During a recent trip through the neighborhood next to Temple, we stumbled upon some ongoing demolition on 15th Street just north of Master Street. Looking at the remaining structure at 1415 N. 15th St., we guessed that an attractive brownstone stood here previously.
Looking at the handy dandy Google Maps Streetview image from June of 2012, we discovered that the base of the building was brownstone, and the upper floors were brick. Interestingly, the upper floors were offset from the center of the building. We can't say we've seen too much of this around town. It's definitely a loss that the building is now mostly gone.
This building was a bit of a throwback, surrounded on both sides by newer construction. To the north, the Modules at TempleTown are a nice example of contemporary architecture. An eight-unit building to the south, built a couple of years back with a front-loading garage, is a more depressing example of the common new construction architecture found around Philadelphia. Soon, the building that's being demolished will be replaced by a new building as well. Plans are underway for the construction of a six-unit building with an interior courtyard. This will surely be marketed to Temple students, joining the parade of new student housing that's arrived on the scene in this area in the last half-decade. And as this project and others nearby indicate, the new construction here doesn't seem to be tapering off just yet.