It’s been awhile since we’ve made our way up to the area around Temple University, but we happened to be in this neck of the woods early this morning, and spotted some interesting new buildings along the way. One of these was 1850 N 18th St., a property we brought to your attention last May.

In May

In the intervening months, the building has gone up rather quickly, and is pretty much finished. Architecturally, it’s got a little more character than some of the “G-Ho Specials” in the immediate area.

Quite a bit of progress

Access to underground parking

We happened to run into the developer, who told us that the fully rented building contains fifteen units with underground parking. He also indicated that he’s thinking about adding another story onto the top of the building, bringing it to a total of twenty units. It’s unclear if or when that would happen, but it’s crystal clear that the third floor tenants would be far from enthusiastic about the prospect. The basement is held up by steel beams, so we’d guess it’s at least a possibility for the future.

A triplex, across the street

A still-vacant lot to the south

The gentleman that we spoke with, representing Blackstone Development, has a few other projects in the neighborhood. Notably, he built the triplex pictured above at the same time as the huge building, and apparently used the same architect. Additionally, he owns the vacant lot next door, which could probably hold at least two more triplexes at some point down the line.

Yes, as summer comes crawling to a sweaty close, the latest round of new student housing is hurtling toward the finish line. We’d guess that the next round of construction should be getting started in the next couple of months, eyeing the 2013-14 school year.