Now that a bidder on the old West Philadelphia High School has hosted a community meeting and revealed plans to renovate the 1912 building into mixed use studio and loft apartments, we wonder what the future will bring for the vacant lot across the street on the southwest corner of 48th & Walnut.

Vacant lot

In January, 2011, fire ravaged through the Windmere Court Apartments. The structure was demolished months later. The story of the fire sparked the Philadelphia Weekly to investigate the situation.

Windmere before the fire

In two months, two years will have passed since the fire. The lot remains vacant and textured by overgrown grass. Strong Place Partners (SPP), the New York-based firm likely to win the bid for the old school, have indicated the lot could be incorporated in…

It appears we could be seeing redevelopment at the old West Philadelphia High School very soon.

The school

A bid from New York-based Strong Place Partners (SPP) to purchase and renovate the building at 4700 Walnut St. into a mixed-use development featuring studio apartments and lofts aimed at graduate and junior faculty at nearby universities will have to be voted on by its School Reform Commission (SRC) before any further action can occur.

The school district is working towards including the item on its December 20 Action Committee meeting, according to spokesperson Dierdre Darragh.

According to the West Philly Local, SPP president Andrew Bank, a native of the Philadelphia suburbs whose grandmother attended the school, presented a plan that seeks to restore as much of the building’s character and infrastructure as possible, including one of the…