Sydenham Street, which runs between 15th & 16th Streets, is one of those random north-south streets in Philadelphia that comes and goes as you move through town. If you're at all familiar with it, it's probably because you've been to the incarnation near Temple University, or the one-block stretch between Walnut and Locust that's home to Elixr. Today though, we turn our gaze to the 1100 block, the only block of Sydenham Street in all of Point Breeze. We actually visited this block, which starts on Federal Street and dead-ends before it gets to Ellsworth, a couple years back.
At the time, the block was a total mess. Only a handful of homes on the block were occupied. Many vacant buildings looked like they were ready to crumble. And we saw a bunch of vacant lots too. But our message was one of hope. One of the vacant buildings was getting rehabbed, and two of the vacant lots were getting developed. That rehab is currently on the market, and both of those homes have been built and sold.
Today the block is still pretty far from looking like Delancey Street, but it's slowly making positive strides. On the east side of the block, a new home has appeared and a second one is under construction.
PMJ Dev LLC bought 1143 S. Sydenham St. earlier this year for $100K and they've already got a new home framed out (ah the beauty of a by-right build!). Two doors down, 1139 S. Sydenham St. sold last month for an impressive $433K. The vacant lot between them will surely get redeveloped soon, as developers purchased it just last month. Sadly, the vacant lot at 1145 S. Sydenham St. could continue to sit empty for years to come since it's owned by the City.
The two garage-front homes, mentioned earlier, were built last year and sold a few months ago. As for the home being built next door at 1136 S. Sydenham St., developers have owned the land for several years and it seems that all the construction on the block has encouraged them to finally do something with their property. And a construction fence to the north which is admittedly tough to see in the photo above portends two more homes that will soon get moving on this block.
In all, the 1100 block of S. Sydenham St. contains twenty-nine different properties. Amazingly, fifteen have changed hands since the beginning of 2013. This gives us a clear indication that the changes on this block are far from finished and we can expect even more construction in the coming years.