It’s not secret that Fishtown, East Kensington, and South Kensington have collectively experienced an explosion in development over the last decade plus. And this development boom made sense, for a host of reasons. Rising prices in Northern Liberties pushed buyers and renters to look for less expensive options, but folks didn’t want to leave the River Wards. Older, former industrial properties offered sizable lots that were well suited for mixed-use redevelopment. Frankford Avenue emerged as a destination commercial corridor.
The piece of the puzzle that has always thrown us off has been all the construction that has taken place on N. Front Street. In the abstract, of course it makes sense that we’d see a ton of construction on Front Street, as it runs between Fishtown and South Kensington and has terrific access to mass transit. But in practice, the mass transit presents a real challenge for the corridor, with the El rumbling by every day, all day, and its tracks creating a less than ideal street presence. Unless we find our way into a few billion dollars to bury it though, the El isn’t going anywhere. That being said, the market is telling us that this isn’t so necessary.
Let’s take a stroll up the 1900 block of N. Front Street, shall we? It’ll be easy, since the entire east side of the block is occupied by fields that are used by KCAPA. So we’ll just look to the west. At the corner of Front & Berks, we can provide an update on a project we first covered back in 2020. In the past, an old bar and a former bank stood on this site. Today, it’s an active construction site for a building that will eventually include 105 apartments and a decent amount of retail space. We suspect that the building will be ready for tenants sometime in the beginning of next year.
Moving right along, we can next turn our attention to 1924 N. Front St., a property that was previously home to a church. The church was demoed in 2022 and a new building has risen in its place. This building, which looks like it’ll be done quite soon, includes 32 apartments over commercial space. Architecturally, it’s a bit more of a traditional approach than we’ll see at the project to the south.
Speaking of non-traditional design, this is as good a time as any to remind you of the 28-unit building at 1942 N. Front St., which we told you about back in 2019. This building, which is clad almost entirely in solar panels, replaced a vacant lot a few years back, providing a blueprint to other developers on how to pursue a “passive house” approach for a multi-family project in Philadelphia. Regrettably, we haven’t seen anyone else go this route in the years since. Did we mention we’re having a heat wave this week?
Finally, let’s look at the one parcel on the block that’s currently got the least certainty around its future. 1952 N. Front St. was previously home to buildings which once housed the Ninth National Bank and Industrial Title and Savings Trust Company. The banks left years ago and these wonderful buildings deteriorated in the years that followed. We first covered these buildings back in 2012, wondering whether they’d be redeveloped or demoed. By 2018, a renovation and reuse seemed possible, and permits were pulled in 2021 for a facadectomy.
The buildings were unfortunately demoed last year, ending years of hope that they could be salvaged and repurposed. It appears that the plan from 2021 to build a 46-unit building over commercial may still yet move forward, but clearly without the adaptive reuse element. Certainly, this will be a worse outcome than the original proposal, as we would have been delighted to see something like this rise here:
We’ll just have to settle for something else. And we’ll dry our tears with the knowledge, that after this building gets built, this block alone will see the addition of 211 apartments and several commercial spaces, greatly adding to the vibrancy of this area. And yeah, the rumble of the El and the shadows of the tracks don’t positively impact that atmosphere. But the El provides a quick ride to Center City, plus there’s plenty of places to go within walking distance as well. In other words, look for construction to continue along Front Street. And if it means more spots like Middle Child Clubhouse and Wm. Mulherin’s Sons, we are very much here for it.