For quite a number of years, Woods Brothers Building Materials occupied a giant property at 2621 Frankford Ave., just a little below Lehigh Avenue. And we're not exaggerating when we say it's a giant property, it measures over 87,000 sqft. But very little of the property was covered by buildings, it's mostly been used for parking and to store building materials.
Developers are now looking to redevelop this huge parcel, and presented their first thoughts to the community last night. The project is as large as you'd expect for a parcel this size, with plans calling for 178 apartments, 80 parking spots, and ground-floor retail. The East Kensington Neighbors Association Facebook page posted a rendering of the project which has been dubbed Woods Square.
We're into the warehouse look, as it pays tribute to the history of the neighborhood, though we'd have to guess the look and the design of the project will change as it moves through the community process. We wish that we could have made it to the community meeting- for anyone who was able to attend can you provide some insight into how it was received?
Meanwhile, we're just annoyed that we're not the ones developing this property. We remember distinctly that the property was offered up for auction a couple years ago and we didn't make it out there. Clearly the owners didn't get the price they were looking for, but the current developers have stepped forward to hopefully move this property forward. What do you think about this project? Do you like the design? The density? Do you think that, assuming something like this happens, it will mean even more movement for development toward and across Lehigh Avenue?