Back in the fall of 2013, developers proposed a plan to demolish an old building that had been home to a plumbing business at 428 E. Wildey St. and replace it with a twelve unit apartment building. Apparently the community wasn't into the idea, opposing it at an FNA zoning meeting. As a result, the developers withdrew their application to the ZBA and when we visited the property in February of 2014 (incidentally, in the snow), it was sitting vacant and with an uncertain future. We didn't mind at the time, as we were able to tell you about some other projects happening nearby, but we had a feeling it wouldn't be our last time reporting on this property.
How right we were. We passed by the property the other day quite by accident, and discovered that the old plumbing building is gone and a new project is very much under construction. It appears that different developers came forward to buy the property, paying $765K last summer. Before they closed on the parcel, they went through the zoning process, getting approval for a nine home development, with five homes fronting Wildey Street and four homes fronting Salmon Street. One of the Wildey Street units sits above the entrance to a drive-aisle which services the parking for the other eight homes. Harman Deutsch did the architecture work.
Four of the homes are already listed for sale, with prices ranging from $550K for the carriage house, which lacks parking, to $630K for one of the units with parking. Per the listings, these are large homes, ranging in size from 2,500 sqft to over 3,000 sqft. Despite the fact that the homes are located mere steps from I-95, we still think that they'll sell for close to the asking price. Fishtown is really in demand these days, and projects like Riverside Court have shown that people are willing to pay top dollar to live in the neighborhood even if it means living on the edge. As the homes move closer to completion and the buyers start to sign on, we'll start to see more clearly whether there will be any penalty at all for the location, so stay tuned. And if you're personally looking to move to a new home with I-95 access from your roof deck, you might want to check out one of these homes asap.