The other day, we directed your attention to a blighted building on N. College Ave., thanks a tip from the guy that runs the @genbrewerytown Instagram account. We were looking through some previous images on the feed and noticed 2538 W. Oxford St., an old warehouse with a ‘For Sale’ sign on it. Always on the lookout for possible development opportunities, we figured we’d check it out in person.

When we made the trek to this block, we discovered a some rough looking but occupied buildings, a number of blighted buildings, a row of vacant lots, and a couple of old warehouses. This block is actually loaded with potential, but we don’t know when or if it will fulfill that promise.

Considering the location on the northern end of Brewerytown, this block hasn’t seen any of the development that’s become so prominent closer to Girard Avenue. Because it’s on the edge of the PHA Sharswood catchment as well, we considered the possibility that the blight and vacancy were all owned by PHA, as we’ve seen in other sections of the neighborhood. But that’s not the case. Most, not all, of the vacant lots on the north side of the block are owned by the Housing Authority. But only one of the row of blighted buildings on the south side are PHA. Whoever it is that owns those buildings, they look like garbage and seem like they could fall over at any minute. It’s an unfortunate situation that we suspect will ultimately end with the wrecking ball.

Lest we forget, here’s the warehouse that brought us to this block in the first place. Though the sign still hangs on the front of the building, it’s no longer on the market. It was listed for a year, most recently at a price just over $200K, but no buyer stepped forward. Surely someone could find something to do with this 6,500 sqft building, but apparently not at the previous asking price. Back in 2015, the owners attempted to put an adult day care in this building, but they were denied by the ZBA. Perhaps some kind of storage or industrial use would make sense, even though the property is zoned for residential use.

This block is kind of a microcosm of this part of the neighborhood, with a mix of long term residents and blight. Its future is muddy, with a chance that the market rate development will come up from the south and the possibility of affordable housing as part of the Sharswood PHA project. We’d think that it’s perhaps most likely that nothing much will happen here at all, and it will look more or less the same, at least for the next few years.