A couple of years ago, developers built "The Nine" on Tulip Street in Fishtown, across the street from Memphis Flats. At the time, the nine new LEED certified homes improved the block significantly by replacing some vacant lots, but a large vacant warehouse at the corner of Palmer Street still dragged things down. Once home to the REACH baseball factory, the warehouse looked like all kinds of dreck. But a little more than two years ago, we got word that a renovation could get underway; and last summer we learned that a renovation with a conversion into thirty apartments was definitely on the horizon.
We passed by the former factory earlier this week and discovered a project very much in the throes of redevelopment. Graffitti has been washed away, formerly cinderblocked window openings have been reopened, and attractive new windows are being installed. The brickwork also looks like it's gotten received some attention. It's a tasteful project being undertaken by Domani Developers with design work by Cecil Baker + Partners.
Once the project finishes up, it will join Memphis Flats as the second major adaptive reuse project on the block. When Memphis Flats came about, its renovation represented a dramatic change for the block that had previously been dominated by industrial uses. The conversion of the old REACH factory marks a bookend of sorts of this block, as a second major renovation takes place and the block's residential transition is completed. It will be exciting indeed to see the finished product in just a few more months.