1402 Ellsworth St. is a roughly 1,500 sqft vacant lot in Point Breeze which is pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but somehow we’ve written about it three times previously. And now here we go, writing about it again. To provide a little history, we first wrote about the property  in 2011, when there was still a building there. Back then, developers proposed an addition to the building to turn it into a triplex, but the neighborhood groups didn’t like the idea. Despite the community opposition, the ZBA granted the variance and the developers started doing some demolition work at the property. But then South Broad St. Neighbors Association appealed the project, eventually getting the ZBA decision overturned. Construction stalled during the appeals process, which dragged on for a couple years, and by the time 2014 rolled around, the building looked like this:

1402 Ellsworth
A few years ago

The stalled construction rendered the building unstable, and the City eventually stepped in to demolish the building. That was over three years ago, and the lot has remained vacant ever since.

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Current view

But it seems there’s change on the horizon. New developers bought the property earlier this year and are now proposing a duplex, with one parking space in the back. In 2011, the community groups indicated that they would probably support a duplex, and we believe they will support a duplex in 2017 and the project will get approval from the ZBA. After so many years of delay though, we’ll remain cautiously optimistic until the ZBA says yes, the appeal window closes, and groundbreaking occurs.

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Cascia Center, coming soon across the street?

Speaking of long delayed projects, we’re still hopeful that the Cascia Center will eventually get built on the large vacant lot across the street. You may recall, those plans call for a community space for the Saint Rita of Cascia Shrine and several floors of senior housing, and we’ve been waiting for the project for several years. The last time we checked in was last November, before the project went through CDR, but you can see in the photo above that nothing has happened as of yet. Who knows, if 1402 Ellsworth St. can get redeveloped, maybe the Cascia Center will follow close behind. Or maybe we’ll have to wait for both for a few more years.