In recent years, South Street West has experienced a major rebirth. New businesses have appeared, as if out of thin air. And vacant lots have disappeared, with mixed-use buildings bringing new commercial spaces and potential customers to the corridor. Even the Royal Theater, South Street West's long vacant jewel, could soon come back to life in dramatic fashion. But the corridor still has some more growing to do and some remaining kinks to work out. 1412 South St. is one such kink, a building that's been obviously vacant for as long as we can remember.
On one side of the building is a surface parking lot that will surely get redeveloped (at the expense of a sweet mural) at some point in the future. On its other side is a pizza joint, New Tower Pizzeria. Remember, last winter we told you that Govinda's was opening a vegan pizza shop next door to New Tower (to the east), but we haven't seen or heard anything about it since. But we digress. Please note that the vacant building in the photo above has a sale sign on it!
The listing has been active for a couple of months, offering the building for a rather hefty $825K. We'd wager that the building is in shell condition, and listing speaks of 1,100 sqft on the first floor and 650 sqft on each of the upper floors. Considering the lot goes back over a hundred feet, we might even suggest demolishing the building and replacing it with something with a bigger footprint, especially upstairs. But given the asking price, we're not sure that's a viable option. In fact, we're not sure that there's any viable option at that price. It's worth noting that the property is also available for rent for $5,000/month.
At the current asking prices, we don't see anything getting done here. But the fact that the building is on the market in the first place indicates that the owners are willing to listen, and perhaps someone will come forward with an offer that's close enough to get a deal done. And wouldn't it be swell if this building was transformed from eyesore to asset?
Considering the growth to the west and the new development nearby on Broad Street, a new business would certainly have the chance to thrive at this location. If the property were to get redeveloped, what would people like to see in this retail space? Anything but pizza, please.