A reader tipped us off recently that they noticed some demolition activity on the south side of the 1600 block of Poplar Street, but it seems that the demo contractors moved pretty quickly and were mostly finished their work by the time we were able to pay a visit. In the past, there was a rather wide building standing at 1624 Poplar St. which we imagine was at one point affiliated with the adjacent Church of the Living God. The cross above the door seems like a pretty good indication, at least.
The property is quite large, measuring roughly 9,000 sqft in total. With multi-family zoning, it represents an easy opportunity to build condos or rental apartments by right, and that's exactly what's happening. The developers have a plan to subdivide the parcel into five lots and are planning to build a quartet of quadplexes, leaving one of the lots vacant for the time being. We confess, we have no idea why they're keeping the westernmost lot vacant, we'd think it would make sense to develop that one too. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the last lot is directly next door to a building that dates back over 150 years. Maybe the developers are worried about underpinning?
The Church of the Living God has been located that this address since the 1970s, according to a Hidden City story from a couple years ago. That very story provides a ton of additional information about this historic building, which was constructed as the Green Hill Market in 1859. It wasn't even twenty years before the market was surpassed by the Ridge Avenue Farmer's Market just a block up the road, but that building was demoed in 1997, with part of its site being redeveloped as homes a few years back and the rest expected to get developed in the near future. So kudos to the Green Hill Market building for surviving for such a long time, as if the building itself appreciates such accolades. And while the building next door is gone forever, we're grateful that the church seems to be going strong, and that some of the newest buildings in the neighborhood will soon abut one of the oldest.