At the corner of 17th & Alter, just a few steps south of Washington Avenue, we recently discovered a building getting demolished. 1112 S. 17th St. was, for many years, a church, and was most recently home to the Commission Community Church of God. Before that, it was known at the 17th Street Church of God, and prior to that we could not tell you. It doesn't look like the building was originally constructed to be a church, but it doesn't look like it was built to be a home either.
Whatever the building pictured above was originally built for is moot at this point, as it's now getting torn down. We passed by the other day and discovered the 2nd story is gone. The rest will surely follow.
Developers bought the property back in February and are planning a new single-family home on the site. Considering the 17.5' x 62' footprint of the parcel, it's gonna be a really nice house that may even have parking in the rear. The home will have some downsides though. As you can see, there are warehouses immediately next door to and right behind the future home. But we'd wager that those are just temporary inconveniences. It seems like it's only a matter of time before those buildings also meet the wrecking ball and new homes rise in their place. And we'd wager it will happen sooner rather than later.