It wasn’t that long ago that construction on Amber Street in East Kensington was cause for celebration, a sign that development in Fishtown was spreading to the other side of Frankford Avenue. Today though? Amber Street is so 2011. As we’ve told you time and again, development has spread throughout this neighborhood, with some of the newest projects almost kissing the El on Kensington Avenue. As such, it’s no shock to see projects happening on and around Jasper Street, though we confess it’s still a little tough for us to adjust to the mindset that Jasper Street is a place that anyone wants to build.

Today, there’s a staggering amount of construction where Jasper Street hits E. Hagert Street, with multiple developers dipping a toe (or a whole leg) into the East Kensington pond. Most prominent is the ongoing renovation of the former Albion Carpet Mill, where we’re seeing a building that once employed hundreds of people get converted into an apartment building. Developers are creating a commercial space on part of the first floor, with a total of 53 apartment units across the rest of the project. The building looked really rough for a number of years, and with new windows now mostly installed, it’s looking infinitely better.

There are smaller projects in either direction on Jasper Street. To the west, developers are filling in a long vacant lot with a new home. To the east, we see a former one story garage is getting a three story addition with a plan to use the new structure as a home. The mural on the building remains intact, and we wonder whether it’ll stick around once the construction is done. Across the street, meanwhile, we see an old home getting torn down, a few of the Suite Row homes, and the end unit of a 6-home development on E. Cumberland Street.

Perhaps most unexpectedly, we happened upon a row of brand new foundations on Hagert Street. 1903-15 E. Hagert St. had been sitting vacant for many years, and developers bought them about two years ago, paying $475K for the 15K sqft property. Kudos where it’s due, they got an awesome price. The project will entail five duplexes on Hagert Street and five duplexes on Letterly Street, with framing sure to begin on Hagert in the coming weeks.

It appears the lower units, with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, are each listed for $250K, while the 3 bed/3 bath upper units are listed for $330K. If those prices seem a little high for the location, we’d be remiss if we don’t mention that each unit will have a parking space, so for the buyers that don’t feel like walking the three and a half blocks to Frankford Avenue, driving will certainly be an option. With so many new neighbors in this area though, maybe some businesses will find it worthwhile to open off the corridor as well.