There’s a building on the east side of the 600 block of N. Front St. that’s sitting, looking rather lonely, in the middle of a sea of surface parking. We’ve called your attention to this structure a couple times over the years, first noting that it was listed for sale back in early 2014 and commenting that it would probably make for a unique and fun restaurant space. We aren’t sure, but we believe the building was originally constructed as a warehouse as part of a substation for the Philadelphia Transportation Company. PTC was a Septa competitor that owned the El, the Broad Street Line, and some bus and trolley routes, and was absorbed by Septa in the late 1960s.

A neighbor recently called our attention to the parking area immediately to the north of this building, noting that geotech workers were on site, testing the soil. This kind of activity is generally a good sign that development is on the horizon, as L&I requires soil reports for building permit submission, to ensure that builders use foundation systems that will work for a given location. This seems like a strong indication that this parking lot could soon be on the outs, and perhaps the same could soon be said for the former PTC building.

A couple years back, 613 N. Front St. (the parking lot) was listed for sale, at a final asking price of $3.6M. In early 2016, developers purchased the property, paying over $2.7M. From what we can tell, the same developers that previously owned the old PTC building decided to buy the surrounding lots rather than sell the building. With over 35K sqft of combined land, the table is now set for a large residential development here, likely of the town home variety. We expect town homes here because the old listing for the property indicated that such a project already had plans and designs in place for a large town home project. One listing calls out a plan for 40+ homes, another suggests 22 homes, but either plan would be a major change at this location.

Considering the town homes that sprouted up on the northwest corner of Front & Fairmount over the last few years, a town home project would seem intuitive, even if we’d prefer an apartment building. Truly, we’d also prefer a project that maintains the existing building on the property, but as it’s not listed on the historic register, the owners could tear it down at any point. Then again, we’re purely speculating that development is happening in the first place and we’re likewise speculating as to the nature of the project for this site, so it’s quite possible that whatever happens here ultimately includes the old warehouse and also includes an apartment building. Still, we’d be surprised.