Coral House Brings Curved Cornice to Busy Frankford & Lehigh
The white brick building brings 41 units to an area that has seen plenty of change - and could see more
As we were making our way back from a lovely excursion to Bridesburg (more to come on that), we meandered southbound on Aramingo Ave. before hanging a right onto Lehigh. Approaching the intersection of Frankford & Lehigh after passing several new construction buildings, we found ourselves looking up at the lovely Coral House, a five-story, 41-unit mixed-use building that’s now at full height - and looking almost identical to a rendering from Canno Design.
We actually had the pleasure of running into the fine folks from Archive Development when we stopped by to scope things out. The ground floor will be finished up shortly, with the darker materials grounding this symmetrical facade. Parking for 13 bikes (and no cars) will join the ground level commercial space, offering a big-time upgrade from the former surface lot. While not yet 100% complete, it’s already apparent that the details here will help this building stand out, with the brick work and curved cornice giving a sense of permanence you don’t always find in new construction today.
If this was the only thing happening in the immediate vicinity, that would be big news on its own. But beyond the presence of the awesome Fireball Printing just a few steps to the south, there are three other projects that could completely change this upper end of East Kensington.
Let’s first start with the former Kensington Community Food Co-op, which unfortunately closed about a year ago, directly next to the Coral House. Plans from Ambit Architecture would add another handsome building here, this one adding 19 units over commercial space across five floors, also with zero car parking. This red-brick project received zoning permits earlier this year for construction, and a recently issued demo permit leads us to believe that we may see this corner change soon.
Jumping to the NW corner of Frankford & Lehigh is yet another property that has sights on a big change. Most recently serving as Joel’s Tire Shop, 157 units over two commercial spaces were proposed in Summer 2023, though the site seems much the same today as it did then. The look from DesignBlendz would add six contemporary floors right next to what could be the future Richmond Industrial Trail. A zoning permit for construction was issued in January, but we didn’t see any signs of actions when we checked things out.
Finally, we head to a site that could hold the biggest of all of these projects: the former Woods’ Brothers lot wedged between Frankford and Amber. The old lumber yard was sold nearly a decade ago, with various plans for apartments coming and going over the years. The latest proposal for the site includes 453 units over a garage - a massive change for this former industrial site. Once again, permits don’t offer much insight into what’s happening, though a permit to laterally seal the plumbing of the site - a key first step towards getting the property ready for building - issued earlier this year has now expired. Peeking through the fence, the site looked somewhat newly cleared, so we once again may see some action here.
With hundreds of units already online east on Lehigh, 41 more nearly ready at Coral House, and 629 in the pipeline close by, it is no exaggeration to say this nook of the neighborhood has completely changed in the last five years. It will be fascinating to see what the area is like another five years from now if and when these projects move forward.
The Coral House brickwork is impressive.