Permits Issued for Le’ Adrienne at 1500 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown

Permits have been issued for the construction of Le’ Adrienne, a three-story, four-unit mixed-use building at 1500 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown. The new structure will rise from a currently vacant lot situated on the northwest corner of Frankford Avenue and Jefferson Street. Designed by Ambit Architecture, the building will span 6,530 square feet, with retail at the ground level and apartments above. Permits list Palace Builders as the contractor.

The building is designed in an attractive, eclectic style, clad in articulated olive panels and adorned with arched windows throughout both its commercial and residential sections. Flanges at the horizontal bands and the vertical piers create a pleasant sense of depth at the facade, as does the plain yet prominent cornice at the parapet. In all, the building will make for an appealing, distinctive presence at a street corner that has been thoroughly transformed in recent years via new high-density construction.

Permits indicate a construction cost of just over $1.3 million, which yields an average cost of around $200 per interior square foot. The higher-than-average cost is likely reflective of the additional design, material and labor expenditures that are associated with such a well-crafted design that goes above and beyond the minimalist, bottom-line-oriented budget construction that we, regrettably, see all too often throughout the city’s new construction projects.

We do, however, wonder, if the per-foot cost would had gone down and the developer’s revenue gone up if they opted for a taller building (fully appropriate for the site, as it is surrounded by mid-rise development), which would have also boosted the neighborhood’s housing supply.

The Girard Station and the route 15 trolley on Girard Avenue sit within an eight-minute walk to the south. Penn Treaty Park, a cherished waterfront green space, is situated within a 15-minute walk to the southeast.

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