Current view of The Maven. Credit: Khosla Properties.

Philly YIMBY’s First Anniversary Countdown Looks at Entry Number 30: Francisville

In 1682, William Penn’s surveyor general Thomas Holme laid out a rectangular street plan for the new planned city of Philadelphia. Today, the area covered by the original plan comprises Center City, yet its grid continued to extend in all directions until it either hit a natural boundary, or was shelved in the postwar period when gridded city plans fell out of favor. As such, most of the city’s central neighborhoods follow the rectilinear plan, with a few notable exceptions. One among these is Francisville, a neighborhood situated west of Broad Street in Lower North Philadelphia. Here, a small yet clearly noticeable group of streets run at a roughly 45-degree angle to the main grid, as they follow Ridge Avenue and predate the grid’s extent this far north. The neighborhood fell on hard times in the postwar period, yet today it is awash in new construction as low- and mid-rise buildings are rising in every direction. The construction boom translated to 28 category tags over the course of the past year, landing Francisville at the 30th place on Philly YIMBY’s First Anniversary Countdown, where we track article categories we tagged most frequently over the course of the past year. Today we visit the most notable developments that we have covered in the neighborhood during this period.

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Arthaus architectural model crown. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Looking at the Architectural Model of Arthaus in Center City

In contrast to smaller developments, major skyscraper projects are backed by large teams, which include promotion staff and sales galleries that are open to the public, many with physical models of the building exterior and interiors. Arthaus is a 542-foot-tll condominium under construction at 311 South Broad Street in Center City. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by Dranoff Properties, the tower rises 47 stories and will include 108 residential units, with leasing currently underway. In this publication, Philadelphia YIMBY takes a look at a physical model of the skyscraper, which stands at the sales gallery located at the northeast corner of the ground floor of the Symphony House.

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Rendering of 1164 South 18th Street

Permits Issued for Four-Unit Building at 1164 South 18th Street in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of a ten-unit multi-family structure at 1164 South 18th Street in Point BreezeSouth Philadelphia. Upon completion, the building will rise four stories tall. One unit will have access to a private roof deck, while another is set to be generally accessible. Construction costs are estimated at $400,000. Miguel Mota is listed as the designed professional, with Donat Incorporated handling the contracting side of the project.

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The new Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Philly YIMBY Launches Its First Anniversary Countdown by Looking at Rittenhouse Square and Brewerytown

A year ago, the start of August marked the launch of Philadelphia YIMBY. We were excited to extend New York YIMBY’s years-long legacy of covering architecture, construction, and development to the City of Brotherly Love. Since that time, our staff has shared over 1,000 articles, covering a wide variety of topics that were cataloged into more than 1,800 categories. In celebration of Philly YIMBY’s first anniversary, we look at our most frequently tagged categories in a month-long series of articles that will run as a countdown that starts with the 31th most-popular category and will run until it hits number one. Today we begin our countdown by looking at Rittenhouse Square and Brewerytown, the two categories tied for the 31st place.

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Rendering of 2401-05 Frankford Avenue. Credit: Ambit Architecture.

Permits Issued for 15-Unit Building at 2401-05 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown

Permits have been issued for the construction of a 15-unit mixed-use building at 2401-05 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown, Kensington. Designed by Ambit Architecture, the building will rise four stories tall. A commercial space will be situated on the ground floor, with residential units situated above, topped with a green roof. Decks will also be included on the third and fourth floors, as well as five bicycle spaces for building residents. In total, the building will hold 14,560 square feet of space and cost an estimated $2.05 million to build. Grit Construction is handling the contractor work.

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