A couple of months ago, we gave you the good news that one of the two long-vacant buildings at Frankford & Wildey would soon be leasing apartments as Frankford Lofts. At the time, we lamented that the former hosiery factory across the street at 1101 Frankford Ave. remained as vacant and blighted as ever, despite new owners as of late 2012.
We first brought this property to your attention back in the summer of 2012, telling of its tax delinquency and complex legal situation. We also mentioned that it was an elevator factory at one point. We checked back in last May, when a reader spotted dumpsters at the property, and we were hopeful that change was coming soon. It's been pretty much status quo ever since, but a new zoning notice we spotted the other day suggests that change could be in the air.
The building's owners want to put a restaurant on the first floor of the building, which would join the popular Barcade on the block. Upstairs, they're proposing fifteen apartments, sixteen parking spaces in a mechanical parking garage, and ten bike parking spots. Nobody would argue that this would be a huge upgrade for this property, which has been blighted for as long as we can remember.
The memory of this corner as a bleak example of blight from just a year ago makes the thought of two renovated and restored buildings all the more exciting for us. And with additional plans for adaptive reuse in an entertainment complex just down the block, this stretch of Frankford Avenue is showing even more promise. We just wish we could fast-forward time a year or two to see how it all turns out. Shy of hopping in our Delorean, seems we'll just have to wait like everybody else.