As development has pushed its way through the River Wards, we’ve seen new residents and businesses change the face of Northern Liberties, Fishtown, and East Kensington in the first quarter of the 21st century. Over the last few years, we’ve been pointing to Port Richmond as a neighborhood that’s firmly in the path of this development wave, suggesting that folks priced out of those aforementioned neighborhoods would cross Lehigh Avenue and the train tracks in search of better value. Indeed, we’ve seen plenty of development activity in Port Richmond of late, and we expect more to come down the pike.
Most of the larger projects in this neighborhood have risen along Richmond Street. This corridor, which only covers about four blocks between Ann Street and Allegheny Avenue, was historically a bustling neighborhood commercial corridor that housed many small businesses, including several that catered to the local Polish community. The corridor had some very lean years, but has started to see some new businesses sprinkled into the mix. During those challenging years on the corridor, a bunch of former retail spaces were converted to apartments.
2978 Richmond St. sure looks like it once had a business of some kind of the first floor, though we can’t find any records in the Zoning Archive. There’s just something about the centered front door that gives us the sense that this isn’t how the building was originally constructed. Incidentally, the vacant lot next door at 2976 Richmond St. definitely had a store on the first floor when the above image was captured 90 years ago, but we can’t read the handwriting on the old permit docs to tell you what kind of businesses once made their home here.
We bring these two properties to your attention because developers are planning a new project on a site that combines both addresses. According to a zoning permit from last week, we can expect a four-story building with 15 apartments and a small retail space on the first floor. The project is proceeding by right, as the developers are using the Mixed-Income Housing Zoning Bonus to add 5 extra units and 7′ of height, allowing for a fourth story. This means that the project will include two affordable units for the next 50 years. Designblendz designed an attractive building with brick all the way up the front facade and large windows, demonstrating how a simple repeated pattern can really complement a boxy structure.
Even though the corridor has seen some additions in recent years, we wonder whether the developers would have included a commercial space if it wasn’t required by the code. Then again, Creep Records moved into a similar commercial space in the new building down the block at 2966 Richmond St., so there are clearly opportunities to find tenants for these types of spaces. Even if leasing the space ends up being a challenge, we imagine the developers prefer that risk over zoning risk.
Another benefit of this location is that Septa’s recently renamed G Trolley runs along Richmond Street. With Septa planning to spend a lot of money purchasing new trolleys and upgrading the network over the coming decades, some density that includes a couple affordable units near public transit feels like a real win. If the new building can also find a great tenant for its commercial space, it’ll be a double win for Port Richmond.