A Swamplot reader sends photos of the partial demolition now underway along Commerce St. just off Colby in the Second Ward just north of East Downtown. Ancorian bought 3 warehouses between Commerce and Canal St. last November and plans to redevelop the site into a single dock-front building with a parking lot along its west side. The new development, dubbed The Block, would consist of 44,000 sq. ft. of “creative workspace and retail.â€
Here’s an aerial view looking west along Commerce St taken from before the demolition.:
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According to renderings of the project, the structures covered with blue tarps in the above image will remain; the warehouse immediately to the west of them is the one being torn down now.
The renderings show the proposed development’s building and parking lot running all the way from Commerce to Canal:
A similar view, from today:
- 2339 Commerce St [LoopNet]
- 2339 Commerce Street [Ancorian]
Images: Ancorian (renderings and aerial); Wyatt Dowling (demolition)
Nothing says “creative” like a massive parking lot!
Nothing says “warehouse redevelopment” like “tearing down other buildings for more parking”. As both a legal and practical matter, warehouses (especially older ones) don’t have nearly enough parking for change of use.