A couple of readers have reached out in recent days, wondering about all the scaffolding currently visible on the 1200 block of Bainbridge Street. We checked it out, and we recommend tempering your excitement levels.

From the west

We’ve covered some projects on this block in the last couple of years, including the construction of high-end homes on the corner of 13th & Bainbridge, and the recently finished Le Fleur Condos which replaced a building that sold plants for wholesale prices. Considering those developments, we figured that the scaffolding was a sign that a new project would be coming to this block.

Closer look

Several buildings getting work done

Public record indicates that one company owns all of the buildings currently undergoing exterior renovations. From what we can gather, most of the properties…

Some time ago, we noticed an empty corner store at 1116 Fitzwater St., half a block from the wonderful Hawthorne’s (and conveniently located in the Hawthorne neighborhood). It looked as though perhaps some work was being done on the space, as the doors looked like they had been recently fixed up or replaced. And an old sign was hanging on one side, advertising Italian groceries and frozen foods.

In 2009

When we came by this property last week, we noticed the old sign was gone and the doors were covered.

Current shot

Does anyone in the neighborhood know some recent history for this property? Does anyone remember an active store in the space? Has anyone heard of a new retail business taking over? Do tell, please!

For years, we thought that the western half of the 1300 block of Bainbridge Street was a parking lot for the ill-fated 1352 Lofts immediately to the north. Turns out, this land has been available for redevelopment and it seems that in short order, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

The lot

Looking east

Last week, a reader tipped us off about a proposed 22 home development here at 1319-51 Bainbridge St., which also would include an additional mixed-use building on the corner of Bainbridge & Clarion. Clarke Real Estate Development LLC purchased this giant lot earlier this year for $5M and has retained Harman Deutsch to do design work for the project. Looking at the site plan, we see eleven homes fronting Kater Street, and eleven homes fronting Bainbridge Street, all…

Last week, we excitedly told you about the official opening of the new Hawthorne Park, at 12th & Catharine. On the blocks surrounding this park, as we told you before, are 245 homes that have been built by PHA in the last ten years. A mixture of rentals and owner occupied properties, these new homes replaced the blighted and dangerous towers that stood here until 1999. The transformation in the neighborhood has been impressive, and there is clearly still room to grow.

One of the major things we look for in developing neighborhoods is the presence of some local businesses, existing mainly to serve people who live within a few blocks of their location. A few years back,

Last summer, we told you about Hawthorne Park, the new public green space planned for Hawthorne, right in the middle of 245 new homes built in the last decade. In case you’re unfamiliar with the history of the immediate area, PHA built towers here in 1960 that contained about 600 apartments. By the time these towers were demolished in 1999, the neighborhood had fallen on tough times, and about half of the units were uninhabitable. Over the past decade, however, this neighborhood has turned around dramatically. And this week, it’s getting a shiny new park.

A year ago

Current view

On Thursday, at 10:30am, Mayor Nutter and representatives from the Parks & Recreation department will dedicate this new space, which takes up nearly an acre of land in the heart of the…

A reader asked us about an odd, brown shed on the 1200 block of Fitzwater St., a building we’ve thought about ourselves from time to time over the years. It sits on the same parcel as the Hawthorne Lofts, the 54-unit condo building developed by the Rufo Company. This Hawthorne Lofts building, as you can probably guess from looking at it, was once a school.

The Nathaniel Hawthorne Public School was constructed on this site in 1908 and operated as a school until 1980. Shortly thereafter, according to the Rufo Company, it was converted into low-income housing units. This makes sense, since the Hawthorne Square PHA towers were right next door at the time. In 2008, Rufo acquired the building and completed the change-over to market rate condos. This also makes plenty of sense, as the neighborhood has come…