A couple years back, we directed your gaze to the 1500 block of N. 16th Street, near Temple's campus. At that time, developers had just constructed a disappointing new structure adjacent to one of the most attractive historic buildings in the city. Today, the historic building still looks terrific. And the two-year-old gray stucco building next door still looks like crap. It will be such a pleasure to revisit this site over the next however many decades and continue to drink in this sight.
In a move that we can only hope will blunt the awful sight of the newer building, we've discovered that a project is underway at 1516 N. 16th St., immediately to the south. This lot has sat vacant for we couldn't tell you how many years, but now there's a foundation coming together on the site.
According to public record, the 11K+ sqft lot is still owned by Bell Telephone, which has owned the site since 1963. Clearly, it's been purchased by a private developer that's doing something significant. The L&I Map tells us that the plans are for a four-story building with nineteen apartments. Surely, this building will target students, like just about every other new apartment building that's gone up in the area in the last several years. We don't know what the thing will look like, but we can hope it slightly resembles the building that once stood here.
Honestly, as long as it isn't 100% stucco, at this point, we'll consider it a win.