It seems like every few days, we see a new story about the struggles in Kensington, where there’s seemingly no end in sight to the opioid epidemic. Remarkably, East Kensington continues to experience one of the most significant development booms in the city, even though the neighborhood sits, at some points, adjacent to some of the most afflicted areas. As you might expect, the bulk of the development in East Kensington has occurred on the sides closer to Fishtown and South Kensington. But as we’ve covered a few times previously, there’s still the occasional project at the northern end of the neighborhood.

We happened upon such a project earlier today, noting some new construction on the 1800 block of E. Huntingdon Street, immediately next door to the Huntingdon El Station. In the past, 1802 E. Huntingdon St. was a vacant lot, and 1804 E. Huntingdon St. was a vacant building.

A pair of new triplexes have replaced what was here before. And while they might not be the most inspiring buildings we’ve ever seen, it’s such a surprise to see them built at this location that we’re willing to just let it go.

As the owners of these properties are individuals, we’d think that these are going to be offered at market rate, probably as rentals. Forgive the assumption, but condos next door to a train station and almost under the El at Kensington Avenue seems like a bridge too far. With development creeping up this close to the edge of the neighborhood, we wonder whether we’ll see some increased developer interest on the other side of Lehigh Avenue, in Harrowgate. As remote as that possibility might seem at this moment, we’d have thought the same about the possibility of the buildings pictured above getting built, so we’ve obviously been mistaken before.