When we last checked in on the northeast corner of 19th & Fairmount, we noted that Noam Chomsky looked concerned as he prepared to be covered by a new building. At that time, developers had just broken ground at this site, where they would soon be constructing a building with fifteen apartments and a grocery/sandwich shop/cafe space on the first floor. As you can see, they’ve made some good progress in half a year.

Ground breaking

Yesterday

From what we can tell, there’s still another story yet to come, plus a whole lot of finish work. We’re guessing that the building should be approaching completion by the end of the year. When the store on the first floor will open its doors is another question entirely, but it hopefully won’t be too long.

In the future. Rendering from Canno Architecture & Design

While some people may lament the loss of the mural, we are very pleased to see this construction taking place. For such a prominent corner to sit vacant for so many years is quite honestly shocking, and it’s a wonderful thing to see it filled in at last. And for the infill to be something with mixed-use and a scale that’s appropriate for Fairmount Avenue makes it all the better. We’ll check back here in a few months to see how much more progress has taken place, and by then we’ll perhaps have an update on the timing for the commercial space as well.