Much to the relief of near neighbors, the blighted buildings at the southwest corner of 24th & Wharton were demolished a few months ago. The buildings actually had some amazing history, housing a doctor’s office, a rooming house/apartment building, a beer distributor, a restaurant called Reno’s Café, and a community center over the years. Most recently, a sign for Barrett Education Center hung outside, though the building was in deplorable condition and appeared vacant. While the organization may have done some wonderful things in the community over the years, the now defunct non-profit may have been involved in some tax shenanigans toward the end.
Developers purchased the property at the end of last year, and now it looks like this:
Much better, right? When we look at this parcel, our first instinct is a six-home project, but the developers want to go in a different direction. They're proposing a three-story mixed-use building with twelve 2-bedroom apartment units and a retail space on the ground floor. We're all for the inclusion of some neighborhood retail at this location, especially considering that it's right across the street from a large neighborhood green space.
The project will come before the community on Monday, March 28th, at 6:30pm at 1444 Point Breeze Ave. at the monthly South Philadelphia HOMES zoning meeting. Will the community support the mixed-use plan? Will neighbors fight it due to parking worries? Gentrification concerns? Other reasons? If you live in the neighborhood and you'd like to see this type of project built here, we encourage you to come out to the neighborhood meeting to show your support.