A reader emailed us the other day, wondering about zoning notices they'd spied on the 1700 block of Brandywine Street. We were excited to hear about this, as the north side of this block is dominated by a large surface parking lot and is zoned for multi-family use, so we had high hopes for a significant upgrade. Doing just about a minute of research though, out hopes were quickly dashed.
Unfortunately, the zoning notices are simply for the relocation of lot lines to expand the existing surface parking lot, which is currently used by the Carpenters Union on the 1800 block of Spring Garden Street. The ZBA granted the variance over the summer, by the way. The union bought the property back in 2014, though the eastern section was seemingly owned by developers at one point. As far as we can tell, these lots have pretty much been sitting empty forever, since they were once the enormous rear yards of mansions on Green Street. And it seems they'll continue to sit "empty" for the foreseeable future. This is a bit of a bummer, as this is a prime location for redevelopment. Ah well, we suspect the neighborhood will survive.