Ah, the 25th Street viaduct. There’s no better way to know that you’re leaving Point Breeze and entering Grays Ferry, or vice versa. This cement structure which covers 25th Street in a perpetual shadow has one purpose, and that’s to transport CSX trains across town. While that’s awesome for CSX, it’s less than optimal for everyone else, as the viaduct not only casts those pesky shadows, but it’s also in a state of horrible disrepair. And CSX, unfortunately, has no imminent plans to repair it, despite coming up with a plan to do so back in 2015. Alas, this eyesore persists, and will remain in its current pitiful state for who knows how many more years.

Despite the poor state of affairs on 25th Street, nearby development continues unabated. The most ambitious project to date, in our estimation, is located at 1500 S. 25th St., where developers constructed a row of 25 homes along 25th Street. This project, which we first told you about in 2018, is called Grays Pointe and wisely buffers the homes from the viaduct by setting the homes back from 25th Street and putting a parking area in front of the homes. As is the case with just about any home with parking in the current market, these homes have sold very quickly, with prices ranging from the low $400K range for the first sales to the high $400K range for the later sales. And it appears that all the homes in the development are now either sold or under agreement.

There’s more work to be done on the other side of the viaduct, where a project we previously covered in early 2019 is just starting to move forward. 1501 S. 25th St. is a 15K sqft parcel which was mostly vacant but was also home to the Point Breeze Recycling Center. Developers bought the parcel recently and have started work on a project that will result in 18 units, with a mix of homes and duplexes. Six homes will run along Dickinson Street, and three of the foundations have already been poured and the other three will soon follow. Six duplexes will run perpendicular to the homes, and like the project across the street, a small parking lot will sit on 25th Street and buffer the duplexes from the viaduct.

Given the speed at which the units sold across the street, we imagine that the homes and condos at 1501 S. 25th St. will move pretty quickly as well. Like we’ve said many times before, there’s a ton of demand for new construction homes with parking, but a historically low supply. With changes to the tax abatement and increasing costs of materials, we imagine that this supply side issue will persist in the coming years, and we believe prices for new construction homes will continue to rise. Even with viaduct views, we don’t see demand decreasing any time soon, at least as long as interest rates remain at or near current rates.