Earlier this week, we told you about an exciting plan for the 1200 block of N. 5th St. in South Kensington for 21 duplexes, a mixed-use building, and a public dog park supported by the development. Not only was this exciting news because (almost) everyone loves dog parks, but also because it meant the end of the road for a long vacant lot. As if that wasn't good enough news for this block, today we have info about another significant project right across the street.
1216-26 N. 5th St., like its neighbor to the east, has been a vacant lot for quite some time. And like that neighbor, it will soon get redeveloped, assuming the ZBA approves. The property is actually the combination of six parcels that had been owned by three different parties, so kudos to the developers for putting these lots together into one project. Last month, they appeared before South Kensington Community Partners and presented a plan to build twenty-nine apartments with twenty car parking spaces and ten bike spots. A sign on the fence suggests that Continuum Architecture has done the design work.
Assuming that both projects move forward, it will represent the addition of 66 new units on this block alone. And remember, there are a bunch of other large projects in the works within a few blocks of here which will add many more units to the surrounding neighborhood in the coming years. Perhaps most noteworthy, we're hearing rumblings that work is happening again at the former umbrella factory just a couple of blocks to the north. If that building finally comes back into active use, it would not only add many new residents to the neighborhood, but at the same time it would eliminate its most prominent blight. Please, let it happen asap.