32-Unit, Mixed-Use Building Rising in Francisville

If you’ve lived in Francisville for more than a few years, you likely remember the old dollar store at the intersection of Francis St. and Ridge Ave. The dollar store was demolished in 2017 in anticipation of a 27-unit, mixed-use building being built at 1614-20 Ridge Avenue. By June of 2018, permits were issued to increase the number of units from 27 to 40 and a foundation was constructed.

Work then seemed to stop at the site and then the property traded hands in December of 2018 for $1.8 million. In October of 2019, additional permits were issued decreasing the number of units from 40 to 32. No other permits have been issued that change this unit count since then that we are aware of.

Work is now well underway at the site and it looks like the building is topped out. In summary, this seems like it will be a 32-unit, 5-story building with ground floor commercial space and 20 bicycle spaces.

32 homes for people and a retail space seems like a much better use of this 11,267 square foot CMX-2.5 zoned parcel that sits only a few blocks away from the Broad Street Line than a small 1-story commercial space. This section of Ridge Avenue in Francisville has seen a ton of development over the last several years, and it doesn’t seem like construction will slow down anytime soon in the neighborhood. We’re hoping that the corridor can attract a few more high quality commercial businesses in the near future due to the increased residential density in the surrounding area as more and more of these buildings become activated.

How do you feel about this project? What kind of business would you like to see open in the ground floor commercial space?