Renderings have been revealed for a multi-family development proposed at 901 North Front Street in Northern Liberties, North Philadelphia. Designed by Designblendz, the new building will stand seven stories tall and feature 96 residential units, and will span 76,033 square feet. The ground floor will hold parking for 24 cars and 37 bicycles.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
The new building will feature a modern exterior that leans heavily towards gray tones, with dark gray brick on the ground floor, and gray fiber cement paneling on upper floors. Windows are arranged evenly in columns, with sizing differs throughout the facade, and some windows abutting from the structure, creating intriguing rectangular variations in the structure’s massing. Blue cement paneling acts as an accent.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
The structure features a street presence that will have a friendly interaction with the sidewalk. Of course, parking space generally does not make for an inviting streetscape, so the curb cuts are unfortunate, even if necessary. To help mask the parking space inside and break up an otherwise blank wall, renderings show a collection of murals that provide pops of color and vibrancy to the street. One if the most interesting design elements of the project are the indentations seen at the ground level that create a subtle curved cantilever that adds definitive visual appeal.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
The new development will be replacing a single-story industrial building, of a type once common in the area, which did not offer much in terms of street presence, with a drab, fenced-off surface parking lot. The somewhat blighted condition of the building also did not do Poplar Street any favors in terms of beautification.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Google.
At the moment, the structure’s presence makes little sense when considering its location. The property sits within a couple of blocks from Spring Garden Station on the Market-Frankford Line. Numerous nearby lots are also in the process of, or are already home to, completed development projects similar to the one at hand.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
The new project will be a great addition to the location, with its modern design and fantastic density. The added 96 units are certainly welcome at the location considering the growing demand in the Northern Liberties area, though the amount of parking space included with the project seems rather unnecessary considering the transit accessibility of the site. Moving forward, it would be pleasant to see the city permitting more developments to overcome parking minimums and take advantage of transit-oriented means of transport.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
901 North Front Street. Credit: Design Blendz.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
I’d have to say anything would be better than what is there now!!
I think that it’s safe to say that many people do not want to ‘take advantage of transit-oriented means of transport’ in Philadelphia. Until the city manages to provide a modern, efficient, clean and safe public transit system of the sort found in many other cities, larger and smaller than Philadelphia, expecting people to ride the Market-Frankford line, especially from the dilapidated Spring Garden Street station, is expecting a lot.
I’m sure they won’t market it as being located in Northern Liberties,North Philadelphia. The Northern Liberties was a destination given by Penn to identify the usage of open land. The current successful marketing wisely never mentions North Philadelphia, even the attempts to market North Broad omit that technically Arch Street is North Philadelphia.
I currently park there because my building is 901 N.Front Street.So how is this possible? The entrance to this new place must be Poplar or Canal Street. They always show trees in the pics and some maintenance guy with a broom. Where is this at Disney or Liberty?