We've visited the blocks around the 40th & Baring intersection perhaps a dozen times over the years, regularly providing updates on this booming part of Mantua. Way back in 2011, some new apartment buildings had recently finished in the north side of the 4000 block of Baring Street, with a large building under construction on the northwest corner. The surrounding blocks have filled in considerably over time, with new buildings regularly replacing vacant lots and outdated warehouses like the Blockley Apartment buildings on 40th Street. Less often, developers have fixed up existing buildings that had been poorly maintained, like the triplex turned duplex on the southwest corner.
Perhaps because of the addition of over 150 units to this immediate area in the last several years, developers are still still looking for opportunities near 40th & Baring. Take, for example, the property at 326 N. 40th St., which sits next door to the aforementioned renovated duplex. Until very recently there was a home at this property with a huge front and side yard. If you pass by today, you'll see that developers have torn down the home and are looking to take advantage of the 4,900 sqft property on which it sat.
A reader tipped us off that the developers are planning an 11-unit building at this property which appears to be happening by right. It pretty much goes without saying that the units will be targeting the area's growing student population.
But that's not all! Across the street, a handsome twin was demoed and we see that permits have been pulled for a six-unit building to rise in its place. You can see, the building next door is for sale for $500K, and seems likely to meet a similar fate.
In the earlier stages of student housing development in this area, projects were generally replacing vacant lots and underused buildings and we were all about it. Now, with continued demand and adaptible zoning designations, more developers are demolishing seemingly viable buildings and replacing them with buildings that are more efficiently designed in terms of unit count but feature less than stellar architecture. We're much less stoked about the latest chapters for this area, but we aren't sure what levers could be pulled to change the course of things before all the old buildings in this area are gone.