The City is selling two large long-time vacant overgrown lots just about underneath I-95 at Front and Wildey Streets through Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). The deadline to submit an RFP is February 8.

The two lots, 1049-69 N. Front St. and 1101-19 N. Front St. total just shy of 63K sqft are immediately across the street from Tip Top Playground. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, the lots were turned over to the City in 1974. In years past, one was a leather tannery and the other a cotton factory, with other various uses at both sites over the years.

1049-69 Front St

In Northern Liberties, there was a 112 percent increase of the 20- to 29-years-old population, between 2000 and 2010, according to the RFP, and it’s continuing, with the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association receiving historic numbers of zoning applications, according to NLNA zoning chair Larry Freedman, who has been on the committee since 1987.

1101-19 N Front St.

And with Michael Samschick and Core Realty developing an entertainment complex in an old warehouse a block away at Richmond and Frankford Avenues, the value of the area is poised to rise. Couple that with the 32 homes planned for Front and Callowhill south of here and various plans north of Girard, and Front Street’s a changin’ up and down the waterfront. We envision, as seems to be the run of things for modern development, this will end up a mixed-use project with green infrastructure. Maybe there’s a way to connect Tip Top Playground to Penn Treaty Park, which can be accessed via Richmond Street immediately south of the lots. One thing that will surely be interesting is how any development accounts for the El, which is located immediately next door.

Stay tuned to see what becomes…

–Lou Mancinelli