A couple of readers have reached out in recent days, wondering about all the scaffolding currently visible on the 1200 block of Bainbridge Street. We checked it out, and we recommend tempering your excitement levels.

From the west

We’ve covered some projects on this block in the last couple of years, including the construction of high-end homes on the corner of 13th & Bainbridge, and the recently finished Le Fleur Condos which replaced a building that sold plants for wholesale prices. Considering those developments, we figured that the scaffolding was a sign that a new project would be coming to this block.

Closer look

Several buildings getting work done

Public record indicates that one company owns all of the buildings currently undergoing exterior renovations. From what we can gather, most of the properties are used by Ready Willing and Able, a transitional program for the homeless, either as offices or for residential purposes. And a call to RWA revealed no explanation for the scaffolding, but indicated that their operations aren’t going anywhere.

So perhaps what we’re seeing is simply some simple upgrade work to some older facades that needed a little TLC. Which is a good thing, because Ready Willing and Able does some really wonderful work.

One unrelated possible development note for this block: In perusing public record, we saw that 1231 Bainbridge St., pictured in the first photo in this post, was purchased last summer by Tractus Certus LLC for $562.5K. The large building has housed offices for years, but it could make for an interesting condo conversion. We’ll keep an eye out…