Earlier this week, we were in Northern Liberties and spotted an interesting building that's available for sale. 625-29 N. Front St. stands alone on its block, surrounded by parking lots. Architecturally, it's rather unique, suggesting a possibly interesting history.
Looking back at some historic maps, it's clear that this location has had transit significance for quite some time. By 1962, the Philadelphia Transportation Company had a substation here, which we are guessing was the original function of this building. PTC, by the way, owned the El, the Broad Street Line, and several bus and trolley lines when it was folded into Septa in 1968.
The building itself has about 7,000 sqft of interior space over two floors. The ceilings on the first floor are an impressive 25' which you might be able to guess from looking at the outside. The second floor has much more standard ceiling heights. We could see an office use here on the boring side, or a restaurant on the more interesting side.
This location is a little remote as Northern Liberties goes, but it's on the come. A little to the west, plans should soon be in swing for a new mixed-use building with twenty-five apartments and a commercial space. To the north along Delaware Ave., the Penn Treaty Village Pennthouses have taken a couple of vacant blighted buildings and converted them into luxury apartments. And along Front Street, a several new construction projects have cropped up in both directions. It will be interesting to see whether all of the momentum in the surrounding area will induce a buyer to step forward to buy the building in question. A $950K price tag may be a stumbling block, but if somebody has the right vision for this spot it might just work.