As we’ve detailed many times before, overflow from Fishtown and Northern Liberties have almost completely transformed South Kensington over the last dozen years or so, reversing decades of disinvestment. South Kensington has an unusual number of huge properties thanks of its industrial past, many of which were either criminally underused or sitting vacant- and that has resulted in several rather large projects in the neighborhood. Still under construction, Dwell 2nd Street is one example of such a project, covering almost a whole city block and including about 200 rental apartments.

But there’s more to South Kensington development than huge projects like Dwell or its neighbor Liberty Square. This neighborhood has also seen countless new projects that are much smaller in scale, sometimes just one or a few units at a time. An example of such a project can be found just few steps to the south of Dwell, at 1231 and 1233 N. 2nd St., at a property that was previously a vacant lot. Developers built a pair of triplexes a few years back and offered the units as condos, with lower units selling in the mid to high 200K range and upper units selling close to $400K. Next door to these triplexes previously stood a church, Iglesia Pentacostal En Hacore. The double-wide building looked like it had originally been built for residential use, though historic maps indicate it had been used for religious purposes for decades.

We bring the building to your attention and use the past tense, of course, because developers bought the property at 1235 N. 2nd St. back in 2018 for $330K and have demoed the old church and are already at work on a replacement building. This building, once finished, will rise four stories and will include five residential units. Given the numerous rentals in the area and the condo success next door, we wonder whether these units will be listed for sale or for rent.

In the above photo, which looks south toward Northern Liberties, you can see a sliver of a building on the right side with a colorful mural on its facade. Back in 2016, we told you to expect a sizable project at that property, with plans for 68 units, some live-work spaces, and a couple versatile retail spaces. But the project hasn’t materialized thus far. We can see that the developers have pulled some permits in the last couple years, indicating tweaks to the project, so the project isn’t dead. But given the state of things in the world right now, it could be some time before we see anything move forward here.