Permits have been issued for the construction of a seven-story, 78-unit mixed-use development at 1000-10 North Delaware Avenue in Fishtown. The new building will replace a parking lot situated on a block bound by North Delaware Avenue to the southeast, Frankford Avenue to the west, East Allen Street to the north, and Sarah Street to the east. Designed by CANNOdesign and developed by the Archive Development, the building will span 69,160 square feet, which will include 4,374 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Residential amenities will include elevator service, a roof deck, and parking for 26 bicycles. Permits list the Tester Construction Group as the contractor and specify a construction cost of $12.95 million.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Google/Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
The irregularly-shaped site may be best described as a “pizza slice” wedged between Delaware and Frankford avenues, with a “bite” taken out of the front end. The “bite” accommodates the turnaround loop for the route 15 trolley, which runs up Frankford Avenue for several blocks until it rejoins Girard Avenue for the majority of its run. A trolley station, marked by a shelter canopy and an adjacent service shed, sits in front of the proposal site.
The building footprint will be comprised of a trapezoid that follows the sidewalk line along Delaware Avenue, Allen Street, and very narrow, alley-like, block-long Sarah Street, which connects the two abovementioned thoroughfares. On Frankford Avenue (and on peculiar Manderson Street, which technically comprises part of the trolley loop), the building recedes from the sidewalk on a diagonal, where the designers propose a small yet pleasant green space, which will sit adjacent to the SEPTA station. The ground-level commercial space will open onto Delaware and Frankford avenues, with access from both, as well as partially onto Sarah Street.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
The residential lobby will be situated at the corner of Frankford Avenue and Allen Street, with an entrance opening onto Frankford. Residential amenity and building service space will span the rest of the ground floor. The trash removal bay will open onto Sarah Street, in a move that cleverly removes the facility from general public view, though we certainly hope that garbage truck drivers will be able to negotiate the seven-foot-wide roadway of the alley without trouble. In a pleasant bit of site planning, the new building will be set back from the lot line by two and a half feet, adding much-needed pedestrian space to a sidewalk that currently measures just four feet wide.
The building will rise 84 feet to the top of the main roof, 88 feet to the top of the parapet, and around 100 feet, or maybe slightly higher, to the top of the elevator bulkhead.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Google/Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
The site sits at the convergence of North Delaware Avenue, a grand waterfront promenade, and Frankford Avenue, a major thoroughfare that leads into the neighborhood interior. The 1000-10 North Delaware Avenue site may be described as located at the gateway to Fishtown and the River Wards beyond, and, as such, warrants a grand architectural gesture.
Fortunately, CANNOdesign has delivered a product worthy of the prominent location. Greeting the intersection with a raked corner, like the prow of a ship sailing down the Delaware River, 1000-10 North Delaware Avenue is a contemporary homage to the neighborhood’s classic factory loft aesthetic. Paneled windows trimmed in black frames and mullions, gentle cornice lines, and low arches exude a certain prewar sophistication, while off-white Belgian gray brick makes for a light and cheery presence.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
1000-10 North Delaware Avenue. Credit: Canno Design.
The Frankford Avenue-facing diagonal sidewalk setback not only respectfully recedes behind the trolley station and spruces it up with green space, but also draws the eye down the avenue. In turn, the ground-level retail space will animate the street corner and will significantly improve the pedestrian experience at this important connection point between the inland neighborhood and waterfront attractions, such as the riverfront esplanade and the Rivers Casino, on the other side of Delaware Avenue.
We look forward to further progress on the development.
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You’d think Phila had an intact, user-friendly public transportation system with all of the residential buildings going up all around the city with little or no parking provided. When one has to wait 2 hours for the next train, no matter when or where, it is not a viable, reliable system.
What exactly is not user friendly about SEPTA?
Are you sure you have a problem with the user-friendliness, and not with the fact that its the disgusting riders that make it unpleasant?
This looks great and to take the trolley to the MFL Girard station, plus take the same trolley to curve around at the terminus to literally drop you off at home in this building is cool!
SEPTA has many problems inherent in its transportation system. They started a bus project to see what can be improved only to get feedback from users objecting to the proposed changes to their bus routes. Plus, there is not enough money to give SEPTA what they need to satisfy their riders.
It’s always the money…it must be the money…
It cant possibly be that most normal people choose to drive…We somehow HAVE TO assume that inherently we don’t want the convenience of the car…we like to be packed in a bus or trolley. Grow up kids
If you would like the “convenience of a car,” then, perhaps, you should choose to invest in a project with more parking? It’s a free market, and, unless constrained by zoning-mandated parking minimums, developers aren’t required to cater to drivers exclusively, especially in transit-accessible areas. Don’t like the lack of parking? Feel free to take your money elsewhere; there will be plenty more who will like the project offering as is.
Great…26 bike spaces USELESS! and no car parking…
I don’t know what public transportation system you use the only time you have to wait 2 hours for a train is on a Sunday for a commuter rail line that’s not that popular
That would be Saturday AND Sunday and that is a ridiculous amount of time to stand around the train station!
This location is served by the 15 and 25, which run every 15-30 minutes. So, in this context, a 2hr wait is not relevant. Additionally, creating more demand for transit around stations is exactly how you improve systems.