A couple of weeks ago, we noted that some new foundations had appeared at 22nd & Federal in Point Breeze. Today, we look a block to the west, where there's all kinds of stuff happening on the 2300 block of Federal Street. First we look to the northwest corner, where a former church has sat vacant for years. It was last on the market in 2009 for $80K, but found no takers. In the years since, it's accrued a bunch of violations. The side door on Federal Street was sealed by L&I.
Across the street, there's another blighted building that's a few doors down from a home that's undergoing renovations.
We actually mentioned 2302 Federal St. a little over a year ago, when permits had been pulled and construction begun to convert the vacant triplex into a single-family home. We're not sure the source of the delays, but new permits were pulled a couple of months ago, leading us to believe that construction will soon resume. A few doors down, 2308 Federal St. is getting a shiny new facade.
A little further west on the block, at 1200 S. Bucknell St., there's a 'For Sale' sign on a vacant lot. Perhaps foolishly, we assumed that this meant a person could buy said lot. Bad assumption.
Yeah, it's owned by a City agency. Ditto the one next door. So… what's with the sign? Beats us.
Behind the unbuyable lots, there' s a foundation that's waiting for a house.
The foundation has been there for a couple of years now, and was put there after a vacant home was demolished. The good news is, new developers got a zoning permit to build a house here just last month. So look for the foundation to either get pulled out and replaced or built upon in the near future.
Sure, this snapshot of one block at a single moment in time might be interesting, taken by itself. What's more interesting is that the block will certainly look different a year from now, and then again two years from now, and so on. Such is life right now in this changing neighborhood. Who knows, we may even see those City lots turn over before the turn of the century!