At the corner of 26th & Poplar, a vacant warehouse cries out for redevelopment. And its cries might just be answered sometime soon.
The 12,000 sqft building sits on the border between Brewerytown and Fairmount. To the south is a lovely residential neighborhood. To the north is the rapidly improving West Girard commercial corridor. Next door, unfortunately, is a gas station. But that hasn't stopped developers at other locations in the past.
Recently, a reader directed us to a Philadelphia Speaks thread discussing this property, whose owners recently put in for permits to build a couple of roof decks. Our first thought was that the property was owned by the Graveley family, a group that owns several parcels nearby including the recently demolished Old English Tavern. But no, it's owned by Bambrey Associates LLC, a company that purchased the property back in 2002 and is now finally taking an interest in it as the neighborhood to the north continues to progress.
In 2012, the warehouse owners applied for permits to reuse the building as a first floor commercial space and six apartments upstairs. The fact that they're applying for roof deck permits may mean that the property will finally get revitalized. As for the vacant lot across the street, our hopes are not so high. Still, every little step in the right direction is a good one for the area. And the renovation of this long vacant warehouse would indeed be a positive step.