Fishtown House to Apartments: Frankford
Acquisition: End of May 2019
Purchase Price: $400,000
Expected Renovation Bill: $205,530
Plan:
Gordon acquired a 3-story home in Fishtown on Frankford Ave. steps to the EL. The property is street to street. Originally a commercial space downstairs, the building had previously been converted to a single family house. Gordon’s plan is to renovate the entire property, having three apartments and a commercial space when all is said and done. On the back half of the property, there are plans for a new construction house.
Step 1: Demo
Demo of the whole house was completed by the contractor who would be doing the work on the rest of the project. Demo costs came in at about $8,600 for the 2,341 square foot building.
After Demo:
The neighboring new construction on the back half of the Frankford Ave lots; water and sewer lines are coming in underneath the Frankford-facing buildings to get here.
Challenges Start to Surface: New Construction Plans Hit a Wall
In August 2019, an obstacle arises in the form of no water or sewer lines being available on the street that the property backs up onto. The original plan was to draw water and sewage lines for the new construction house from the back side street — after all, the neighboring property had recently built new construction on the back half of the lot facing that back street.
A little investigation yielded that the property would need to have water and sewer lines come in from the only place they were available from — Frankford Ave. But that would mean having to install lines underneath the rehab property, which would cause a problem for dividing the lot into two separate properties. So with a solution to one problem, a new problem is born.
A Solution to the Water and Sewer Line Problem
Gordon found the best solution to the water and sewer problem. In order to keep the properties separately-owned but on the single piece of property, he will create a homeowners association, essentially turning both the hypothetical new construction building and the existing building being rehabbed both “condos” of the same association. This will allow the water and sewer lines to be run under the Frankford-facing property for the new construction project on the back half of the lot.
Completed Project:
After completion, the rear house was sold to a third party developer, and the apartments are in the process of being leased up. The water and sewer lines were successfully re-done after a change in city permits. Be on the lookout for a new commercial tenant coming to Frankford Ave!
