The 1100 block of Christian Street is a mostly residential block, featuring a mix of townhomes, duplexes, triplexes, and one of the best auto shops in town at the corner of 11th Street. The block is complete and well established, and most of the homes are original, with only a few newer buildings or altered facades. Nevertheless, there’s still a little bit of construction action that we can share here, covering two projects at either end of the street.
We’re not exactly sure when the multi-family building at 1131 Christian St. was first built, but old permit records indicate that it got a new facade back in 1934, which is why it doesn’t match many of its neighbors on the block. Speaking of ways in which the building didn’t match its neighbors, it was also one of the few properties that go street to street, extending all the way to Webster. Historically, there was a garage in the back of the property- but now the garage is gone, as is the old building on Christian.
Zatos Investments is redeveloping this property, building a duplex on Christian Street and a little home on Webster Street. This is very consistent with some of their other projects we’ve covered in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, and this developer is clearly staking a position as one of the most active infill developers in greater Center City. We imagine that the duplex units and the home on Webster will be offered for sale, and here’s a rendering of what you can expect on the Christian side, with credit to KCA Architects for the design work.
On the other side of the street, we’re pleased to announce that 1109 Christian St. is finally getting fixed up after years of vacancy and blight. We wondered about this property back in 2015 and it finally traded at sheriff’s sale in 2019 before selling on the open market last year for $286K. The new owners are planning to renovate the building into a single family home. We imagine the home will then go on the market at some point and will sell for a bit more than $286K.
Like we said, one of our favorite auto shops is at the end of this block, and sits next door to the aforementioned property that’s now getting rehabbed. 11th Street Auto Repair is generally our first choice when something isn’t right with our car, and we selfishly hope they stick around for many years to come. That being said, their property sits on a very attractive corner and takes up a whole lot of space, covering almost 9,000 sqft. We imagine developers call every other day asking about the site, and we wonder when someone will offer enough to convince the business to relocate or fold. Figure it won’t happen today or tomorrow, but it’s probably bound to happen someday.