In the spirit of the recently finished National Spelling Bee, we found ourselves struggling to spell the word 'sauerkraut' on this fine morning. Unlike those kids though, we have the crutch of spellcheck, so we didn't even need to ask someone to use it in a sentence. But we digress.

AC Kissling made tons and tons of sauerkraut at 161 E. Allen St. over the decades, with the family business finally selling out to a larger company at some point in the last few years. In 2013, their space on Allen Street went on the market, with the half-acre site listed for sale for $1.5M. At the time, we predicted that a developer would tear down the building and build homes in its place. A little over a year ago, we aggressively patted ourselves on the back when we learned that developers had presented plans to the community for eighteen new homes at this location. That plan now has the necessary approvals, and the old kraut palace is getting torn down.

Current view on E Allen St.

Demolition still finishing up

BMK Homes, a familiar developer in this part of town, is doing the project. These guys are currently building the Fishtown Residence project on E. York St., among other projects in Fishtown and East Kensington. In a similar vein, they've dubbed this project the Residences at Fillmore, due to the fact that the homes are rising just a block away from the Fillmore Philly entertainment complex. According to the BMK website, the homes will each have 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 2,250 sqft of living space, and garage parking. Prices will start under $500K.

Project rendering

This project follows the trend we've seen in this area, where so much old industrial has turned over to residential use. We do wish though, that the project would have taken on a name that relates to its former use rather than the music venue down the street. Then again, the 'Sauerkraut Homes' doesn't exactly sound like a place that many people would want to live. Eh, at least they didn't name the project after another major retail project nearby- 'Sugarhouse Estates' might be the worst name of all.