In Point Breeze, large parcels are hard to come by these days. So when one becomes available it’s worth noting, even if the asking price makes redevelopment very challenging. Take 1153-61 S. 15th St., currently an auto body repair shop, for example:

The building

And the lot next door

A month and a half ago, this property came on the market at an asking price of $900K. The property measures about 83’x100′, but what can you built on this footprint? Assuming that the sale price is fairly close to the current asking price, maintaining the property as an auto shop is clearly out of the question. Demolishing the existing building and constructing five homes fronting 15th Street would result in a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Adding an additional story onto the property and creating apartments would possibly be a viable long-term investment, but would carry considerable cost and risk.

Two possibilities exist that we can think of, though both would require a lower sale price to become workable. One possibility would be complete demolition, and the construction of a four-story apartment building, with 10-12 apartments per floor. Such a plan would not have any parking and would likely face terrific community opposition. But the numbers would probably work, if you could ever build the thing.

Another idea would be the construction of ten new homes, with five fronting 15th Street and five more fronting some sort of interior courtyard. Again, this would require a lower price and would have to get neighborhood approval, but it’s got to more palatable than over forty new apartments, right?

Hopefully, the price will come down some, and a creative developer will come forward with a good plan for this property. Maybe they’ll take one of our ideas, or perhaps they’ll come up with a creative solution of their own…