After stuffing our faces with cannoli at the Italian Market Festival, we found ourselves on the 1200 block of Carpenter St. and were surprised to see some new construction activity on the block. 1215 Carpenter St. was an overgrown vacant lot we’d never noticed, and now it’s framed out over two stories.

In the past

Current view

According to a zoning application from a few months ago, this will be a triplex that could rise as high as 60′ in the air. We’re guessing it will end up being four stories tall, as anything taller would require different framing for the first story, from what we understand. We were surprised to see construction here because though there are a couple of homes on the eastern end of this block, it’s not exactly a residential…

We’ve probably written about the southwest corner of 10th & Carpenter half a dozen times in the last couple of years, often bearing the bad news that the latest business to call this little space home had closed its doors. From InFusion to Mazag Cafe to Filter Cafe to Bookz-n-Beans and then finally Brown Sugar Cafe, this space has surely borne the mark of the devil himself.

Last week, Down Dog Healing Cafe became the latest business to attempt to break the curse.

The corner

New signs

With recipes and a philosophy inspired by Ayurveda, this cafe will attempt to fill stomachs and spirits with natural and healing food and drink. And hopefully, they’ll have much more luck than those who came before them.

Earlier this week, we attended a BVTW zoning meeting and the buzz in the room was primarily about a proposed 70′ building that was dead on arrival. The other prominent project discussed at this meeting was a proposal from US Construction for twenty-four new homes on the 900 block of S. 8th St. and the 800 blocks of Montrose and Carpenter. A 7-Up bottling plant was apparently located here many moons ago, and we confess we’ve wondered about this location for as long as we can remember.

Corner of 8th and Montrose

Looking down 8th St.

View on Carpenter St.

These homes will be demoed

At the meeting, the applicants explained that they were simply presenting for informational purposes and that they still had to…

A reader gave us the heads up that at Tuesday’s Bella Vista Town Watch meeting, there would be a presentation for a ridiculous new building at 712-14 S. 8th St., currently a rental parking lot. According to the meeting announcement, developers are planning a seventy-foot-tall six-story building for this 3,500 sqft lot with ten apartments and two parking spots.

The lot

Closer look

To try to gain an understanding of exactly how ridiculous the proposal was going to be and because we can’t get enough of community meetings, we decided to attend last night. At the meeting were several dozen neighbors, irate at the idea of what they believed to be an overuse at this location and a building that wouldn’t fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.

The strange thing about the presentation was that the representative…

Neighborhood festivals can be great ways to bring together local businesses and residents, while at once building and showcasing the character of the neighborhood. In Northern Liberties, for example, thousands from inside and outside the neighborhood walked along 2nd Street and through the Piazza during last year’s 2nd Street Festival.

It seems a little strange that a similar festival hasn’t yet emerged from South Street Headhouse (SSHD), a conglomerate of various businesses on the eastern end of South Street. But that’s all about to change. This year marks the first attempt at that, as the first annual South Street Spring Festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 4th. From 2nd to 8th Streets, South Street will be transformed in a street festival featuring more than 20 restaurants, 30 bands and 100 vendors.

Yes

Please.

“We wanted something that…

For as long as we can remember, 1110-14 South St. has been a vacant lot despite its relatively prime location. Used primarily as a parking lot, some fairly awful murals have adorned one side of the lot, essentially putting some (cheap) lipstick on a pig. But today we bring some good news- this lot will soon be filled in by a mixed-use development! Yeeeeehaaaaa!

From a distance

Closer look

A couple of weeks ago, the ZBA approved a plan to construct two buildings on this lot. Both will have commercial spaces on the first floor, with apartments above. 1110-12 will have six residential units, while 1114 will have five. Neither commercial space has been spoken for as of yet, though