Ridge Flats

The long awaited Ridge Flats in East Falls is moving toward an official city review.  Designed by local green developer Onion Flats, the mixed-use project will sit on the site of the former Rivage Ballroom at Ridge avenue and Calumet Street.  Onion Flats is now partnering on the 146 unit building project with Grasso Holdings and is finalizing financing.

The project could be the country's largest net-zero energy residential development, where energy for nearly all utilities is generated on site and residents have minimal power bills.  Onion flats has presented and discussed its plans four times now before the EFCC and the community, but there will likely be at least one more local meeting and an official vote before a formal city review.  The Ridge Flats plan includes only 9,300 square feet of retail space, which would require about 40 parking spaces for the commercial part alone.  But the overall square footage of the project, at more than 173,000 would technically require 695 parking spots, an unworkable number and far more than would have been required under the city's former "one to one" equation for residential parking.

As the plan stands now, 11 new on-street parking spots will be created, and include 120 on-site spots for residents, along with 62 bike spaces.  The Ridge Flats plan will go before CDR members, which for each application includes a representative of the local registered community organization, at a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. July 2.