When fire strikes, our first, second, and third thoughts go out to the building’s residents, tenants, and/or owners, as well as the brave fire fighters, with the hope that everyone is OK. In the days that follow, assuming that everyone is alright, we start to wonder about what might come next. Will the building sit vacant and blighte for years, a la One Meridian Plaza? Will it be demoed and will the site sit empty for years to come (also kind of like One Meridian Plaza)? Will we see demo and new construction? Or will the building get rehabbed and come back into use?

In the summer of 2022, a fire broke out at 153 and 155 N. 10th St., in the Chinatown neighborhood. Thankfully, all the residents made it out ok, and one fire fighter was treated for minor injuries. The buildings, however, were severely damaged and were demolished soon after. Over the last couple years, the property has been used as a surface parking lot.

It would be quite reasonable to expect that this property would remain as such for years to come. But we’ve written quite a bit about surface parking lots being redeveloped into mixed-use and residential buildings over the last several years, so a new building also seems quite plausible. Fortunately, we can share that the latter is indeed in the cards, with a five-story mixed-use building now moving through the permitting process.

The new building will have retail on the first floor and in the basement, with commercial/office space on the 2nd floor, and 12 residential units on the top 3 levels. It’s perhaps a little unexpected to see the commercial use on the 2nd floor, as we would generally expect to see maximum residential density in a project of this size. Perhaps the owners already have a tenant in mind and they’re building to suit. Also, we’d be curious to know whether the businesses that were previously located here might be making a comeback in the new building.

The 60′ tall building should do a good job balancing the need to add more housing, retail, and office space at the site without overwhelming the relatively narrow street. We gotta say, we love these medium-sized mixed-use buildings and wish they could be built on all of our walkable commercial corridors throughout the city. Unfortunately, the height and lack of parking would mean a building like this would need variances to be permitted on many of those corridors. Alas. For now at least, we’re just going to be happy that this prime location in the heart of Chinatown will make a quick comeback and won’t remain a parking lot indefinitely.