Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
Zoning issues related to Frankford
Coming to 4731 Griscom Street in Frankford according to the sign posted on the building is a new Jamaican restaurant – Good Vibes. No permits or plans so far on the City web site. This corner is a hotbed of drug sales and violence.
Thanks for the tip from the neighbors who are wary of any take-out business in that area.
After a decade of vacancy, a new owner has taken control of a neglected 19th century Northeast Philadelphia landmark. Follow the link below for the rest of the story.
The proposed use which has already been run through L&I is:
“27, 000 sq ft building with Approved plans for 31 Loft Apartments and a 6, 000 sq ft retail space on first floor. Other potential approved uses for the property are: Day care, Educational Facility, Artist lofts, Live/office spaces, Catering Hall, Religious Assemblies, and rooming house/ halfway houses. See attached CMX2 zoning guide for other uses. This property also includes 4335 Frankford Ave, a 20, 000 sq ft paved, secured, fenced, parking lot, that is adjacent to the property.”
This property is zoned CMX-2 which allows this use by right. Certain other restrictions related to the size of lot and number of units may apply.
This is the old Frankford Trust building which has been recently in use as a church. In May it was purchased by 4400 Frankford Inc. for $585,000. The address of 4400 Frankford Inc. is 1218 Green Street which is also the address of Metal Green Inc.
I am guessing that the price is dependent on the work being accomplished but so far the owner has not responded to our request for more information. The image below shows the ground floor plan with a daycare sharing half of the space. Click on the image for a better view.
Linked below is a pdf of the plans. There are one and two bedroom apartments, no efficiencies and nothing that remotely looks like a rooming house. They would occupy the basement up to the 3rd floor. This could be another step forward for Frankford or it could be a false alarm. Clearly, some developers are seeing potential here and are moving in this direction.
Link to full plans here.
Link to listing on Realtor.com is here.
Steve Ostroff discussed the plans for the New Frankford Community Y building (4704 Leiper Street) at the Northwood Civic Association meeting on November 18th. After a grilling by a skeptical audience concerned about the possibility of negative uses of the building, he managed to calm the fears of many in the Northwood residents.
Garsed Mansion from Google Street View
Although he and his partner, Mavrakis Stylianos, apparently have no specific plans, the objective is to get some tenant or tenants into the building to make some money. Ostroff is a major investor in Frankford and he has a substantial investment in this building to protect. He understands the mansion part of the property is on the historic register and as such cannot be altered. He said he had no plans to do so.
This deal could be a win for Frankford and Northwood. A historic building will be protected and returned to some productive use. The sale of the building could also become a windfall for other nonprofits in Frankford. If the nonprofit Corporation which owns the building sells its property and then liquidates its assets, under those circumstances, the proceeds must go to another nonprofit. How that is handled would be up to the Board of Directors but it should stay in Frankford.
The Northwood Civic Association meeting will be Tuesday, December 18th at 7:00 PM, at Simpson Recreation Center. The new property owner will be presenting plans for a zoning variance they applied for. Plans are to have an office space on first floor and residences on the above floors. The new owner of the former Northwood Frankford Y may be present to introduce himself.
Bank owned property may be sued by neighboring residents with the support of the Civic. We will discuss the matter and make a decision as to what role the civic should take.
