For years, we thought that the western half of the 1300 block of Bainbridge Street was a parking lot for the ill-fated 1352 Lofts immediately to the north. Turns out, this land has been available for redevelopment and it seems that in short order, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

The lot

Looking east

Last week, a reader tipped us off about a proposed 22 home development here at 1319-51 Bainbridge St., which also would include an additional mixed-use building on the corner of Bainbridge & Clarion. Clarke Real Estate Development LLC purchased this giant lot earlier this year for $5M and has retained Harman Deutsch to do design work for the project. Looking at the site plan, we see eleven homes fronting Kater Street, and eleven homes fronting Bainbridge Street, all with rear access parking, roof decks, and green roofs.

The mixed-use building will be on the Bainbridge side, though it’s not reflected in the plan

The homes will be four stories high and will be about 50′ tall, ostensibly to make them feel less hemmed in by the rather tall 1352 Lofts building across the street. The design is decent, with materials changing as the building goes up. The fourth story does look a little out of place though, like it was dropped onto the houses from above.

Bainbridge Street elevations. Note the mixed-use building at the end.

Kater Street elevations

We don’t know much about the mixed-use building, except that it will have enclosed (probably underground?) parking and a commercial space on the first floor. Hopefully, a couple of design tweaks will take place to make the commercial space a little more inviting to potential tenants.

View from Clarion Street

We here at Naked Philly are always enthused to see a surface parking lot turn into something better. We’d imagine that these plans will change some, once the community has its say at a meeting next week, but in general this should be a very positive development on the Hawthorne border. Our biggest concern, aside from the viability of a commercial space on Clarion St., is the development’s extremely close proximity to a gas station. Are people willing to pay for a high end home that’s next door to the Hess station? Or will pricing for the westernmost homes reflect their less-than-ideal location?

Looking west. Hess station is right there.

Ah, gasoline fumes on a summer day. Nothin’ better.