We needed to make a run to the Post Office today and happened upon an unexpected zoning notice at the southwest corner of 27th & Federal. Developers bought the property a little over a year ago, paying a mere $22K for the long vacant parcel, and now they’re looking to build a home here. The property is zoned for industrial use, hence the zoning notice, and it seems like a reasonable enough idea to us.

Across the street, the shell at 2701 Federal St. is currently listed for sale for $125K, as is the shell next door. Both of these buildings are quite unique, but for different reasons. 2703 Federal St. has an entirely blank facade, with no windows or doors, so we have no idea how someone is supposed to get inside. 2701 Federal St. has windows and doors, with some kind of odd trim above each window and the front door. It looks a little like an angry cartoon character with a mustache, and we don’t believe we’ve ever made that comparison in all our years of writing about real estate. You don’t have to squint too hard to see what we’re talking about.

The angry cartoon on the northwest corner and its blank neighbor aren’t the only development opportunities in this neck of the woods. Looking west on the 2700 block of Federal, we see a bunch of one story warehouses. If the developer at 2700 Federal St. gets a variance for residential use, we expect we’ll see some of those old warehouses torn down and replaced by homes in the coming years. In addition, there’s a field of vacant land to the east, just waiting for redevelopment.

One more thing, in case you weren’t aware- the Post Office has moved from its longtime home at 2900 Grays Ferry Ave. to a new space across the street in the Fresh Grocer shopping center. We totally went to the old location, cursed, and then had to cross the street. Don’t make the same mistake we did, folks.