We were in Francisville the other day and as we stood at the 15th & Parrish intersection, it struck us just how much change this immediate area has seen over the last several years. The parcel that really drove this home for us was 1501 Parrish St., a property that was, some number of years ago, a tiny urban gas station. We only remember this property as an abandoned gas station, and we wonder whether it was a concern about the environmental impact of the previous use or an owner looking for too much of a pay day that kept it from getting redeveloped until now. But it is indeed getting redeveloped, with a new quadplex currently under construction. Amazingly, the developers of this building already have it under agreement, at a list price of $1.43M.

Trading an old gas station for a new building is certainly a positive step for this intersection, but there are several other changes nearby as well. On the northeast corner, a three-unit building has appeared, and looking north up the block there are a couple of newer duplexes. These properties were previously sitting vacant. On the southeast corner, a six-unit building went up a couple years ago, replacing a vacant lot and a worn building. Like we said when we told you about the project before, we would have liked to see the old building fixed up instead of demoed, but that ship has certainly sailed.

Looking south along the east side of 15th Street, we see a number of new homes under construction, just past the building at the corner. We told you to expect these homes a little over a year ago, when we shared that BMK Homes had a plan for a total of 32 workforce housing units in this area. A reminder, maximum sale prices for the homes will be $230K and buyers will be restricted to earning less than 120% of the average median income. That’s an annual income of under $88K/year. In the photo above, you can probably see that there’s not nearly 32 homes under construction- that’s because the rest of the homes will rise on the west side of the street.

The west side is still sitting empty, but we have to think that it’ll get built up shortly after the first phase of homes gets finished or maybe before. We’d wager that we’ll be back at this corner within the year, again remarking on all the changes nearby. And by then, we’ll have a much better sense of how well the first wave of BMK homes fit in with the rest of the construction in the area. If they’re ultra-contemporary, they’ll blend right in. Aside from their height, that is.