I checked the historic Sanborn Fire Maps and learned that 221 Petronia Street (previously identified as 408 Petronia Street) existed as early as 1889. The adjacent lot, now empty, had a small grocery back in the day. The lot is mostly vacant now except for a bunch of trees. CLICK HERE to view more photos I took.
The lot and existing structure are zoned HNC-3. This zoning is specifically includes the Bahama Village area and has the stated purpose of identifying the area as "a City target for redevelopment and revitalization". The neighbor to the east on Petronia Street is a two story restaurant that was teeming with patrons on Monday when I took photos. Petronia Street has several notable restaurants including Blue Heaven, La Crêperie Key West, and Santiago's Bodega one block to the west. Various small shops related to tourist trade line this street. The neighbor around the corner on Chapman Lane is a single family house.This is the mix of Bahama Village. Since 221 Petronia Street faces the business side, I would assume the City would permit redevelopment of this building (if it can be saved) into a commercial enterprise as oppose to requiring it to be used for residential purposes. That makes sense to me. Of course, I am no 'devloper' and I do not pretend to know what the City would actually do or require. Since buyers are specifically not permitted to enter the property before making an offer, it is difficult to determine the amount of fire damage the building has received. The 1965 black and white photo (below) shows a pretty interesting building. The fate of this building will probably be determined by the extent of structural damage as opposed to smoke and surface damage. It would be a shame to lose a building this interesting. The color photos above show uninteresting additions at the rear and west side plus an exterior staircase. The mix of the interesting old building, the ugly additions, fire damage, and big lot give this property a lot of possibilities.
