A Fishtown-ish Check-in, Pt. 1: Lower Frankford Ave.
South of Girard Ave., Frankford Ave. is quickly being reinvented
After scoping out the upcoming locale for the new Fishtown Overnight Food Truck Marketplace and stopping by to check on the progress of contemporary art gallery the West Collection, we thought we’d take a moment to process everything happening from a development standpoint close by. Since that’s sort of what we do here. Let’s take to the skies and check things out, where from roughly SE of Girard Ave. between Frankford Ave. and Front St., things have changed and are changing greatly by the day. Things are changing so much around here, in fact, that we’re going to make this update a two-parter, with our focus today on Frankford Ave.’s southern end.
We start at the very far southern edge, where One Frankford is rising at 945 Frankford Ave., immediately next to The Barbary (which is coming back?!) and the Northern Liberties Loop. This project from Archive Development will bring 78 units over commercial space to what was a surface parking lot immediately across from the Fillmore. The look from CANNOdesign is the epitome of classic, with the white brick, industrial-styled windows and sexy brickwork making this a worthy addition to such a prominent location. Let’s hope that we get some equally sexy commercial/retail on the ground level to match the design.
Making our way past the to-be-updated underpass of I-95, we come to 1120 Frankford Ave., where the Frankford Grand is nearly complete. US Development (formerly US Construction) is the developer here, bringing a five-story, 107-unit concept designed by Perkins Eastman (formerly BLTa) to this area directly in front of the El. This mixed-use project rises on what was a surface parking lot (awesome), though it sadly covered up the landmark cat mural that once graced the building next door (sad). Studio to two-bedroom spots are available now, and we are once again intrigued by what may end up going in on the ground level here.
Our final stop is at the corner of Frankford and Girard at 1148 Frankford Ave., where the Frank Furness-designed bank has gotten a new neighbor - and what appears to be several new uses. Called the Avant, these 60 apartment units come to us from developer Alterra Property Group, with a design assist from Oombra Architects. Originally slated to be short-term units, the concept saw a shift a while back, with the new construction portion again offering studio to two-bedroom rental units. And while we don’t have any retail specifics yet, recent zoning permits seem to indicate that there will be three commercial tenants: a medical office, a sit-down restaurant, and a clothing store.
Again, these 245 new units just begin to scratch the surface of everything happening in the area. Whether you are a crusty old-head pining for the sweaty, blurry dance parties of yesteryear or a Gen Z-er looking for a moderately-priced spot near transit, there’s bound to be a plethora of opinions about what this all means for the spirit of Fishtown. But as we said, there’s more to come in Part 2, so perhaps you should bide your time by grabbing a spot across the street at Garage while doing some Wild Card scouting before the Phils playoff seasons begins #redoctober
One Frankford right next to the SEPTA stop sure makes it look tiny as it now overshadows it.