We've had our eye on the 1200 block of N. 7th St. for a couple years now, ever since four homes and a mixed-use building replaced a vacant lot at the corner of 7th & Thompson. With that project in mind and numerous blighted buildings and vacant lots immediately to the south, we figured it was only a matter of time before new projects came along for this block. About a year ago, we learned of plans to build six triplexes at 1216-22 N. 7th St., and it appears that two of them are currently under construction with more to come.
This is great news, as these lots have been vacant for longer than we can remember (and possibly longer than we've been alive). If we may pile on the good news on this Wednesday morning, we recently noticed zoning notices across the street.
1225 and 1229 N. 7th St. are vacant lots, while 1227 N. 7th St. is a vacant, blighted building. This property hasn't had windows since sometime before the Flyers drafted Claude Giroux so it's been dragging down the block for quite some time. But look! Zoning notices! R2 Properties LLC bought the three parcels last spring, and are now proposing three triplexes. Considering that the ZBA approved a plan for six triplexes across the street and a similar project is taking place by right just a block to the north, we don't see why this wouldn't move forward as well. Assuming it does, it will eliminate another small stretch of blight on this block and add nine more units to the mix. This block certainly isn't all the way there just yet, but it's definitely headed in a positive direction.