And so it goes up and down both sides of Chapin, where nonprofits are involved in most of the buildings on the two-block street. Back at the shopping center, Moore pointed across 14th Street to a handsome row of three-story apartment buildings built by WISH to look like town houses. The buildings, designed by architects hired through a foundation grant, have within them a community center whose broad windows face the corner of 14th and Belmont. Around the corner, down Belmont, starts an entire block of town houses built by Manna. On the other side of Belmont, where most homes are privately owned, about a third of the block is marred by vacant, city-owned land.
Nonprofits are in the midst of presenting development proposals for the site to the city.
The hope is, Moore said, that nonprofit projects will create a critical mass and convince investors that they should return. Next month, the city begins accepting proposals for seven major parcels. Moore said he's gone from being ignored by moneyed interests to being romanced. But what they actually will bring to the table remains to be seen. Moments after looking past the rats to see the high ceilings and hand-carved woodwork in the Sabrett warehouse, Zinoman knocked on Gibson's door, then at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation.