A century ago, the 900 block of Marshall Street was home to a bustling outdoor market, with hundreds of pushcart vendors hawking all manner of products. By the time the 1960s rolled around, the changing neighborhood and the threat of an urban renewal plan meant an end to the pushcarts on Marshall Street, and the block began a slow decline that persisted until very recently. A couple years ago, we were excited to see some buildings rising here, closer to Poplar Street, and that has slowly continued ever since.

A bunch of newer buildings close to Poplar Street

Today we look a little bit to the north on this same block, where an old building will soon be renovated into apartments and two buildings will rise on either side of it. At 980 N. Marshall St., the Kneses Israel Anshe S'fard built a synagogue in 1909 for $1,000, according to a story from the Jewish Exponent. The congregation moved away in the 1960s, and the building was most recently home to the Emmanuel Full Gospel Temple. Despite the fact that the building has been a church for many years now, you can still see the original Hebrew inscription at the top of the building's facade.

View of the building in the 1950s, image from Phillyhistory.org

Current view

Looking up at the building

Developers purchased this property in the summer of 2014 for $345K and then flipped the property for $600K last fall. According to the permits on the L&I Map, developers are renovating the building into a mixed-use building with retail and a single apartment on the first floor and four apartments on the upper floors. It's great to see that these developers have found a way to maintain this hundred-year-old building, we hope they make the effort to maintain some of the building's character, unlike some other developers.

Under construction to the north

Construction to the south too

But that's not all! Immediately to the north, developers are working on a four-story six-unit building. Just to the south, there are plans for a three-story building with four condos, one of which is currently listed for sale for $365K. And there are some other projects coming soon to this block which will further its transformation. While it's true that Marshall Street will never again have the character it had a hundred years ago, it's still encouraging to see this street on the edge of Northern Liberties coming back to life. 

For more info on the Marshall Street Market from Philaplace, click here.