Just the other day, we brought some demolition to your attention on the 1500 block of Ridge Avenue, work that will soon pave the way for some new mixed-use buildings on the corridor. We somehow missed another demolition site at 1516 Parrish St., literally around the corner. In the past, this address was home to an attractive two-story building that we believe was a part of the now defunct Arts Garage. The building also sported a really nice mural on its side.
Visit the site today and you'll find a hole in the ground and a pile of bricks.
A little over a year ago, developers purchased this building, the vacant lot next door, and some additional vacant lots to the rear on Ridge Avenue. As it stands, we aren't clear on their plans for the Ridge Ave. properties but they've already pulled permits for the two properties on Parrish Street. At 1514 Parrish St., permits call for a four story building with a commercial space and four apartments. Next door, look for a similar building, but with only three residential units.
It seems a little odd for developers to go the mixed-use route on this block, steps away from a commercial corridor that's on the rise. Our bet is that they'd have preferred going with a purely residential play, but didn't want to get the community or the ZBA involved so they opted for the mixed-use project that's permitted by right. The Maxfield Tower project, built last year, showed that mixed-use can work on this block, we just hope the two buildings on the drawing board will come close to that project from an architectural standpoint.
