For years, the colorful Finnegan's Wake building on the edge of Northern Liberties at 3rd & Spring Garden opened its doors for drinkers on nights and weekends. By reputation, it didn't attract the classiest crowds. Last summer, the bar stopped operating except for the occasional party, and last fall a plan to sell the property fell through.
Now, according to Plan Philly, a sale appears to be imminent, with Stockton Real Estate Advisors as the future owners. A few months ago, they proposed plans to the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association to build a two-story addition and transform the building into office space with a ground-floor bistro. “This is a little bit of an involved story,” said Larry Freeman, NLNA zoning chair. When developers first presented their proposal, designed by Sam Olshin of AOS Architects, the zoning committee said it would approve a project with only one additional story. But when the proposal came before the board, the board voted to support the original plans for a five-story building.
That's mainly because the NLNA wants to take a proactive stance here, positioning so that another night club doesn't become the next tenant, according to Freeman. There have been problems at Finnegan's over year the years, Freeman explained. He said if the NLNA could budge a little on height, while making it so the building becomes an office space, instead of a night club (which could happen by right), it was worth it. “That's why we took a proactive stance,” he said, illustrating how a local civic group can impact the character of a block. A night club can work when the local community can set controls and regulations before hand, he opined, but can be difficult to manage if that is not the case. “If he [the current owners] sell it and another night club goes in, you don't what you're gonna get.”
With an ordinance introduced recently by Councilman Squilla to rezone the property to allow the project pictured above by right, it seems the community now knows exactly what it's going to get.
We would have maybe liked to see some of the faux-character of the existing building remain, but c'est la vie.