Apartment building in Kensington hopes to attract young professionals with affordable units

A 60-unit apartment building is planned for 2108-12 N. Sixth St. in Kensington, almost equidistant between the Broad Street and the Market-Frankford train lines.

The six-story project is the latest offering from Fringe Development, a small real estate and property management company based in Philadelphia.

“It’s not a building that’s going to have big luxury apartments, and it costs a million dollars to move in,” said Allan Nadav, owner of Fringe Development. “It’s giving people a place to live as adults, that you can afford when you’re 30 years old and you don’t want to have a roommate anymore.”

The building will largely consist of studio apartments, but after hearing pushback from community groups in the area, Nadav added nine two-bedroom apartments.

The building will include 25 parking spaces on the first floor, along with a 1,278-square-foot gym and a 990-square-foot lobby. Parking for 56 bicycles will be in the building’s basement.

Nadav said that adding more parking to the building, especially underground, would make construction too expensive for him to be able to charge rents that are affordable to the tenants he is trying to reach.

“[Underground Parking] would make it impossible to keep it as an efficient, cheaper product that people can afford,” Nadav said.

Fringe Development will require approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to move forward because the property is zoned for neighborhood commercial retail (although some residential uses are allowed).

Another community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 27 at 1950 N. Ninth St., organized by the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM).

The community’s vote at that meeting will not be determinative of how the zoning board rules, but the ZBA has been known to value neighborhood groups’ opinions. Most developers would rather have community support than not. (APM declined to comment on the project until the second meeting is held.)

“We’re hoping that we can show the neighborhood at this meeting that this is not what your typical developer builds,” Nadav said.

After the community meeting, a hearing before the zoning board is set for Oct. 4. The project will also be considered by the Civic Design Review committee, which can provide advice but has no power, on Oct. 3.

Fringe Development was drawn to the area because of its abundant vacant land. From previous experience, Nadav says he did not want to continue developing in a neighborhood like Point Breeze, where the existing density made it difficult to amass enough land without directly encroaching upon current residents.

In this corner of North Philadelphia, he says the company was able to amass lots over the years to prepare for this project with a minimum of disruption.

“In the old Kensington neighborhood, there’s so many warehouses and so much vacant land that I figure ... we’re not displacing anybody, there’s nothing to lose,” Nadav said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story stated the wrong number of units proposed by Fringe Development because the company’s plans contained an outdated unit count. They now plan for 60 units, a change made to accommodate the two-bedroom apartments.