The 1200 blocks of Bainbridge and Kater have seen quite a bit of change in the last few years as new development has rolled into Hawthorne. On Bainbridge Street, a one-story plant store was demoed a couple years back and a condo building called Le Fleur arrived in its place, with absolutely nobody making any hockey or Dodgeball jokes. On Kater Street near 13th, we've seen the Bedford Place project come along, with five high end homes right behind a new vape shop on South Street. Today we have news about another project around these parts, this time with a mix new homes and apartments.
We actually covered some of these properties a few years ago, as Ready Willing and Able was doing some renovation work at the time. While RWA will continue to have a presence on this block, they've sold off some of their properties to a developer that's pursuing two concurrent projects.
One part of the project will mean the renovation of the four-story building in the image above and its conversion to twenty apartments. This building has some interesting history, dating back to the early 20th century and originally serving as the home base of J. Bloom & Sons, a wholesale bottle dealer. It's certainly a plus that the building will stick around. Next door, a one-story garage won't be so lucky, with plans for demolition and eventually two new homes on Bainbridge and two new homes on Kater. Like the building they're replacing, the new homes will have garages.
This project was approved by the ZBA earlier this week, so look for construction to get moving in the near future.