A noodle bar and a cafe are coming to North Front Street below a new apartment tower

A 204-unit apartment building under construction at 1700 North Front Street will bring two new restaurants to the Fishtown area, including a new concept from the owners of Forin Cafe and the Philadelphia debut of small New England-based chain Mecha Noodle Bar.

The project is a collaboration between New Jersey-based developer Urby and the Fishtown Collective, which is associated with Roland Kassis, a developer with large holdings in Fishtown and an instrumental player in the neighborhood’s recent building boom.

“For me, it’s not cuisine specific, it’s really more about them [the owners of Forin] understanding the neighborhood and bringing a community,” said David Barry, founder and CEO of Urby.

The owners of Forin Cafe will be operating a new concept known as Percy out of a 4,300-square-foot space on the ground floor of the apartment building, with entrances from the street and the lobby. The restaurant will be open seven days a week and will include brunch featuring “upscale American breakfast” on weekends and Thursday-to-Saturday will have dinner and bar service at night.

“There’s going to be a fireplace in the lounge area,” said Seth Kligerman, one of the owners of Forin. “We’ll have lovely couches and a bunch of old-school speakers. So it will be kind of like a sound room, if you will, a very unique space.”

The interior design is being orchestrated by Shawn Hausman Design, the firm behind the looks of Parc and Dandelion. Percy will be the group’s fourth business, which also include two Forin locations in Kensington and Win Cafe in Queen Village.

Mecha Noodle Bar, a small New England chain based out of Bridgeport, Connecticut, will occupy a 3,500-square-foot space. The restaurant’s website describes their specialty as “Asia’s most comforting dishes,” with a variety of fusion offerings including pho, ramen, and bao.

The five-story building is nearing completion and leasing tours began this week. The units will be a mix of 28 studios, 141 one-bedroom apartments, and 35 two-bedroom apartments.

The building will be adorned with a mural from Dutch artist Henk Schiffmacher — who the developer notes tattooed Kurt Cobain — and will include a speakeasy of sorts for residents.

“The hideaway, as we call it, is like a great party room where you and your 20 closest friends would want to have cocktails,” said Barry. “It’s a space outside your apartment that’s like somebody’s amazing living room where you give a great party.”

Both the developer and Percy will organize events held at the speakeasy, but it will also be available for tenants to rent for their own purposes. The building will also include a roof deck, a front courtyard, and a back courtyard with grills and a dog park.

There is no parking on-site, but Urby has a relationship with a nearby parking lot where residents can have access to about 30 spaces.

“It’s really nice that Urby, being an outside developer, picked and gave an opportunity to very hyperlocal Philly people,” said Kligerman, who lives in Fishtown.