A couple of years ago, we were very pleased to bring you the news that the former Pride of the Sea warehouse at 4th & Brown was being demolished, and that new homes would rise in its place. We're generally bummed when handsome old churches or row homes come down in favor of new development, but this building was adding nothing to the neighborhood. And even if someone wanted to reuse it, we wonder whether that fish smell ever comes out.
The demolition took place back in June of 2012, and we expected to see two new homes rise on 4th Street and three more on Brown Street. The project, which was called Foundry Court, was of particular interest because of a partnership with with Nexus EnergyHomes to build the first Net Zero homes in Philadelphia. Plans included the use of geothermal heating and cooling and extremely tight building envelopes. From what we can tell looking at a past and current listing for the 4th Street homes, the project moved forward with only those two properties. The 3,000 sqft home at 718 N. 4th St. is currently on the market for $779,900.
As for the homes on Brown Street, they're finally on the way. New developers have stepped in, and we recently discovered foundations on the site.
A sign on the site advertises three new homes from Hightop Real Estate & Development, each of which will have 3-4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 half-baths, and onsite parking. We we able to snag a rendering of the project from the developers' website, and it looks like the homes will resemble their neighbors to the south.
Surely, people waiting on line at Honey's across the street have grown tired of staring at a construction site over the last couple of years. Though we'll likely have a number of months of additional construction coming up, there's thankfully a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully by the third anniversary of the warehouse demolition, the corner will look just like the image above, creepy rendering people and all.