Frankford CDC is planning a mixed-income apartment building next to the El
The development will include dozens of new apartments — subsidized and market rate — as well as a grocery store and a long-awaited public health center.
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The Frankford Community Development Corp. is planning a mixed-income apartment building and a grocery store to accompany a long-planned public health center.
The five-story, 195,000-square-foot development will be directly across the street from the Frankford Transportation Center, the second busiest SEPTA station in Philadelphia.
“This transportation center is one of the most heavily traveled transit hubs in Philadelphia, making this ideal for transit-oriented development,” reads a plan the Frankford CDC submitted to the city’s Planning Commission.
The first floor of the project at 5113-5115 Frankford Ave. will include a 18,854-square-foot grocery store and half of the two-story 40,000-square-foot community health center. It is one of two planned to expand public health services in Northeast Philadelphia, with the other slated for the Friends Hospital campus off Roosevelt Boulevard.
“For years, the lower Northeast has been identified as a health care desert, lacking critical primary care access,” said a Health Department spokesperson in a statement. “Working with the Frankford Community Development Corporation has enabled this process to progress, and we’re excited to finally get to see our Health Center, one of the centerpieces of the Frankford Plaza development, open for business.”
In the four stories above the ground floor will be the second section of the health center and the residential units. The plans submitted to the city say there will be 74 market-rate rentals and 60 units funded by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), a total of 134 units, which is two more than the plans show elsewhere. Studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments will be included.
The project, dubbed Frankford Plaza, will have a parking lot with 58 spaces.
“Since Frankford is one of the most challenged communities in Philadelphia, it makes this location equally ideal for low-income housing and the much-needed services that this development will bring to the broader community,” the development package reads.
The Frankford CDC is organizing the project in partnership with Philadelphia developer Mosaic Development Partners. It is being designed by Philadelphia-based Wulff Architects. Michael Johns, formerly of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, is serving as a LIHTC consultant. Johns serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning Commission, and the Civic Design Review committee. He will have to recuse himself when the project is considered by CDR on Aug. 6.
Frankford CDC’s executive director, Kimberly Washington, was not immediately available for comment.