We’ve mentioned the Forgotten Bottom neighborhood a couple of times in the past, but it’s not an area that often shows up on anybody’s radar. The little neighborhood, tucked between Grays Ferry Ave., I-76, and the Schuylkill River, is tricky to find and easy to miss. Along with a few hundred homes, the neighborhood features a newish baseball field, a rather large FedEx building, and the year-old entrance to the Dupont Crescent section of the Schuylkill River Trail.

Neighborhood map

What we don’t see a whole lot of in this neighborhood is residential development, particularly of the new construction variety. So you can imagine our surprise when we noticed three Forgotten Bottom properties, 3536-40 Wharton St., on the zoning docket.

Signs up, too

The same lots, looking east

According to the application (which has now disappeared from cyberspace, somehow), Redbon LLC intends to construct three duplexes on this site. We would imagine that these will be rental units, rather than condos. Once built, the homes will have easy access to a barely utilized park and views of the FedEx complex across the street.

View from the future construction site

We wonder, is this a sign of things to come for this neighborhood? Or is it merely an opportunistic developer who’s getting a really good deal on the land and hoping for the best? Considering the close proximity to Upenn and HUP, you could certainly imagine a future where there’s much more development in this neighborhood. But then again, Grays Ferry Ave. and 34th St. could be thought of as impossible barriers to cross. Time will tell whether these three duplexes are a precursor for things to come.