Before the snow ended all possibilities of getting around town, we were passing through Fishtown and noticed zoning notices at 428 E. Wildey St., which was formerly home to a plumbing business. Checking the L&I map for additional info, we discovered that a plan was put forth for this property last fall to build a twelve-unit building on this site with twelve interior parking spaces. Considering the 9,000 sqft footprint, the certainly would have been feasible. But the developers withdrew their case from the ZBA, for what reason we could not say.

No new development after all

Next to this large and underused parcel, some new homes have gone up in recent years. Stars Property Group LP built two homes on the corner of Wildey & Earl, and BMK Homes has another one under construction in the middle of the block on Earl Street.

Around the corner

The homes on the corner are listed for just under $390K and just under $340K. The corner property has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, while the home that's one off the corner has 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Moving down the block, 1030 Earl St., which is currently under construction, is one of the wider homes you'll see out there. It's 28' wide, and will have about 2,500 sqft of interior room. It will have four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and was designed by KJO Architecture.

Project rendering. Image from Trend.

So despite the fact that the planned development isn't happening around the corner, and the reality that this block sits adjacent to I-95, it's still experiencing dramatic redevelopment. It will be interesting to see how quickly these homes sell and at what prices, as this should indicate exactly how much or how little people care about being on the fringe of the neighborhood.