It was with great enthusiasm, a little less than three years ago, that we first told you about a plan for a mixed-use project at 1300 N. 2nd St., on an enormous 2.5 acre parcel in South Kensington. This site was home to a freight yard for many years, but has sat vacant for almost a decade. Before the recession, Canus Corporation had a plan for 160 condos and 16 artist studios for the site. But that fell through. When we first wrote about the property, the developers had created a plan for Soko Lofts, a 300+ unit Piazza-like development with a handful of retail spaces and a roughly 1:2 parking ratio.
But since then, there's been nothing going on and the site has remained vacant.
We recently got an email though, which indicates that this project should finally be on track for construction. We'd heard that the developers, who got approvals from the ZBA a couple years ago, were looking to sell the project as a shovel-ready development. And that's exactly what's happened. In November, the Klein Company closed on the purchase of the property and the associated plans, apparently paying $7.2M. Per Plan Philly, the project went to CDR over the summer while it was under agreement, and now it looks like it should move forward at some point in 2016.
The property has gone though so many stops and starts in the last ten years, we won't actually believe that this thing is gonna happen until we see the buildings getting framed out. But with the sale now completed and permitting apparently in order, it seems likelier than ever that Soko Lofts will actually move forward. Assuming it does, it will fill a gigantic gap in the South Kensington neighborhood, bringing additional energy to an already vibrant and growing area.