New entry in Brewerytown's revitalization quickly draws renters

To say the apartments at Fairmount@Brewerytown are going like hotcakes would not be far from wrong.

They're going so quickly, Michele DiVeterano said, that she has stopped creating model units. As many as eight to 10 apartments are renting each week.

"Once I get a model set up, it is gone in a couple of days," said DiVeterano, vice president of operations for the developer, McSpain Properties. "It is a lot of hard work to create one for such a short time."

Although at the end of July, 35 of the building's 161 studio, one- and two-bedroom units were occupied - all on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors - Fairmount@Brewerytown is still a work in progress, attracting a target audience of millennials.

Monthly rent for the units, which range in size from 699 to 1,015 square feet, is $1,300 to $2,100.

This newest entry in the Brewerytown revitalization sweepstakes take up 237,000 square feet of the 800,000-square-foot former Acme Markets distribution center at North 31st and West Thompson Streets, just a quick walk - 0.2 miles, Google Maps says - from Girard Avenue and SEPTA's Route 15 bus.

The rest of the two-block warehouse building, built in 1923, is shared with Pennrose Properties' headquarters and Pennrose's 224-unit Lofts at Brewerytown, said Dana Spain, whose last name, added to that of business partner Sean McGovern, makes up McSpain Properties.

Both have extensive experience: McGovern in residential development around Temple University; Spain in commercial development and in designing houses for well-heeled individuals.

Spain is founder and DiVeterano is president of PAWS, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, which means that Fairmount@Brewerytown is animal-friendly, with up to three pets allowed in every apartment and an extensive dog park being developed on the roof.

Fairmount@Brewerytown was chosen as the name because the neighborhood is "Fairmount North," DiVeterano said, as well as "a destination."

In May 1993, Acme closed the distribution center, which during its half-century in operation saw as many as 184 trucks a day rumbling through the neighborhood to supermarkets throughout the region and beyond.

Across West Thompson Street from the loading dock - which will have cafe seating for patrons of Brian Duffy's Flying Fish Crafthouse on the first floor of the building - is the brick Acme truck-repair shop, which is being razed for 36 two- and three-bedroom apartments whose tenants will share amenities with Fairmount@Brewerytown.

There will be parking for 92 cars behind the retail space, with access from West Thompson Street, and 51 at Pennrose.

McSpain Properties acquired the site in summer 2014 - "a shell," Spain said, adding that the "previous owner had plans that didn't make the best use of the space."

One of the major changes McSpain made was to core out a four-story "well" in the center of the building, which resulted in the creation of interior units with access to natural light.

Large windows on the exterior of the building, which is designated historic by the city, let in so much light "that we wanted to do the same in the interior," Spain said.

It wasn't easy, with concrete slabs 18 to 24 inches thick and no electricity in the building to power the tools needed, she added.

The historic designation means that the smokestack remains, as well as concrete structures on the roof where the dog park, a deck and a swimming pool are being constructed.

In addition to the Crafthouse, which will take up 8,000 of the 14,000-square-foot first-floor retail space, there will be a 4,000-square-foot Fit Academy that will offer discounts to tenants (who also have their own full-service, 24-hour fitness center), a media/events lounge, and a game room on the second floor, DiVeterano said.

"We are looking for a coffee shop, as well," said Spain, hoping to increase amenities for neighborhood residents as well as tenants as Brewerytown continues to redevelop.

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