Last spring, we wondered about the fate of a huge warehouse in Lower Moyamensing on the northwest corner at 12th & Jackson. Now we know: developer Tony Rufo of Rufo Properties plans to redevelop the former brush factory into the Artisan Lofts, 164 luxury style apartments with 62 parking spaces and a doorman (yes, a doorman. Yo!)
Rufo appeared before the Lower Moyamensing Civc Association in December, the Passyunk Post reported. Rufo plans to build an additional two buildings that would make for five total on the site. According to the South Philly Review, the factory was first constructed in 1926 and has remained vacant and bruised since 2005.
This is one of the larger projects in South Philly we have written about. Usually, this sort of large-scale adaptive reuse happens in Fishtown or Kensington where old industrial buildings can be found by the bushel. Not far from here, the old Armory building at 1221 S. Broad St. was demolished this fall to make way for a six-story building with 50 apartments. They missed an opportunity there for a great adaptive reuse, if you ask us.
The southern part of Passyunk Square area has been seen a continued dose of new projects of late. For example, five new homes are coming to the somewhat low key 1400 block of Beluah. And there are plans for six new homes to be erected on the 1400 block of Darien. While it's too early to say that this kind of development will spread aggressively south as far as Jackson Street, it’s not unreasonable to think that the Rufo project will have a positive impact on the surrounding neighborhood and may convince some developers to take a fresh look at this part of South Philly.