Around the corner from the faded Metropolitan Opera House, a huge vacant lot is on the outs at 15th & Poplar. For years, this lot has been used for parking for the nearby Second Pilgrim Baptist Church, but it seems that won't be possible for very much longer.
In reality, this parking lot is made up of three distinct lots. The two interior lots are privately owned (by what seems like different developers), having changed hands last year. The corner parcel, which is a ridiculous 28'x110', is owned by the City. So at the very least, the church should have some vacant land to use for parking for the next decade or two until the City gets around to selling their parcel.
As for the privately owned lots, both have plans on the table for new buildings, each with five apartments. No idea whether the plan is for rentals or condos at this point, but we'd bet on rentals due to the site's proximity to Temple. On the other hand, a row of quadplexes just a block to the west are being marketed as condos despite our initial expectation that they'd be rentals. So who knows.
One thing we do know is that the replacement of a surface parking lot with new buildings is pretty much always a good thing. We'll be interested to see whether the projects get approved by the ZBA, and if they do, what kind of architectural contribution they'll make to the neighborhood. Hopefully something a little more exciting than the relatively recently constructed buildings on the intersection's northwest corner. Then again, who doesn't dig superfluous columns?
