Along the Schuylkill River banks, there's no shortage of interesting bridges, statues, lookouts, and so forth. There are also plenty of nice-looking buildings (Boathouse Row, anyone?). And then there are the buildings that aren't so nice looking, but have a nice view of the water. Heading into town from Chestnut Hill the other day, we came upon a pair of buildings that fit the latter description to a T.
We couldn't tell you when the two buildings at 4328-44 Ridge Ave. were constructed, or for what use. The architecture actually reminds us a little of hotels in the Catskills. In recent years, the buildings have been rented out for office space, with convenient walking access to downtown East Falls and driving access to the highway. The pair were on the market for $3.2M back in 2009, but eventually the property went to sheriff's sale, apparently selling for under $150K.
The property is now back on the market, this time for $1.5M. The lot is 42K sqft, and the buildings have over 24K sqft between the two of them. And there's also a parking lot with room for sixty-five cars. We imagine that someone will come forward and purchase the property, improve the buildings inside, and lease them out as office space. On the other hand, with such a large parcel so close to the river, doesn't it seem like a really attractive parcel to build something big, dense, and residential?
We know we're probably dreaming, but it would be pretty awesome if someone moved forward with such a project.