Though the Spring Garden neighborhood has experienced tremendous improvement in the past two decades, a handful of blighted properties remain. Take, for instance, 1516 Green St., a property right near the Chapel Lofts, which surprised us when we passed by on an unseasonably warm afternoon this past weekend.

The building

From what we understand, AHA Development LLC purchased the former Philadelphia Housing Authority shell about a year ago at auction. The price was very high at $423,500. The developers had plans to demolish the rear of the building, and replace it with a three story addition, but this was not approved by the Historical Commission. Six apartments was the hope for this building, but the project seems stalled at the moment.

Looking down the block. Note the Chapel Lofts.

The Spring Garden Historic District is bordered by Spring Garden Street to the south, Fairmount Avenue to the north, 24th Street to the west and 15th Street to the east, according to the Preservation Alliance. In the latter half of the 19th century, the neighborhood housed wealthy merchants who traveled down the Spring Garden thoroughfare by horse drawn carts. Before that, “Bush Hill, was a country estate located around 19th Street. Many of the homes in the area are constructed in the Italiante style. Builders and developers capitalized on the sale of speculative housing in the district after the Act of Consolidation in 1854.

We hope some positive action happens at this property soon, as its current appearance takes away from an otherwise lovely block. Then again, considering the years of terrible stewardship by PHA, we wonder why something wasn’t done here ages ago.

–Lou Mancinelli