A row of properties near the intersection of 3rd Street & Cecil B. Moore Avenue has been sitting vacant for a long time, surely for many years before Google started recording images in its Streetview function in 2007. This should come as no surprise, as this neighborhood was in bad shape for quite awhile, though it's been undergoing a major transformation in the last half decade or so. Much of the new development in the area has been concentrated on the southern and eastern sections of South Kensington, but we've seen added interest of late in the north, like this project on Berks Street, and in the west, like this project at 6th & Jefferson. So of course, now there's some construction activity on the 300 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, which a reader was kind enough to bring to our attention the other day.
Fin Development LLC bought six parcels here over the last several years, acquiring most of them via sheriff's sale and at low prices. Late last year, they appeared before South Kensington Community Partners with a plan to rearrange the lot lines at this property and build six duplexes, a single family home, and a five-unit apartment building at the corner of Cadwallader Street and Cecil B. They got approval from the ZBA in December, and it appears they're now moving forward with the project.
Puerto Rican cafe El Cafeito made its home across the street for the last several years, but closed either at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. Given the timeline for development moving into this part of the neighborhood, we'd argue that this place was several years ahead of its time. We wonder, with eighteen more units coming in across the street and additional development cropping up in the area, will another operator take over the space sometime soon?
Update: According to a commenter, the developers agreed to change the duplexes to single family homes.