Compared to a few years ago, the Graduate Hospital neighborhood doesn't see nearly as much development activity these days. And yes, that makes for much less exciting community zoning meetings, but it also means that fewer neighbors are disturbed by construction noise. So we'll call it a push. It's not that development has trailed off because people aren't so interested in the neighborhood- it's quite the opposite, actually. The relative lack of development is exclusively due to the fact that there just aren't too many vacant lots or underused parcels remaining in the neighborhood. Of course, there are always exceptions, like the 1700 block of Carpenter Street, where three projects are at various stages.
The western side of the block was previously dominated by a large building at 1735 Carpenter St. which was home to a laundry care company for years. That building was demolished last summer, when we told you about a plan to construct five quadplexes in its place with four buildings on Carpenter and one building on Montrose Street. At the time, it looked like the plan had been denied by the ZBA but looking today at the permits and the ongoing construction it's clear that the quadplexes are indeed happening. Two have been framed out while foundations have been poured for the others. We imagine that these units will be offered as condos but don't see any listings just yet.
Moving just a bit to the east, two new homes rose recently at 1717-19 Carpenter St., replacing long-vacant lots. These homes are part of a development we covered over a year ago, and include a third home on Montrose Street. All of the homes have garage-front parking, though you can't see that in the photo below because of the van parked out front. It's wild that these lots remained vacant for all these years, just as it's unsurprising to see them finally redeveloped.
These projects are well and good, and new residential units are certainly an upgrade over an old warehouse and some vacant lots. But the big ticket item on this block remains Carpenter Green, on the corner of 17th & Carpenter. The first phase of construction, which involved grading, plumbing, and wiring the park, took place last fall. SOSNA is still actively raising funds for the second phase, which will take the space from its current Shire-like state and make it into a functional public space.
The people looking to purchase the units now under construction on this block will surely consider Carpenter Green as a factor in their decision to move to this block. As will, we'd imagine, the people moving to the new units recently finished and/or now under construction nearby on the 1000 block of S. 17th Street.