If you visited the intersection of 7th & Fairmount just a couple of years ago, you would have discovered a vacant one-story commercial building on the northeast corner and a fenced-in parking lot on the northwest corner. Today it's a different story, with Federal Donuts having taken over the aforementioned commercial building and the first phase of the Franklin Court Townhomes project in place of the parking lot. We checked in on this project last spring, and there's been a ton of progress in the time that's passed since then.
The first phase of this project meant a triplex at the corner, a triplex just to the north on 7th Street, and six townhomes townhomes to the north. Passing by earlier today, it looks like the row of seven buildings on 7th Street is done and the building at the corner is getting close. According to the project website, almost all of the first phase units have sold, and we discovered just two of the homes listed for sale, at a price of $525K.
The second phase of the project will mean additional construction on Fairmount Avenue, with eleven homes on Fairmount Avenue and an another triplex at the corner of Franklin Street. The empty space that you see on 7th Street in the photos above will eventually be a drive-aisle that goes all the way to Franklin Street and provides rear-access parking for all of the units. Check out this rendering for an aerial view of both phases of the project.
Technically, we're pretty sure this project is just outside of the Northern Liberties boundaries but the developers are certainly pushing the project as if it's located inside the neighborhood. We wonder, will this project and the restaurant selling delicious fried things across the street encourage additional development in this area? It bears mentioning, there are two major residential projects just a block away, between 5th and 6th on Fairmount Avenue, which we covered last week. So perhaps it's already happening, to a certain extent. How far west will it go?