We've been spending lots of time in East Kensington lately, and for good reason. There's a ton of construction happening in the area right now, and there's even more on the horizon. You may remember, we told you a couple weeks ago about new homes planned for the 2100 blocks of Albert and Harold Streets, and it just so happens there's a zoning notice posted around the corner from this upcoming project. We were hopeful, when we saw the notice posted on a large empty lot on the 2600 block of Martha Street, that a sizable project was on the horizon.
Doing a little more research, we found ourselves disappointed. The zoning notice only relates to 2654 Martha St., about 20% of the property, where developers have applied to subdivide the parcel into two lots. It follows that once the parcel is subdivided, the developers will build a pair of homes, and the vacant lot next door looks like it will remain vacant for the time being as it's owned by a different party. Bummer.
This is a fairly interesting location as it's adjacent to a cool adaptive reuse, a former soap factory that's now home to Red Brick Distillery along with some other businesses. In addition, the back of this lot will touch the edge of the Avenue 30 project, which will bring thirty new homes to a long vacant lot between Amber and Collins Streets. And with growing possibilities for development on Lehigh Avenue, this could be an increasingly attractive site for redevelopment.
Incidentally, the same party that owns the converted factory also owns the vacant lot next door. We'd think that there's a better than even chance that they eventually redevelop the parcel themselves.