Back in the day, a neighborhood laundromat operated out of a building at 702 N. 23rd St., with an apartment occupying the upper floors of the building. The laundromat closed at least a decade ago and new owners bought the property in 2012, but it appears they never found another business to take over the ground floor space. The building changed hands again in 2020, with developers purchasing the former laundromat, the vacant lot next door, and the vacant lot around the corner on Olive Street for $700K.

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In the past
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Recent view of the site

Said developers are now proceeding with a new plan for the site. They’ve demoed the old building, as you can see, and have already started construction on a project that will entail a four-story building with retail on the first floor, plus four units. We imagine these units will be listed as condos, given the location. Also, this rendering from Gnome Architects doesn’t exactly give off rental property vibes.

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Project rendering

We wonder whether this building will eventually have a neighbor that rises to a much taller height. You may recall, the venerable London Grill was a restaurant that operated at the corner of 23rd & Fairmount for decades, ultimately closing in 2019. First the commercial space was available for rent, but the property has been on and off the market for awhile, most recently listed for sale for $2.25M. The most recent listing included a rendering from Designblendz for a potential six-story multi-family development with 11 units over commercial.

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Former London Grill across the street
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Rendering of potential development

The property is currently off the market, so perhaps a buyer has stepped forward that will pursue a plan like the one pictured above. It’s also possible that a restaurant operator wants to keep the existing buildings and pursue another restaurant concept at the site, though this seems unlikely given the most recent asking price. Whatever the case, we sure would like to see something happen here sooner than later, and will be thrilled to see something good fill this gap on the Fairmount Avenue corridor.