The other day, when we spotted the collapsing, soon to be demolished church at 11th & Mount Vernon, we were actually in the neighborhood in the first place to check out another property that a reader had enquired about. The new construction duplex at 679 N 11th St. sticks out some in this area, which probably prompted the reader’s question in the first place. Take a look:

The property

From further back

There’s a lot about this place that separates it from its surroundings. Obviously, the designers eschewed the brick look that you see all over town, instead choosing stucco for the entire facade. Additionally, the building is set back from the sidewalk, which will ultimately allow for off-street parking. Also, the building is surrounded by one vacant lot to the south and four to the north, all owned by the City since the 1970s. Okay, maybe the surrounding vacant land isn’t all that unique in this area.

Looking east on Fairmount Ave.

Around the corner, on the 1000 block of Fairmount Ave., you can find plenty of vacant land as well. On this block, however, is also a progressing new construction project from Carmel Developments which we originally brought to your attention back in April.

It may seem surprising perhaps, that new construction development is taking place in this part of the neighborhood, essentially in the backyard of the Richard Allen PHA Homes. What this indicates to us is that demand in this area, the Spring Garden/Spring Arts/West Poplar neighborhood, is so strong that developers are willing to build anywhere that they can get their hands on land. The prices for these two condos, 200K and 225K for 1,400 and 1,600 sqft units respectively, reflect their location on the edge of the neighborhood, but are definitely market rate.

Hopefully, the City will someday soon be willing to sell the five vacant lots that surround this new building, as well as the numerous other lots it owns in the area. Then again, the City’s so flush with cash these days, it probably doesn’t want anything to do with the $400K it could get for selling those lots.

Yeah, forget we mentioned it…