According to this story from the Daily News, a new, six story building will soon rise at 249-57 S 13th St., currently a vacant lot and a two story parking garage owned by the RDA. As you can see in the photo below from 1959, the garage once had four story buildings next door.
In the past
Current view
Today, the vacant lot next door to the old garage is used as a surface parking lot.
Looking south
The new 56-unit affordable housing building will be built by Pennrose and the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, with over half of the $19M price tage being picked up by the Federal government. The residential units will be on the upper floors, and the 2000+ sqft first floor space will be utilized for commercial uses, with a small theatre being a possibility. Units will be marketed toward seniors in the LGBT community, but people of any orientation will be permitted to live here.
Rendering of the project, from the Daily News story
Architecturally, it reminds us a little of a recently constructed Loonstyn project on Fairmount Avenue, home of Blue Cat restaurant and the recently relocated Mugshots. Is it wrong that we were hoping for something that fit in a little more with the historic buildings in the area?