The Brewerytown boom continues, with 26th Street now getting in on the act. A reader tipped us off about some zoning notices posted at 1214 N. 26th St., a large property that’s hit a bit of a rough patch in recent memory. If we turn back the clock just a few years, this property was home to a two story warehouse on its southern side and a one story former industrial building on its northern side, with a vacant space in between. We won’t claim that the property was the Garden of Eden or anything, but it was a step up from the present. The two story building collapsed somewhere along the line, and has been hastily repaired. And the one story building is gone.

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This building looks awful
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Zoning notices to the north

The zoning notice details a plan to tear down everything on the site and build two new buildings. The front building will contain twelve units and twelve parking spaces, while the rear building will contain eight units and eight parking spaces. The notice isn’t clear, so it’s possible that this project will entail two apartment buildings, or maybe it’ll be two rows of townhomes. The townhome approach would seem likelier, just based on the phrasing of the notice.

New construction on 26th Street would certainly make sense, given the general buzz in the neighborhood and the ongoing building boom on the 1200 block of N. 27th Street. Already, that block has seen several new buildings go up, with a major project for 63 more units still in the pipeline. This block of 26th Street surely won’t reach that level of new development, mostly because of the elementary school on its northern end. Still, it’s got some additional room to grow in the coming years, especially on its eastern side.

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Looking north on 26th Street

As another benefit, this block is just off of Girard Avenue. And sure, the Dollar Plus store at the corner of 26th & Girard isn’t the sexiest business around, but having a dollar store close to your home is really convenient! And also, there’s all those newish businesses to be found in both directions on the corridor. No doubt, those business owners will be rooting for this project to move forward, as it will mean another bump in the pool of local customers.