Every six months or so, we direct your attention to the Forgotten Bottom neighborhood, optimistic that it will soon experience a development boom. So far though, it’s been a pretty measured pace for development in this little neighborhood west of 34th Street and south of Grays Ferry Avenue. We still think the neighborhood has serious room to grow, as it’s got several strong selling points. It’s got a section of the Schuylkill River Trail on its western end which will eventually tie into the rest of the trail. The neighborhood affords easy access to West Philadelphia, either via 34th Street or the Grays Ferry Bridge. Perhaps because of this easy access, or maybe because Pennovation Works is right across the street, it’s been included in the Penn Home Ownership Program since 2014.

As we said, Forgotten Bottom is seeing some development, here and there. Over the summer, we told you about plans for four new homes on the 3600 block of Sears Street, on a property that’s been used to store a boat for a number of years. We were hopeful that this project would also lead to the redevelopment of some other long vacant lots on the block.

We visited the block yesterday and were sorry to see that construction hasn’t started on the project at 3613-19 Sears St., with the boat remaining very much in place. Needless to say, the other vacant lots on the block remain vacant as well. But there’s cause for hope! A member of the Forgotten Bottom Neighborhood Association and the Grays Ferry Community Council Zoning & Planning Committee (yes that’s a mouthful) reached out last week, sharing an elevations drawing of the homes planned for Sears Street.

Apparently, the homes all looked the same in the first iteration of the project and the community asked the developer to change them up a little. The current plan has two facade designs which switch off, creating some additional architectural interest on the block. Of course, the block will have even more architectural interest as other lots on the block get developed, and we’re optimistic that once this project finally moves forward, it will inspire others. When we check back again in half a year or so, we’re thinking things will be moving and shaking on this block. At the very least, we’re thinking it’ll have a little less boat parking.