We were in South Kensington the other week and noticed a new foundation at 1527 Hancock St., a small lot that had sat vacant for many years. Looking at public record, it appears that the bank foreclosed on the property back in 2006 and the current owners bought it from the bank in 2012. It took a couple of years but it looks like they finally got around to building a new single family home here. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the empty lot immediately to the north, currently home to a pile of dirt, is any closer to redevelopment, as it's been owned by the same party since 2001.
While it's great to see a one-off project like this moving forward, this block has the potential for something much bigger at its southern end. Back in 2012, we told you about plans to build 18 homes at 171 Jefferson St., then a large vacant lot. In the years since, a big new project has appeared immediately to the west, but nothing has changed at the aforementioned vacant lot.
Developers purchased the property about a year and a half ago, dropping $1.2M. We would have expected that the previous owners would have taken their eighteen-home proposal through the zoning process, but it seems they abandoned their application. This means that the current owners will have to go to the ZBA if they're interested in a residential play, because the property is zoned ICMX. If homes aren't of interest, an apartment play like the project next door and a couple other projects in the neighborhood would seem to make sense as well, but we're just speculating at this point. Given the price that was paid though, it seems likely that we'll soon find out exactly what the developers have in store for the property.