The Bend is Complete on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown
61 apartment units and some national retailers complete the shift to Fishtown 2.0
It was back in July that we last stopped by 1359 Frankford Ave., a property at the kink in Frankford Avenue’s northeastwardly journey through the city. Previously a parking lot that had a host of past proposals, plans solidified a few years back, with 61 apartments across four floors over retail space designed by NORR. But now, after so much waiting, The Bend is now finished on this premier Fishtown corner.
About one-third of the units (20 of 61) here will be designated as mixed-income, offering much lower prices than market rate, according to a listing (under $1,200 to live on Frankford Ave.?!). And all of these units will be housed in this contemporary red design, which includes masonry at ground level, brick immediately above, and cherry-red corrugated metal panels to top off the look.
While there have been many projects that have risen recently up and down this commercial stretch, where this building stands out is at the ground level. Fishtown became the epicenter of cool thanks to its gritty feel and smattering of local, idiosyncratic businesses that were steeped in Philly vibes. Here, however, we get a more catch-all approach to retail. Let’s work our way north along the ground level to check things out more closely.
While the orange protection along the overhead wires still remains, we can pretty much call this one a wrap. Landscaping is in, the building looks complete, and residents and businesses already make their homes here.
And it feels…odd.
Don’t get us wrong, convenient salads and ready access to skin care are both wonderful things in and of themselves. But to have such a slice of suburbia in the beating heart of Fishtown still strikes us as weird, especially with the prevailing sentiment in the neighborhood towards certain coffee shops and banks.
This, however, is in part what happens with increased new construction development. It is nearly impossible to replicate the feeling of a mom-and-pop shop in a family-owned rowhome that has stood for over a century when a new building goes up (for a host of reasons). So of course we’re going to have these instances of national consumerism showing their face, whether that’s as part of a new construction storefront or with the preponderance of Amazon trucks that are unloading at literally every moment somewhere within the city limits (often in bike lanes or pedestrian crossings, but that’s a whole other issue).
So, this is something of the bargain with increased development - more people, more commercial space, more national retailers. While we understand the functional need - and financial stability for the building’s owners - to have these larger, longer-term retail leases, we do fear that something has already been lost when it comes to the charm and romance of the Fishtown of just a few years ago. It certainly seems as if Fishtown 2.0 is indeed up around The Bend, if it’s not already here.
