A reader tipped us off that a couple of buildings are currently being torn on the south side of Fairmount Ave., just west of 16th St. We went to check it out and found that two row homes that didn’t look very well maintained are indeed being demo’ed by a crew as we speak. According to a source in the neighborhood, the two properties, 1606 and 1608 Fairmount Ave., have been eyesores for quite some time. They didn’t look quite that bad to us, but hey, we don’t have to look at them every day.

From Google

Yesterday

When we first heard about activity at 16th and Fairmount, we immediately thought about the possibility of progress at the dilapidated former auto garage on 16th St., across from the Loonstyn Church condo project that we reported on last month.

Right around the corner

See the guy on the roof of 1608 Fairmount?

Unfortunately, the current demolition on Fairmount Ave. will only involve those two buildings and won’t have anything to do with the building on 16th St. According to one of the contractors on the site, the owner of the properties plans to build condos, though nothing is set in stone as of yet. The property owner is a gentleman named John Reilly, a local bigwig at United Refrigeration. So at the very least, we’re anticipating really high-end HVAC systems over there, if nothing else.

We’ll keep an eye on this corner and will be sure to provide updates as they come along. Especially if there’s any movement on 16th St., which we’re hopeful will come sooner rather than later.