Front Street north of Fairmount in Northern Liberties is in the middle of a series of big changes. We took a walk in the area last week to check up on the changing face of Front Street here, from industrial to residential.

To start, right away at Front & Fairmount, construction is progressing on four homes designed by KJO Architecture. Back in May, the foundations were dug and the parcel fenced in. Now, the four homes are framed out, already lending a new perspective to the block. Next, at Front & Brown. there are the Penn Treaty Village Pennthouses. In early August we told you that the second phase of the project from Core Realty, run by Michael Samschick, was moving along nicely.  Samshick is also behind the ambitious conversion of several long vacant Richmond Street warehouses into an entertainment complex (there is lots of work going on over there in conjunction with this project). The first phase of the Penn Treaty Village Penthouses was rolled out in 2012.

Looking north on Front Street. New homes plus Pennthouses.

Moving right along to the next block, that brings us to the northwest intersection Front & Poplar, a block where there is building going on, as well as recently completed building. When we first told you about potential plans for 11 new homes here in 2012, we were somewhat skeptical, with I-95 being the backyard. But lo, the following winter, a foundation was dug, homes were framed out. When we passed by, a number of those units were clearly occupied.

A bunch of new homes on the 900 block

Continuing along, it's the 900 block of Front, the one between Poplar and I-95, that is seeing the most work. Last fall, Crossfit Love, a gym, opened at the former 941 Theatre. Perhaps this points most to the changing character of the neighborhood. Once affordable, cheap, and dilapidated, it was home to art, now that art has been replaced with a gym and modern housing. In between Liberty Gates homes and Crossfit Love, a second row of seven new homes was under construction at 927-39 Front St., part of a project of eight additional homes that were under construction earlier this year. In between the two, a large billboard stands above it all.

Construction north of Poplar, plus a Cross Fit gym

We still can't get over all this building on Front Street, where I-95 is basically in everyone's backyard. But it certainly has happened, pointing to the fact, that either a lot of people want to live wherever they can in Northern Liberties, or the developers have gone nuts. It's surely not the former, as people indeed are occupying these new units. And with plans for even more homes on the 800 block, it seems the demand isn't slowing down even a little bit.

Back on the 800 block, the next big thing is coming soon