Open Thread: What do you think of Kensington’s development growth?

Lately it seems like more and more developers are tapping Kensington for their next big housing project.

And here at Curbed Philly, we’ve written about a lot of them in the past year alone. There’s Riverwards’ 155-unit development on Lehigh Avenue, and a 30-townhome development by the same group on Amber Street.

There were two separate proposals—one dead in the water, the other currently up for review—to turn the Harbison’s dairy plant into housing. Then, of course, there was the part of the dairy plant that was already turned into hip, contemporary housing just three years ago.

A year ago, Developer Gagandeep Lakhmna was looking at building a $6.75 million housing development geared toward millennials in South Kensington.

And that’s far from all the development projects that are eying up the neighborhood. Just last month, Philly Business Journal wrote an article noting the uptick in property costs over the past few years, especially for developers like Riverwards who are paying multiple millions for the chance to build in Kensington.

There are several explanations for Kensington’s recent development growth (we won’t call it a boom just yet) including its proximity to the highly popular (and increasingly expensive) Fishtown and Northern Liberties neighborhoods.

Amid this growth, we want to hear from you. Have you noticed the same trend in Kensington? What are your thoughts on housing projects in the neighborhood? Would you like to see more commercial spaces, too? Do you have any concerns as developers look to build in the neighborhood?

Let us know in the comments below.