Naked Philly

We remember back when The 700 was the place to be on 2nd Street, mostly because there weren't too many other places to go. Over the last decade plus, the 2nd Street corridor in Northern Liberties has experienced a dramatic resurgence. The Piazza is the big fish, drawing plenty of people to area businesses, and housing a few hundred more potential customers. But closer to Spring Garden Street, it's been a collection of small businesses that have slowly filled in the gaps along the corridor. And another space could soon get filled, after many years of vacancy.

Under construction

710 N. 2nd St. has been empty for over a decade, with its storefront boarded up. Avi Developers LLC purchased the building back in 2002, and their 4,500 sqft property has surely appreciated over those years. Finally, it seems they're renovating the property. According to FUSA Designs, the architects working on the project, there will be a commercial space on the first floor and three 2-bedroom apartments above. The renovation effort was apparently spurred by the fact that the new zoning code allows the project by right, and the old code required a variance for the project described above. Does anyone who lives in the neighborhood have any additional insight into the recent history of this property?

In general, residential developers in Philadelphia prefer a lot that's at least sixteen feet wide. Fifteen-wide lots are considered acceptable, and fourteen-wide lots are usually as tight as you're gonna see. Last year, we came upon a troika of twelve-wide homes on Hagert Street from the Brickstone Group that sold relatively quickly, though at a discount of maybe thirty percent off the going rate for new construction in the neighborhood. Today, we look at some more skinny homes on the way on Coral Street in East Kensington.

One new skinny home and foundations for two more

As you can see, the slender 2231 Coral St. has already gone up. The arrangement of the windows on the facade doesn't help you forget that it ain't the widest house on the block. This home is the work of developer Luval Inc., which is currently pouring two foundations next door. Previously, a home stood where one of those foundations is going, but the developers opted to tear it down and build new rather than rehab. The homes are listed for sale, from right to left, for $310K, $310K, and $330K. If they can approach those prices, it would represent a dramatic increase over what the homes sold for on Hagert Street just last year.