(Click through for more renderings)

If you’ve passed by the intersection at 16^th and Ridge Avenue, you’ve probably noticed that it is very, very vacant. However there are plans in the works to change that. The development, formally Vineyards at 16^th, will be LEED-certified (a nationally accepted program for the construction and operation of high-performance green buildings). The City of Philadelphia approved The Vineyards building permits in October.

The locale will include 20, three-family townhomes all which will possess amenities such as hydronic radiant heating and solar thermal hot water systems (a homeowner relying on electricity to heat water could save up to $500 in the first year of operation by installing a solar water heating system!).

This development will not only be one of the few, much-needed progressions in the neighborhood, it will be one of the first in the area to be LEED-certified. Penelope Giles, who is the director of the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation, has also started “Cleaning and Greening” for the Francisville area, which is making huge efforts to take back lots and turn them into green locations.

The area definitely needs some TLC and this is a big step in the right direction.  Building is set to start in March of this year and although the units will start at about $175K, this will hopefully bring a whole new population to a desolate part of the city in need of revitalization.