Immediately next door to Vientiane Cafe, on the 4700 block of Baltimore, sits a super-wide vacant lot that seems pretty well maintained. With Vientiane, Dahlak, Vietnam Cafe, and Mariposa all thriving on this block, it seems a little odd that this well-located and sizable lot would sit vacant. So… we did a little digging.

Looking toward 47th St. Lot is on the right side of the picture.

The property is owned by Lai Investments LLC, and has been in the family for more than twenty-five years. The address for this company in public record is 221 N 11th St.- wouldn’t you know it, that’s the address of Vietnam Restaurant, the sister business to Vietnam Cafe! We reached out to both businesses to try to find anything out about this parcel and whether there might be some development plans in the future, but sadly came up empty.

Does anyone out there remember a time that a building stood on this lot? Or has it been vacant for years and years?

Have any West Philly people anyone heard about future plans for this site? Seems like there’s a real opportunity for something cool on this great block.