Pretty much adjacent to I95, we spotted ‘For Sale’ signs at 1027 Marlborough St., in Fishtown. This building, from what we can tell, was built in the 1950s, years before the highway was constructed. Looking at a WPA Land Use Map from 1962, and looking at a current street overlay, it’s fascinating to see just how many buildings must have been torn down to make way for I95.

Wow

The map indicates that the building was originally home to J.H. Smith Company, which exists today as a manufacturer of multiple items and is based in Massachusetts. Well, we can’t be sure it’s the same company, but it sure sounds nice to think of it that way. In 1992, Universal Printing Corp, a printing company (duh) purchased the building and owns it to this day.

The building

Standing in the same spot and turning around, there's the highway. Very, very close.

A few months ago, the property went on the market for $1.2M, but the price has come down to $859K. The building is large, with over 17K sqft of interior space, and sits on a lot that’s about a quarter of an acre. While this structure could certainly continue to function with an industrial use, like the warehouse across the street that’s home to Metropolitan Bakery’s wholesale operation, it could also make for a really nice conversion to residential. Alternately, the building, we suppose, could be torn down and replaced with single family homes. But that would be kind of a shame, if you ask us.

And don’t think that people wouldn’t want to live here because of the proximity to I95. There are plenty of homes in this neighborhood that are even closer, even some newer rehabs and new construction homes. Just goes to show that the demand for housing in this neighborhood continues to be really strong.