Last week, a reader gave us a shout, letting us know that two homes on the northeast corner of 16th & Brown had been demolished. They were even kind enough to share a photo they snapped before the buildings came down.
Developers bought both properties earlier this year, clearly with an eye toward demolition. According to the permits on the property, they're consolidating the properties into one- we'd guess that the new building here will be a quadplex, unless the developers decide to go to the ZBA. It looks like the now-demoed corner property was once home to a storefront, but it's a safe bet that the residentially zoned property won't go back to retail use in the future.
Looking to the east, there's a newer triplex at 1517 Brown St., and more construction on the way next door. The completed triplex is a condo building, with two of the units under agreement and the ground-floor unit listed at $325K. Immediately to the east, three more buildings are still to come at 1511-15 Brown St., and though the permits aren't clear we'd bet on duplexes or triplexes rather than single-family homes.
The vacancy continues to the end of this block, where Ridge Avenue hits Brown Street. We spy additional permits for development here, which would entail a 55-foot mixed-use building which would only add to the good times now rolling on Ridge Avenue.
As has been the case with previous Ridge Avenue development, we do wonder about what tenants will eventually fill this space, but the fact of the matter is that Ridge Avenue will not fill in overnight, and a few years from now it will look very different than it does today. And by that we mean better, of course.