Earlier this week, we tipped you off to an upcoming development at 20th and Oxford Sts., representing an extreme western example of the expansion of off-campus housing for Temple students. Today, we look at a project coming to the 2300 block of N. 12th St., a desolate block that sits in the shadow of the elevated regional rail tracks.

The corner of 12th and Dauphin

To the north

A good look at the tracks, to the east

Developer IQ Properties, out of Newtown, purchased the three lots on the northwest corner for $99K about six months ago. They intend to build three duplexes on the corner, ostensibly for student housing.

Though these homes will be only two blocks from the upcoming Diamond Green, and closer to the edge of campus than some of the other student housing developments we’ve covered in the past, the isolation of this block is striking. We’ve been all around Temple’s campus, and most of the action we’ve seen has been west of Broad St., not to the north of campus. Also, almost every block with newer buildings meant for students seems to have a critical mass of student housing, while this one seems to have a critical mass of vacant land.

On the other hand, for every block that currently has a critical mass of housing, there had to be the first crazy developer who built the first few houses. Who knows, in a couple of years, there could be a dozen more new buildings at this intersection. And the people at IQ Properties won’t seem so crazy after all.