There has been a huge amount of action along the border of Northern Liberties and East Poplar, especially around the 7th & Fairmount intersection. On the Poplar side, we visited the Franklin Court rowhome project back in 2016 that is now wrapped up. On the NoLibs side, a laundromat has made way for a mixed-use project just to the east of this corner. And despite Federal Donuts and its relatively huge parking lot, we are here today to talk about the buildings at 711-19 N. 7th St., just north of the donut purveyor. Let’s take a peek at those completed projects first before we get to the news.

These one-story structures previously served as a daycare facility, but work is already underway to clear out the interiors of the buildings in preparation for demo. While not exactly stunning from an architectural perspective, the stone walls that currently stand here for the time being provide some texture and offer a nice change of pace from a material perspective. Soon though, we’ll see this structure come down, with a 21-unit project with three commercial spaces coming soon in its place.

We are light on details for how this project will eventually look, but we are pleased as punch to see things moving forward for this CMX-2 zoned property. A one-story commercial structure is no longer an appropriate use for this location, and we are thrilled that three additional commercial spaces will be added to the mix in the future even as we wish for a bit more height. Man, CMX-2 zoning is just a bummer.

The new retail space will certainly be needed with the hundreds and hundreds of units that are underway just across Fairmount Ave., where a massive residential project is underway. The site is now completely cleared and getting ready for construction, so those future commercial spaces sure will have a larger audience as that project proceeds. Perhaps we’ll see the parking lot here bite the dust sometime soon as well, as it’s clear this area is only going to become more and more appealing, moving forward.