9/12/2013

Domani Developer's Fishtown Residences


PlanPhilly reports that, Domani Developers plan to convert an out-of-use industrial building at 1421 E. Columbia Ave., near Memphis Street in Fishtown, into a 57-unit apartment complex with a City Fitness gym on the ground floor.  Last week, September 3, the project was presented to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.  The zoning application calls for the consolidation of eight lots into one lot.  These lots have since been used for a single building for some time now.  The applicant's zoning refusal from L&I was based on the RSA-5 residential zoning district, which appears to encompass some of the eight lots in the application, the other half of the property falls under I-2 industrial zoning classification.

The different zoning districts have different requirements and limitations for things like parking and density, and the multi-family project would require variances in either one.  The project includes 30 underground parking spaces and 57 bicycle parking spaces.  The local Fishtown Neighbors Association voted in support of the project as a whole, but surrounding neighbors opposed the project due to parking concerns.

Paula Brumbelow, a representative of the Planning Commission, said that the Commission supports the granting of the variances for both the residential units and the fitness center, but asked that the developer continue to work on mitigating parking congestion.

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