http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/natalie-kostelni/2011/08/frankford-boom-is-going-to-happen.html?page=all
Frankford boom ‘is going to happen’
Philadelphia Business Journal - by Natalie Kostelni
I recently took a ride with Mark Tucker, principal of Tucker Development Plus, throughout the Frankford section of Philadelphia, where he was hawking it as the next great neighborhood. A diamond in the rough.
It’s a section of Northeast Philadelphia that, like many post-industrial neighborhoods, was once bustling.
The Frankford Arsenal employed more than 22,000 people. The Frankford Elevated line helped make it a retail destination years ago and there was a constant buzz in the neighborhood. People lived and worked there.
“After the war, it was booming,” said Tucker, a Philadelphia native. “People grew up and raised kids in Frankford.”
It’s not what it used to be but Tucker thinks there’s opportunity along the same lines as what has been experienced in Northern Liberties, Fishtown and is percolating in other pockets throughout the city. Tucker makes a convincing case. Frankford does have some anchors, such as the expanding Frankford Hospital, a busy transportation center and Frankford Avenue, the spine of the neighborhood that still boasts some decades-old retail signs from the corridor’s heyday.
There are some vacancies along the avenue and, with trash collecting in vestibules, they do tend to set a tone of neglect.
Like Tucker, State Rep. Tony J. Payton Jr., whose legislative district includes Frankford, has high hopes for Frankford.
“This could be what is happing on 2nd Street in Northern Liberties,” Payton said.
KlingStubbins, a Philadelphia architectural firm, conducted a study of the area and Tucker has helped organized bus tours of the neighborhood that highlight commercial properties ripe for development. While down from its postwar boom, residents are still entrenched in the neighborhood and have helped maintain a stable community.
“In urban development, you need large enough sites to spur development,” Tucker said, as he drove me around, showing me where some of those properties are and where some could be assembled. “There’s still opportunity here and you can still cut a deal here,” he said.
Among the needs in the neighborhood are grocery stores, senior housing, mini-housing developments and medical office buildings that can feed off of the hospital, he said.
“It’s going to happen,” Tucker said, “and it’s going to happen in little steps.”
“In urban development, you need large enough sites to spur development,” Tucker said, as he drove me around, showing me where some of those properties are and where some could be assembled. “There’s still opportunity here and you can still cut a deal here,” he said.
Among the needs in the neighborhood are grocery stores, senior housing, mini-housing developments and medical office buildings that can feed off of the hospital, he said.
“It’s going to happen,” Tucker said, “and it’s going to happen in little steps.”
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