A rather unexciting industrial building appeared at 2508 E. Cumberland St. in the late 1930s, initially with a machine shop operating out of it. In those days, this property was sandwiched between two different galvanization plants, and a major lead paint company was located just around the corner. Over the years, the building at 2508 E. Cumberland St. was used for a few different purposes, with industrial storage, auto painting, and contractor offices covering the bulk of those years. As the uses of the building evolved, so did the surrounding neighborhood as it veered away from industry and toward commercial and residential uses.

One of the aforementioned galvanization plants was demoed a few decades ago and Greensgrow Farms now occupies the property. All the National Lead buildings are torn down, with shopping centers replacing them around twenty years ago. The other galvanization plant is still around and is still referred to as “the galvo” around the neighborhood. Back in January, we told you that the galvo would get torn down at some point in 2020, with a plan for 27 townhomes in its place. From what we understand, that demolition work is finally set to start, with neighbors appropriately concerned about managing contaminated dust that will be kicked up by this effort.

Speaking of demolition, the building at 2508 E. Cumberland St. was torn down rather recently, and now you can see the galvo quite clearly from Cumberland.

We see the demo permit for the property, but that’s all we see at this time- so we have no idea what’s coming next here. The property measures over 12K sqft so it could accommodate a sizable building with some great density and retail on the first floor. Unfortunately, it’s zoned for single-family use so the only by-right option would be the construction of nine or ten town homes. We suspect that a zoning variance will be sought, but considering the project which will soon happen at the galvo site, it’s possible we’ll still see a townhome project here in the end. Certainly, either mixed-use or residential makes more sense at this location than the old industrial building.

Has anyone heard about what might be coming here? Rescue Spa Properties LLC is the owner of the property, which is predictably the same group that owns Rescue Spa at 16th & Walnut. Could we see a plan for a mixed-use building with a big spa on the first floor? Sounds great to us, we could certainly go for a spa day.