In December of last year, we had a busy couple of weeks on 12th Street in Chinatown. First, we filled you in on two projects already underway at 225-27 N. 12th St. and 245 N. 12th St., just down the block from each other. We had elevations at the time, and a little bit later, we saw a massing rendering from RM Development. Let’s start on these first, as we have a rather exciting update.

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Aerial massing shows 225-227 layout

While the aerial was indeed informative, it didn’t give us those sweet, sweet renderings that we all crave like barbecue potato chips. So when we saw recently that RM and their architect, CosciaMoos, released renderings, well, we had to provide an update. Enjoy the gorgeous images below and check out how things have progressed over the last several months.

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A golden hour aerial shows future of both completed buildings
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245 N. 12th St. on the northern end of the block
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Current progress of 245
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225-27 N. 12th St. on the southern side of the block
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And current progress of 225-27, a bit further along
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View looking northeast down 12th shows entire block, with the Goldtex Apartments in the background on the far side of Vine St.
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View looking southeast shows proximity to Convention Center

If the brick building with the red awning looks familiar to you, that’s because it’s the second project we visited back in December, where an addition is planned for the funeral home immediately next door to the northern construction site. The trip to the ZBA for this project has been pushed to September, so we don’t expect to see any action on this one in the near future. Alas.

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Current view of the funeral home

But even as we dashed around Chinatown in the pouring rain, we didn’t want to end our journey on a down note. And we didn’t have to! As is the case throughout pretty much the entire city, we didn’t have to journey far to find more development. Just a block to the east at 222 N. 11th St., a seven-story project is topped off where a two-story restaurant once stood. 18 units and ground floor commercial will fill this new building. A block to the north at 1209 Vine St., the Jarvis Building addition is now well underway. 120 apartments and car parking for 36 will change the corner where the Noto nightclub makes its home.

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View of Vietnam Palace at 222 N. 11th St. in the past
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222 N. 11th St. topped out on the seventh floor
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View of Jarvis Building at 1209 Vine St. with steel addition on top
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Rendering of what's coming to the corner of 12th & Vine

We love seeing these new projects rise, especially those taking the place of surface parking lots. This part of Chinatown still has many such lots, and with more permissible zoning than some other neighborhoods, we wouldn’t be surprised to see an uptick in projects like these. Given the central location, easy access to transit and major roadways, plus the incredible energy of Chinatown, hopefully things will continue to fill in around the fissure of the Vine Street Expressway. Ah, if we could only figure out a way to cap that bad boy…