Yesterday, local Frankfordian and free lance journalist Christopher Wink and I took our misadventures on the road to the Globe Dye Works. And this is what we’ve learned.
- Charlie Abdo, brothers Matt and Ian Papajohn, and 3 other guys(sorry I can’t remember their names) have gone partners in the Globe Development Group. Charlie and and another guy are the operations guys on this project. GDG has other buildings in other neighborhoods too
- this Charlie Abdo founded North Star Bar back in ’81 as their history states, so he has already touched on awesomeness.
- by some estimates, the facility has 165,000 square feet of space
- Globe Dye Works isn’t just one building. It’s many buildings built side by side as the organization expanded through it’s existence
- The development of the facility appears to be very organic, it’s just evolving. The one thing that’s being concentrated on is its environmental sustainability
- they bought a house across the street at sheriff sale to make sure something will get done with the place, super cool
- Here’s it’s entry by Torben Jenk on workshopoftheworld.com
- There’s a metal worker, wood worker and a UPenn art professor already taking up space in the building
- An art exhibition showcasing the building is on May 9th from 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM. I’ll be there.
- I have a ton of pictures from this very cool place that I will be showcasing for quite some time. Below is a little taste:
WELCOME to the east side of Frankford Ave. In my near 50 years of living on this side of Frankford, I’ve often felt we were the forgotten step child. So happy to see something positive happening!
Well congratulations, because as of right now, East Frankford is the most likely candidate to see a renaissance. I have been looking up to Wingohocking and Adams because they have mills too and also the Twins at Powder Mill are there. I also considered Frankford Ave from Ruan to Bridge St to be a likely candidate to see revitalization. But after seeing this place, I’m pretty sure the place to be in Frankford is the wedge between Torresdale and Frankford up to the Old Mill and Henry Riehl buildings by Unity Streets.
Jim…
That last photo is brilliant. I think our misadventures need a global tour…
-cgw
absolutely
[…] touring the complex with Jim Smiley of the Frankford Gazette and Charles Abdo, the bright and engaging man that is leading the construction with five other partners and seems […]
[…] of Pennsylvania’s Departmenet of Fine Arts. I got a view of his art space when I took my first tour of the Dye Works with Chris Wink. And let me tell you, it’s impressive, so impressive that I was too intimidated to take any […]