Baltimore Avenue you keep making us smile, and you may soon make us nod to a little bit of jazz. On the heels of the new businesses opening between 49th and 50th streets along Baltimore Ave. this past year, including Little Baby’s Ice Cream this month, we had been wondering and waiting for news about when some beat up properties on the 5000 block of Baltimore Ave. would be become a bit more handsome. It was actually around this time last year we first wrote about the blighted block.

Changes coming soon

And so the news did come: earlier this month we spotted ZBA notices at 5037 and 5039 Baltimore. In April, Cedar Park Neighbors (CPN) hosted community meetings to discuss the projects, which are two distinct proposals for each building. At 5037, the owner plans to renovate the second- and third-floor while maintaining the building’s interior character and fabricating the ground-floor retail location into a sit-down restaurant with live jazz on weekends. Next door, at The People’s Baptist Church at 5039 Baltimore, applicants are seeking to swap two existing standard signs for LED signs. Yes, God’s holy word must be digitized, electric, and wireless. Hallelujah.

About to get tastier and jazzier

With some changes coming to this block, we turn our attention back east and wonder what’s becoming of the string of businesses down the block that were felled due to a fire on Christmas. We’ll keep you posted as we hear any news about those businesses, and when and if they will be making a comeback.

–Lou Mancinelli