In Francisville, 20th Street Properties LLC has been capitalizing on widespread redevelopment by purchasing and razing vacant properties and building new homes on the same lots. They’ve been buying up many of these properties from PHA and as such have been contributing to the transformation that has swept Francisville the past couple of years, with 19th & Poplar as its nexus.

An example of their work

Now that many projects have wrapped up around 19th & Poplar, we’ve become more interested in 853 N. 20th St., a blighted purplish red home next to Ogden Park, which we believe to be the third of three vacant properties this developer acquired from PHA in November 2012 for $290K. One of the others, 825 N. 20th St. is on this block, while the other is one block south at 713 N. 20th St.

Vacant property next to Ogden Park

Last winter, 20th Street Properties purchased 735 N. 20th from PHA, then razed and rebuilt. The developer also followed the same model with two other properties on that block. With work wrapping up on their projects on the 700 block, we wonder whether 853 N. 20th St. could be next? Besides the fact there has been enough building in Francisville the past two years to change its makeup, the property is located next to a green space and close to the trolley on Girard. We won’t be surprised if this property receives some attention soon. As it were, another home nearby at 861 N. 20th St. was a clay stucco blighted red in August 2011 and has since been rehabbed and placed on the market. We’ll stay tuned to see what develops.

–Lou Mancinelli