The 1500 block of N. Stillman St. is way up into Brewerytown, three blocks from Girard Avenue and closer to the PHA Sharswood construction than it is to most of the market rate development in the area. Despite this block being a little off the beaten path, Design Pro Development is just getting started on a 7-unit building here. As is often the case in this part of town, h/t to @genbrewerytown for tipping us off to this project.
Previously, 1505 N. Stillman St. was a vacant residential property and 1507 N. Stillman St. was a one-story garage that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. The properties were on the market for over a year before the developers stepped in, paying just under $100K for the pair a couple months ago. Unsurprisingly, we discovered some demolition activity when we went past the properties last week. By now, we’d guess that both the home and the garage are totally gone.
As we said before, the developers are building a 7-unit building here, something they’re able to do by right. It seems like a strong rental play, but looking at the developer’s website and considering some of the other projects we’ve seen in the neighborhood in the last couple years, it wouldn’t surprise us if they went the condo route. If they do end up selling the units, we’ll be fascinated to see what kind of prices they’re able to get.
We’d also be fascinated to take a walk through the huge industrial building that takes up most of the block’s western side and goes all the way through to 26th Street. Originally built as home to the Wills-Jones Milk Company, the warehouse is now owned by Franklin Electric, which we’re pretty sure is related to this business in Jersey. Eventually, we suspect someone will make an offer on this property that will move the needle for the electric company and we’ll see the building demolished and replaced with new construction or repurposed into a residential use. If and when that happens, the 7-unit building across the street will suddenly have much more market rate context. Whether this happens in 6 months or 6 years though, is anybody’s guess.