Last March, we wondered about the status of 2200 Saint Albans Street, home to a check cashing store and long a nuisance property in the neighborhood. The property was on the market for a hot minute, and was promptly sold, but not before it experienced a break-in and the theft of a bunch of unused lottery tickets.

Sold, last spring

Over the summer, the property underwent a partial demolition, with the windows being blown out and the rear wall being mostly torn down. And then, the building sat, apparently rotting away, lacking windows and somehow looking worse than it did when it was an active check cashing place. In the past month or so, however, work has resumed at the site, and the handy dandy L&I map indicates that the building will eventually contain four residential units, losing the commercial space.

Current view

From the rear

The new owners of the property are Titan Acquisitions LLC, a small company based out of Richboro. Months ago, we had heard rumblings that the sale of the property was to a family member, for below market value. But it’s clear that this was not the case, as this developer is doing other projects in the neighborhood, notably the construction of two new construction homes on the corner of 19th & Kimball. Harman Deutsch is serving as architects for both projects.

It definitely saddens us to see the commercial use disappear at this property, especially with the new Ultimo having opened on the corner of Catharine Street a couple of months ago and whispers of other new commercial happenings on 22nd Street in the near future. On the other hand, we’re sure that neighbors who have been suffering from the dealings at this building over the years are not going to complain too much. And considering the rumors of a check cashing place replacing the check cashing place back when the sale took place, the alternative could have been very disappointing indeed.