaming up with Peter Bloomfield of Bloomfield and Associates to turn these buildings into 45 one and two-bedroom apartments with 45 parking spaces, according to their application to the ZBA. According to Newsworks, Wissahickon Neighbors Civic Association came out in support of the project last week after the developers assured the community that the project would include 1:1 parking. While we often have a hard time with community groups demanding 1:1 parking, we’d say it’s a somewhat reasonable demand considering the location, just steps away from I76. On the other hand, with the Wissahickon Station basically next door to part of the development, it seems likely that at least some of the residents will use public transportation, no?

Check out this rendering, from Bloomfield and Associates, by way of Hidden City:

Quite an improvement

One thing that really delights us about this development is that it will preserve existing buildings that have a ton of history. Not only will we appreciate that we’ll be able to continue to look at these attractive and historic buildings, but this will mean that the site won’t involve new construction. Because let’s agree, the new construction that’s gone up in this area in recent years has been less than amazing, to be kind.

Newer building right up the street. You can unfortunately see if from I-76.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this project, and will be sure to provide some updates once work gets underway. Or maybe just the next time we find ourselves in Manayunk on a Saturday morning at 4am, craving an omelet.