A reader checked in earlier this week, giving us the heads up about a groundbreaking on the 1900 block of Parrish Street. 1930 and 32 Parrish St. were vacant for years, and it's not really a surprise these days to hear about redevelopment for vacant lots in Francisville. We were expecting two single family homes, but instead the project will mean a single quadplex. If we had to guess, we'd assume the units will be sold off as condos, like several other projects we've seen in the area.
The developers purchased the lots from New Welcome Baptist Church, the congregation located immediately to the west of the lots. The reader who brought the project to our attention wasn't so much interested in the construction as they were interested in the church next door. This is not unreasonable, considering the quadplex is getting built on land previously owned by the church. And with the neighborhood having lost at least one church to development in the last few years, it seemed like a relevant concern.
But fear not! It appears that the development next door will have no impact on the church except for loss of light and air and the windfall of over $300K, ostensibly to plow back into the congregation. And that's a great thing, in our estimation. We're aggressively pro-development but we're still sorry to see a wonderful old building come down in exchange for new homes. Here's to hoping that the church continues to thrive on this corner for years to come and that the sale of the lots behind the church help them on that course.