We’re always game for a good zombie project, and it seems that’s exactly what’s in store for a crappy looking garage that we last checked in on quite some time ago. You may recall, but we’ll understand if you don’t, we told you about plans to renovate the former auto garage at 1128 S. 13th St. back in late 2013. Those plans called for a 3rd story addition, with an office and 3 parking spots on the 1st floor, and 4 apartments upstairs. For some reason, despite the support of the Passyunk Square Civic Association, the ZBA denied the application. It’s a shame, it would be have been a nice addition to the block.
Since then, it’s been nothing doing for this property, at least as far as we were concerned. So you can imagine our surprise when we passed by the other day and saw a construction fence around the front of the building. This was a strong sign indeed, that the project was coming back from the dead.
A new plan for the property came through L&I earlier this year, this time calling for a 3rd floor addition (sounds familiar), an office space on the 1st floor (ditto), and 3 apartments and 2 parking spots. So the project ditched one unit and one parking spot, and wouldn’t you know, the ZBA gave their approval back in January. And now the project appears to be moving forward. According to public record, it’s still owned by the same developer, and according to the zoning application, Landmark Architecture is still doing the design work, so there’s a decent chance that the new project will resemble the elevations drawing above.
Unrelated to this project, we noticed that the home next door, 1126 S. 13th St., is currently undergoing a renovation as well. We ordinarily wouldn’t go out of our way to point this kind of thing out, but since it’s next door we figured we’d give it a mention. Also, it gives us an excuse to reference a listing for the property from 2016, which described it as a “well maintained” home. The listing included this photo:
Yeah, that’s not gonna get the buyers to line up around the block. Eventually, a developer did eventually step in to buy the property- and they’re unsurprisingly in the middle of a gut rehab job.