Ridge Flats Gets "Green Light"

Ridge Flats finally received a green light by the Zoning Board of Adjustments last Wednesday Afternoon.  The 146-unit apartment complex at 4300 Ridge Avenue in East falls will contain some retail space on the ground floor, as well as 120 above-grade parking spaces.  parking is kept  above ground due to the property's location in the 100 year floodplain.

Although under the East falls zoning overlay, the project requires 695 parking spaces – four spots for every 1,000 feet of commercial space, no one, including the East Falls Development Corporation thinks that amount is necessary.  The developer said the retail uses will be community-based and geared toward pedestrians.

The building will be the largest "passive house" in the country.  Onion Flats' Tim McDonald explains that in passive houses, energy usage can be reduced by as much as 90 percent just by the way the "thermal envelope' is designed.

The one- and two- bedroom apartments at Ridge Flats will likely range in price from $1,300 to $2,000 a month.  The developers plan to pull permits and begin construction next spring.

Ridge Flats Receives Design Approval

Ridge Flats received an endorsement last Tuesday July 2, by the Civic Design Review Committee, which is charged with evaluating the public realm impacts of large development projects.  The  five-story, 146 unit, mixed use apartment complex, proposed for the former Rivage site at 4300-4326 Ridge Avenue, will be built to "passive house" standards: a hyper-efficient building standard intended to produce a "net zero" energy impact.

According to PlanPhilly, Tim McDonald of Onion Flats told the CDR Committee that the project will include 9,300 square feet of retail space, most of which is intended to be frequented by pedestrians in the neighborhood, not destination outlets that people would want to drive to.  A "cafe and lookout" are planned for the corner of Kelly Drive and Calumet Street.  The building will also have green roofs and a rain garden.

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.

Ridge Flats

Planned development at the former Rivage site in East Falls continues to evolve with a name change and updated designs to maximize the community's natural light and green space.  Tim McDonald of Onion Flats updated residents on the latest plans for 4324 Ridge Avenue.  Onion Flats hopes to receive formal developer designation from the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority in June to proceed with its plan for 123 apartments and several retail spaces on the 1.7-acre site at Calumet Street.

Now called Ridge Flats, synonymous with Onion Flats' other projects, the projects footprint has shifted from clusters of one- and two- bedroom apartment groupings, to a main U-shaped building with a smaller free-standing strip of apartments in the middle.  There are also now three-bedroom units included, with the largest at about 1,200 square feet.  The overall amount of retail space is up slightly, from 8,700 to 9,000 square feet, but the units will be smaller and flexible.

The new configuration allows for a larger central green space in which residents can garden, spend time outside and otherwise interact.  For the public, The patio area and rain garden fronting Kelly Drive, meant to draw foot and bike traffic up from the riverfront, remains unchanged.

Reception among East Falls residents and the EFCC has been generally positive despite expressed misgivings about aesthetics.  McDonald says design details are still works in progress.  The design is meant to maximize natural light, because the apartments aren't built on a central hallway with units on either side, they have windows on more than one facade.  Cut-throughs that extend vertically through the five-story buildings will provide interior light, key to keeping the complex completely energy self-sufficient.