About a year ago, we visited the 1500 block of Brown Street and noted that several projects were in the pipeline for the block, though most were not evident to the casual observer at the time. The most obvious project was happening at the northeast corner of 16th & Brown, where developers had just demolished a pair of buildings and had plans to construct a quadplex in their place. It took a little bit of time for the construction process to lurch forward, perhaps due to a permitting issue, but now you can see the new building has been framed out.

Moving to the east, when we were last here we noted two relatively new triplexes on the block. 1519 Brown St. was built around 2013, with units selling between $190K and $260K. 1517 Brown St. arrived on the scene in 2016, and those units sold between $220K and $320K. This gives you an idea of just how much the market has grown in Francisville in the last few years. Next door, developers are just starting to frame three more triplexes, where we have to think the units will sell at even higher prices.

Finally, as we get to the end of this block, where it hits Ridge Avenue, we see a new foundation for a mixed-use building. A project with ground floor retail and 4 apartments was approved back in 2015, but then a revised project with a ground floor restaurant and 8 apartments was approved at the end of last year. So that’s what’s on the way, echoing many other Ridge Avenue projects we’ve seen in Francisville over the last several years. Looking at a rendering on the Stamm Development site, we see the building will have a contemporary look, also like many other projects on the corridor.

Of course, now it’s time for our obligatory comment that Ridge Avenue development is booming but the corridor won’t truly arrive until a bunch of businesses start dotting the landscape. It’s just on the horizon, and could even start to happen before the year is out. And wow, it will be transformative once those businesses start opening their doors.