The old reliable grid of Philadelphia’s street layout is pretty constant throughout much of downtown, with William Penn’s famous design still readily apparent today. However, things go a little sideways (pun intended) where Fishtown breaks off at a 45-degree angle to the northeast, creating a series of diagonal lots as the newly positioned grid runs into the traditional north-south/east-west roads. One wonderful thing about these angled streets is the interesting property shapes that result, and 2245 N. Front St. fits right in. Created by the intersection of N. Front & E. Dauphin St., this corner property forms a sharp point where the streets connect.

What’s coming to this empty corner is most certainly a step-up from its past and current state. We actually visited this site back in July 2020, where a party store in a low-rise structure and a rowhouse that was home to a Chinese restaurant once stood. Though no zoning permits have been issued as of yet, Cadre Design recently shared an Instagram post that shows us what might be coming our way. The design shows a six-story building, seemingly with ground floor commercial space, predominantly consisting of gray brick and large windows. The most striking part of the building would have to be its triangular shape, creating another rounded, flatiron-ish building to join the list of other similar recent designs. We don’t have any additional details but if we had to guess, the developers are utilizing either a fresh food market bonus or a mixed-income housing bonus (or both!) to bump the height up from the by-right four floors up to the potential six-floor structure. Let’s do a bit of time traveling to see the past, present and future of this corner.

Not a bad upgrade, right? Again, no plans have yet to be submitted to the city, so things might certainly change moving forward. However, developers Triangle Flats are extremely bullish on the area. Just across Dauphin St. from the site, 21 apartment units from the same developers filled in the missing teeth on the block back in 2017. Just a few steps to the south at 2213-33 N. Front St., Triangle Flats has proposed another 60-unit building, with an additional 17 units coming as part of a second phase.

All told, we could easily see 100+ units across just these few projects. Add in the potential adaptive reuse of yet another property we visited recently on this very block, and the future is looking very bright for this corner, which sits across the street from the York-Dauphin station on the MFL. Let’s hope that these get moving soon, as the current empty lots aren’t adding much of anything to the ambiance of the intersection.