The Fairmount neighborhood has seen plenty of development over the past couple of decades, so much so that north of Fairmount Avenue and west of Corinthian Avenue, it’s rather rare to find new projects and/or blighted properties.

While nearby Francisville has seen action like it was a high school real estate make out party, Fairmount has generally played it very close to the vest recently, with Fairmount Court being one of the few larger developments in the neighborhood in the last couple of years. We have, however, covered a couple of examples of blighted buildings in this neighborhood, notable for their vacancy and poor condition in an otherwise well-maintained neighborhood.

Case in point

The blighted three-story structure at 2619 Brown St. is located at the northeastern intersection of Brown and Taney Streets. On March 20th of this year, L&I posted a notice demanding the owner of the structure secure the doors and windows. As it stands now, the ground-floor of the property, which was likely once home to a commercial space, is boarded up. Next door to the east, stands another abandoned building. And to the north is a run of four attached garages, which look a lot like the garages that are in the rear of the property, accessible by a private driveway.

Faded L&I notice

According to OPA, this property, owned by the Marsh family since 2005, is zoned for multifamily use. Its owners have failed to make a tax payment since 2003, making their total amount owed in back taxes nearly $43K. The Marshes also own the adjacent vacant property, 809 N Taney St., with a seven year tax debt of over $12K that led to its appearance on the sheriff’s sale list several months ago. We tried to buy it, but it was stayed.

Hopefully, this property, along with 2417 Brown St., another vacant property we’ve covered, will receive the love and attention they deserve someday soon. In the meantime, does anyone remember when this building was in active use? Does anyone use those garages? How many years will it take for the ivy covering 809 Taney St. to completely destroy the facade?

–Lou Mancinelli