There's more demolition coming to the 1400 block of North 15th Street. About a year and a half ago, we discovered that 1415 N. 15th St. was coming down. It was a shame to see this structure, an older building with a brownstone face on its first floor and offset upper floors, succumb to the construction boom in the area, as we guessed that whatever was coming in its place wouldn't match its architectural character. We were correct, as the new eight-unit building does not compare to what was lost.
Just a few doors down, a similar fate should soon befall 1407-09 N. 15th St., yet another interesting older building. We wish we could have seen this place when it was first built, as we would bet that the one-story structure with a battlement-themed cornice is not the original architecture.
The zoning notice on the building, the lack of windows, and a demolition permit would all seem to indicate that these buildings are not long for this world. A proposal for two new buildings on this site, with one fronting 15th Street and the other fronting Carlisle Street, went to the ZBA earlier this week. The project got denied, perhaps because the developers wanted to build twenty-eight units, roughly ten more than are allowed for a parcel of this size. So now it's unclear exactly what will happen here, but we'll be looking out for a revised proposal in the near future. In the meantime, expect the building to come down. And as for the vacant lot next door, it's owned by the City so expect it to remain in its current state for the foreseeable future.