Within the last six months, we’ve covered three projects that indicate growing developer interest in student housing projects further south and further west than we’ve traditionally seen in Southwest Philadelphia. The first example was at 1047 S. 51st St., where developers proposed a 12-unit building on a vacant lot just south of the Media-Elwyn tracks. That project was ultimately denied at the ZBA a couple months ago, so who knows what will ultimately happen with that property.

Next, we told you about something more substantial, a 22-unit building on the rather yucky 5000 block of Warrington. That project was being built by right and has progressed pretty well over the last several months. Then came the largest project of all, a five-story building with 65 apartments and ground floor retail at 5013 Springfield Ave., pretty much next to the railroad tracks. We’re pretty sure that one is by-right, and hasn’t started yet.

With at least two sizable projects in the queue for this area, it’s reasonable to look at other development opportunities nearby. One such opportunity can be found at 1000 S. Saint Bernard St., a two-story warehouse building that’s currently home to the African Cultural Center. If you look at the building though, you can see there’s a sign posted that indicates it’s available.

We reached out to the owners of the property and learned that the cultural center is moving, and they’re looking for $1.5M for the 17K sqft building. From where they sit, the first floor could be used as a banquet hall while the upper floors could be converted to half a dozen apartments. We don’t believe that kind of project would pencil, but it would certainly be cool if a developer were to find a way to maintain the building and repurpose it for student housing. Or, really, any reuse would be cool, like maybe a beer distributor? Alternately, demolition and the construction of a larger apartment building would probably make sense here, given the types of projects we’re seeing nearby. None of those possibilities are terribly likely though, until the asking price comes down a bit.