Dashing through Francisville yesterday, we came upon a new foundation at 908 N. 16th St., next door to four relatively new quadplexes. Those buildings, which we last updated you on about a year ago when they were still being framed out, are almost definitely rentals and likely home to young professionals or Temple students. (Editor's update: turns out they're condos after all. Cool.) The foundation we see now will contain a duplex, which we're guessing will contain condos (as well).
There are a couple of interesting things to point out about this property. First, you'll notice the building next door has windows that will be directly facing the new duplex. We're guessing there's an alleyway in between the two properties which makes the windows possible for the building that's already there. Still, it might be a little awkward to have windows for the two buildings that are so close to each other.
Also interesting is that the developer bought the lot from North Philadelphia Health, or Saint Joseph's Hospital, located around the corner. We're not a hundred percent sure, but we think that the lot was previously a sliver of a hospital surface parking lot that still exists to the north. We don't imagine the rest of the parking lot will go away any time soon, but it's nice to see it at least shrink a little bit.
This just goes to show you that any and all available vacant lots in Francisville are getting snapped up very quickly by developers. Even if there's a parking lot on one side and somebody watching your every move on the other side, demand is such that these lots are selling early and often.