Weekend in Brewerytown!

On Saturday June 11^th, from 5-8 PM, is the 3^rd annual Art + Soul Food street festival, featuring live music, the best soul food in the city, local artists with international talent, appearances by the Honest Tom’s Tacos and Buttercream Cupcakes food trucks, a Yards Brewing Co. after-party, the local drum team and even a fashion show. Focused on the 2700 and 2800 blocks of Girard, this event is a real labor of love for the community.

On Sunday June 12^th at 8 PM, world-renowned Philadelphia native DJ Cosmo Baker makes a not-to-be-missed very special appearance at one of the City’s great-unknown dive bars!

Cosmo Baker is widely considered as one of the top party-rocking DJs on the planet. A master of everything from hip-hop to disco & funk to electronic music, his unique style and spinning prowess is able to bring it all together in a cohesive, and funky manner. This Philadelphia native cut his chops alongside contemporaries such as ?uestlove and Rich Medina, and when he relocated to Brooklyn in the early ’00s he helped found the internationally known DJ / remix collective The Rub. His knowledge of music is only matched with his uncanny ability to move the crowd. Cosmo is a rare breed of DJ that bridges the gap between the legendary DJs of yesterday and the superstar DJs of today.

Era Bar is located at the corner of 28th and Poplar Streets. Did we mention it serves Ethiopian food, and has great craft beers on tap as well as cheap drink specials? What about its' super long 360 degree bar? This hangout reflects the Ethiopian soul of its owner, and should be far more widely known. This opportunity to come groove with Cosmo on a Sunday evening at Era is rare indeed. Don't miss this party on June 12^th at 8 PM!

Sponsored by Brewerytown Living. Brewerytown Living’s goal is to help introduce and expose people to the Brewerytown neighborhood, and the culture and lifestyle here. Please check out some upcoming events sponsored by Brewerytown Living.

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North 28 on the Web

A great new Philadelphia real estate blog, is Naked Philly. Recently they came out to visit the North 28 site to check on our progress. We have dug and cut the perimeter outline of the building, and the next steps are to pour the footing for the foundation. Next will come the site utilities, the foundation walls, and lastly the modular boxes arrive. Check out some photos below!

North28 Construction Update - SITE WORK HAS BEGUN!

We are very pleased to announce that site work started this week at North28 at 1238 N. 28th Street in Brewerytown.

This week the site work contractors cleared all trash off the site, cut down the trees (and large weeds) and are hauling all the debris away.

Next week they will start to dig for the foundations.

Here are some photos and a video. Stay tuned for more updates.

Is Brewerytown Getting a Supermarket? (it sure looks like it)

Anyone who has spent time in the Brewerytown and Fairmount neighborhoods, is aware of the community's longstanding desire to replace the Pathmark supermarket which closed over 15 years ago. There have been several false starts and rumors since then, but nothing was ever serious. However, that is all about to change. We attended a community meeting last night hosted by Councilman Darrell Clarke, State Rep Michelle Brownlee and Councilman Bill Greenlee, the topic of which was a new proposal to build a supermarket at 31st and Girard opening in July 2012.

Representatives of the developer and the supermarket operator, Bottom Dollar, were on hand to present their plan for an 18,000 SF supermarket offering fresh produce and meats, along with national brands like Heinz Ketchup, etc. Bottom Dollar is owned by Food Lion, which is in turn owned by a a Belgian company the Delhaize Group - so this is no fly-by-night operation.

Now, I know you hear the name Bottom Dollar and think that it is the Wal Mart of supermarkets. However, they seem to have a chip on their shoulder about the name. Check out the following quote from their website:

Don’t let the name fool you. Although Bottom Dollar Food may sound like a typical discount store, we refuse to act like one! Yes, we do have food prices that kick bottom. In fact, we have the lowest prices in town. Guaranteed! To prove it, we promise to beat any competitive like item – just see the store manager for details. But Bottom Dollar Food is much more than a pretty price.

Bottom Dollar Food is also a great environment where you’ll find quality meat, fresh produce, a wide array of national brands as well as some quality private brands. In short, we have everything you would expect from a grocery store – only a whole lot cheaper!

So, to our ears this all sounds great. The possibility of walking to a grocery store instead of driving is fantastic. By no means do we believe this is a 100% done deal, as the developer is requesting subsidies from the City and/ or state. But there is a lot of momentum behind this project and, based upon our behind the scenes intelligence gathering, we are feeling very good about its chances of success.

A Farm for Brewerytown

I am sure most people have heard bits and pieces about the Marathon Farm coming to Brewerytown. Well, last night we attended a very well attended public meeting regarding this project at the Greater Brewerytown CDC, and learned so many details that our mind is spinning! Marathon Grill owner Cary Borish spoke first, and he focused on his restaurant's motivations in backing this project.

I think there's an extremely positive movement going on in the Philadelphia region of people being more thoughtful about what they are putting in their bodies and the impact that it's having on the environment," says Borish. "I think it's extremely important, and it feels great to be a part of it.

He also spoke about how he does not wants this to be a farm that happens to be located in Brewerytown, but rather that it be Brewerytown's farm. Lastly, he emphasized that the farm will be a physically beautiful space.

Following up on that point, Patrick Dunn spoke about the many many programs and classes he is planning, including food preservation, cooking healthy on a budget, composting, rain water collection, youth programs, general gardening, bee keeping and so many more. In this task he was helped by the multiple suggestions from the neighborhood residents who attended.

The audience was also very excited by the plans for community spaces. There will both a pocket park for the community to use, as well as dedicated community garden plots. We have a copy of the application for the community plots, so anyone who is interested can email us for a copy.

Given that they are doing so much for our community, we should all return the favor by coming out to volunteer for their construction.

Long story short, this farm is going to be amazing for Brewerytown, and anyone living here will be gaining an incredible neighbor!

North 28 Construction Update

After the usual back and forth coordination between our architects - JKR Partners - and our modular builder, the North 28 permit sets are complete and ready to submit to L&I for the building permit! The application will be made, and the permit should be in hand within two weeks. We can't wait to break ground, and will continue to keep everybody in the loop. Please continue to check this site for more updates!

Color Wheel Bike Studio Opening in Brewerytown!!

MMPartners is very pleased to announce that Color Wheel Bike Studio will be opening it's first retail store at 2711 West Girard Avenue in Brewerytown. Color Wheel specializes in "road bikes and custom designs for your lifestyle," as well as all repairs. Color Wheel refurbishes frames with new wheels, handle bars, pedals, etc as needed, while typically converting them into single speed road bikes. The finished bikes are stylish, yet affordable - typically running $100-150.

Color Wheel, which is owned and operated by Terrence Williams, has been working out of a studio in the Vox building at 11th and Vine; but, inspired by Via Bicycle Terrence made the decision to expand his business, and open a retail location.

Please check out some of his current work, and be sure to welcome Terrence when he opens in April!

Flying Kite Media Story on North28 - MMPartner's New Residential Project in Brewerytown

Regardless of whether or not you believe that the current real estate crisis is finally coming to a close, the fact remains that there will probably always be neighborhoods in Philadelphia that are optimally ripe for renewal. According to Jacob Roller of MM Partners LLC, a real estate development and management company with offices on West Girard Avenue, Brewerytown may very well the next ideal neighborhood in line for something of an aesthetic and cultural transformation.

Already, MM Partners has been responsible for bringing an outpost of the local Mugshots CoffeeHouse & Cafe chain to Brewerytown; they've also rehabbed countless residential and retail properties up and down the main drag of West Girard. The company's current residential project, however, is its most ambitious yet in the neighborhood.

Known as North 28, and located just north of the Fairmount neighborhood at 1238 North 28th Street, the project is a "15 unit building with 15 gated parking spaces," according to the MM Partners website. It's also the first residential development to be built north of Girard in the past five years; the last was the Westrum Development Company's 144-unit Brewerytown Square project. Interestingly enough, North 28 is being built as a modular construction project, and the units have been approved for both sale and rental.

But as Roller explains it, the focus of his company, which he co-owns with business partner David Waxman, doesn't actually begin and end with residential construction. Rather, it's concerned with the overall revival of the Brewerytown neighborhood because, as Roller says, "We think retail drives residential growth."

The company plans to break ground on the 14,500 square-foot lot where North 28 will sit in roughly a month or two. Rental units, which will run from $900 to $1,450 per month, should be available for viewing this May.

Click Here for Link

Source: Jacob Roller, MM Partners LLC
Writer: Dan Eldridge

North 28!!

North 28 is a new construction 15-unit building with 15 gated parking spaces located in Brewerytown at 1238 N 28th Street, 1/2 block north of Girard Avenue. We recently secured a construction loan from Beneficial Bank to construct this building with work commencing in a matter of months. We expect to have finished units available for sale this summer as the project is modular construction. Please check back in at this site for construction updates, photos and the like (just click the "North 28" tag to find all updates).