South of Bainbridge, 11th Street changes from the one-way, northbound street that you’ll find throughout Center City, into a fairly wide, two-way boulevard (with bike lanes!). This curious stretch extends all the way to Reed Street, where it stops entirely for a couple of blocks, interrupted by the former site of the Moyamensing Prison, now a neighborhood Acme.

Wide 11th St

At the northern end of wide 11th Street, 714 S. 11th St. has sat blighted for years, while numerous surrounding buildings have been restored and built from scratch. About a year ago, developer and restauranteur Haviv David purchased the property for $270K. And next week, he’ll go before the ZBA with a proposal to demolish the existing building and replace it with two single family homes with roof decks and garages. We’re assuming that one of the homes will front 11th Street and the other will front narrow Jessup Street.

Front of 714 S 11th St

Jessup St. side. Nice wooden bay.

We’d imagine that folks on the block will be thrilled to see this long-vacant property transformed into new homes. And just think about how lucky the new residents will be, with wonderful Hawthorne’s just a block away.

While we’re on the subject of this area, does anybody have a clue as to why 11th Street suddenly gets wide over here? Surely there was a reason for it at some point, right?