We were passing through Point Breeze the other day, and spotted a relatively new hole in the ground on the 2400 block of Wharton Street, very close to Wharton Square Park. As recently as ten years ago, there were a number of vacant and blighted buildings on this part of the block, but those buildings were torn down several years ago and the properties have been sitting vacant, awaiting redevelopment. A new single family home at 2411 Wharton St. will be the first step in that process, and we can also see that developers bought 2407 Wharton St. and are planning a triplex. Soon enough, the other vacancies will surely fill in.

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Hole in the ground at 2411 Wharton St.

Speaking of vacancies filling in, we also noticed two homes under construction around the corner, on Ringgold Street. Wouldn’t you know it, that construction is coming courtesy of V2 Properties, a developer we seem to mention twice a week these days. This developer has carved out a niche, buying vacant land that’s a little smaller than one would prefer, and building homes by right on those lots. As a result of this approach, many V2 homes don’t have the same square footage as other new construction, and as a result those homes are offered at slightly lower prices. Not only does a streamlined process allow V2 to build a ton of homes all over town, but it also makes some of their new construction more affordable.

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New home to the north, on Ringgold Street
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Another home under construction on the west side of Ringgold (on a clearer day)

Construction seems to make sense in just about every part of Point Breeze these days, but the fact that there’s a huge park nearby will be a great selling point. Whoever ends up buying the home at 2411 Wharton St. will be able to see the park from their front stoop, at least if things remain as they are today.

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Looking across the street, toward Wharton Square Park

About a year and a half ago, we showed you that a long blighted building had been demoed on the southwest corner of 24th & Wharton. In its place, we told you that a developer was planning a mixed-use building, with 12 apartments and ground-floor retail. Soon after, the ZBA gave their approval and we see the developer has been moving through the permitting process over the course of this year. We believe this project will get moving eventually, which will mean that the future owner of 2411 Wharton St. will probably have to go to their roof deck to see the park. We don’t know how they’ll feel about the situation, but it seems like a pretty reasonable trade off to us. And if the retail space turns into some neighborhood amenity, that’ll be even better.