On Twitter, @harrisonfinberg asked us whether we had any information about the Zoning Notice he spotted at 1939-47 N Front St., which announced the application for a take-out restaurant with seating. And we didn’t, until today. We were over there and noticed some fellas working in the large parking lot in the rear of this space, which straddles Front and Norris Sts. and is but a few steps from the Berks St. Septa Station.

The Norris St. side, with the gate closed

On Front St., El tracks above

According to one of the gentlemen working at the site, the space is set to become a Middle Eastern restaurant, and will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He didn’t provide his name, or give us any more information. Nevertheless, a large restaurant coming into this space is great news for the surrounding neighborhood, and it’s extremely encouraging to see some activity on this rather depressed part of Front St.

Being over there, we found ourselves openly wondering about the very attractive building that sits across the street. From what we can gather, the address of this place is 1942 N Front St., and it’s owned by Women’s Community Revitalization Project. Was this once a bank, back in the day?

A former marquee?

Awesome

Sniffing around online, we see an affordable housing project, Nitza Tufino Townhomes, connected with this address. Will this building be torn down and replaced with new construction affordable housing? It would be a shame to see this gorgeous building come down, though we imagine it’s been blighted for years. Will it instead be preserved and converted into housing? Does anyone have information on this?