The last time we checked in on the Artist Village apartments, located at 17th & Fitzwater, the roof of one of the buildings had been damaged by Hurricane Irene. We told you back then that the buildings were developed through a collaboration of SOSNA and the Regis Group back in the nineties as low-income housing rentals. This came after several years of vacancy after CHOP moved out of the neighborhood.

Artist Village buildings

The other day, a zoning notice was posted on this property. If you look at it quickly, you may be led to believe that a new thirty-four unit apartment building will be constructed here, but you would be incorrect. That refers to the existing apartments on the site. The important element of the zoning application relates instead to four new homes that are on the way.

Four homes on the way, with parking

One thing that we’ve always appreciated about the Artist Village is the little patch of green space at its southern edge, but it’s apparently not long for this world. From what we understand, the folks from Regis are following the lead of several other developers in the neighborhood and building some new homes with rear-access parking. Regrettably, this will come at the expense of that green space like so much.

We’re guessing that these homes will be for sale and at market rate, unlike the affordable rentals to the north. This is, however, speculation. The developers will be presenting to SOSNA next week, and we should be able to get all the details at that meeting. At which point we will, of course, pass ’em along to y’all.