A couple of months ago, we made our way down 17th Street in Point Breeze, and told you about four projects in different stages of completion. Today, we have an update on one of those developments, and news about two more coming down the pike. Looking back to May, the northwest corner of 17th & Reed looked like this:

Back in May

After a couple months of work, the exteriors of these two homes look to be pretty much finished. In case you don’t recall, Oakwood Elm LLC purchased two vacant lots here at the end of last year and are building single family homes. Though this project has been ongoing for months, the corner lot remained vacant. But not anymore.

Progress on the homes and a new foundation

According to the minutes from their December 2012 meeting, the Redevelopment Authority sold the corner lot to developer Jason Cutaiar. Public record, for some reason, hasn’t yet been updated to reflect this. Nevertheless, Cutaiar has gotten permits to build a single family home on the corner. We’ll be interested to see how it interacts architecturally with the two next door.

Meanwhile, right down the street, it seems another vacant lot is poised to turn into a building.

Half a block away

1620 Reed St. went before the ZBA last week, but the case was continued. The developer is proposing a duplex for this location. We’d imagine that even if the duplex doesn’t get approved, a single family home would be okay in this spot. Though with a width of 20′, it would probably be the widest home in the entire neighborhood, notwithstanding the string of affordable housing units on Annin and Federal Street with yards and driveways.

Just a few years ago, the idea of two new construction projects in this area would have been fairly unexpected, with most development trailing off at Wharton Street. But with the strong demand for housing in the neighborhood and a dwindling number of vacant lots available for sale, developers are continuing to push the envelope. And buyers, it seems, are continuing to lick said envelope, so to speak.