The warehouse at 112-20 Christian St. that was once home to the Scandinavian Shipping Supply Co. is no more. In its place, a vacant lot. But not for long. Back in the fall of 2013, we told you about plans for the demolition of the building and plans to replace it with nine townhomes. At that time, the developers and the community were still hammering out the details for the project, which was to have four homes on Christian Street and five behind them, facing an interior courtyard. But despite support from members of the Queen Village Neighbors Association, the Planning Commission, and the councilman, the project was denied by the ZBA last spring.
At the time, there was concern that the developers might simply default to a project they could do by right, a 29-unit apartment building. But somewhere along the line, a variant of the original project was reintroduced and found favor in the eyes of the ZBA. Now, an altered version of this project is underway, though we confess we don't know what changes were made to appease the ZBA.
With the warehouse demolished and some construction materials onsite, it's only a matter of time before construction gets underway.
Perhaps a reuse of the old warehouse would have made for a more interesting addition to the area. But a collection of nine new homes and the elimination of some old and underused curb cuts is surely more along the lines of what the neighborhood was looking for. And honestly, the old building wasn't anything special. We have no doubt that buyers will snatch up these homes considering the desirablility of the location and the demand for new construction homes with parking.
Update: According to the developer, this project will interact with the street much better than we previously believed. The homes on the sign are actually the rear homes of the project which will only represent its first phase. The second phase will entail the construction of the four homes fronting Christian Street which will have an easement to access the rear homes.