While Francisville has changed dramatically over the last decade plus, the northeast corner of 16th & Ogden hasn’t changed at all. The property at 849 N. 16th St. has been home to the small congregation, the True Gospel Baptist Church, for a number of years. This church was small indeed, sitting on a rowhome-sized parcel and rising only one story. While the architecture was no comparison to some of the more impressive religious buildings in this town and others, the building was still a unique edifice in this primarily residential area.
At some point, the congregation either ceased to exist, moved to a new location, or was for whatever reason unable to maintain the upkeep of the building. It fell into a blighted condition, and an organization called the Philadelphia Community Development Coalition used Act 135 to file to become a conservator for the property. You may recall, Act 135 was passed in PA back in 2008 and allows parties unrelated to a blighted property to take over its management, fix it up, and/or sell it. As part of their effort, PCDC demolished the church and listed the property for sale last year. It traded for $250K a few months ago. The property currently looks like this, but we imagine it won’t be long before a duplex or a triplex rises at this location.
As has been the case across Francisville, this immediate area has seen remarkable change over the last decade or so. As recently as 2012, there were vast swaths of vacant land here. In the photo above, you can see a row of duplexes that were built on the north side of the 1500 block of Ogden. Looking at the southeast corner of 16th & Ogden, the transformation is something to behold.
On the south side of Ogden and the east side of 16th Street, you can see a collection of small multi-family buildings filling in this previously empty area. Vineyards Cafe sits at the corner and is a fine place to grab a crepe, if you find yourself nearby.
Looking to the west, the 1600 block of Ogden was pretty much a wasteland back in 2012.
Not so much anymore, as a collection of mostly duplexes has completely changed the scene on this block. The south side of this block of Ogden connects to Ridge Ave. in some places, accounting for additional development. Also, the residents on this block surely patronize the growing collection of businesses on the corridor.
You’ll notice that there are some vacant lots mixed in with all the new construction in all the photos above, including at 851 N. 16th St., immediately next door to the former church property. Most of these lots are unfortunately owned by the Philadelphia Land Bank, which continues to, uh, bank land at a pace that’s entirely suboptimal for our city. Especially in areas like Francisville, and in situations where the Land Bank owns individual lots that can’t be consolidated into larger projects, we would strongly endorse the Land Bank selling off lots posthaste at market rate prices. Alternatively, we’d be on board with selling the lots for a nominal price for the construction of affordable units. Either way, continued vacancy isn’t doing anyone any favors and we’d hope to see the Land Bank do something here, and soon. We’d imagine the folks who live here would strongly agree.