Last winter, we first brought the AA Fence building, located at 924-28 New Market St., to your attention. We wondered about its history, and a couple of commenters helped fill in the blanks. The building dates back to at least the 1850s as a Baptist Church. For about a hundred years starting in the 1870s, the building held a couple of different Jewish congregations, and was known by many in the neighborhood as the Hebrew Church. By the mid-1960s, the iron works/fencing company moved in, and the exterior condition of the building went downhill fast. Now, it’s marked for demolition, with plans to replace it with five single family homes.

In 1959

Recent shot

Members of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) zoning committee have approved plans for these homes, designed by KJO Architecture, according to zoning chair Larry Freedman. Because of the dimensions of the lot, the developers are using a similar plan to one we’re seeing on the 400 block of Fairmount Ave., with the homes fronting an interior drive aisle and only one of the homes interacting with New Market Street. By taking this approach, they’re able to fit at least two and maybe three additional homes onto the parcel.

Rendering of the project

Elevations show some interesting looking new homes

Aerial view, just for kicks

Since we first wrote about this project, this immediate area has seen several new projects come through the pipeline. NLNA recently approved plans for three new homes on the 1000 block. They also approved plans for eight more homes around the corner at 933-37 Front St., which is just on the other side of I-95. Compound that with the plans for 11 new units on the 900 block of New Market Street we told you about in March and New Market Street is swinging like the Festrunk brothers. Not to be confused, of course, with the Pestronk brothers.

–Lou Mancinelli