N Street NW, between Connecticut Avenue and North Capitol Street, has horrible pavement. It’s rutted, full of potholes, and patched so poorly that it’s a stretch in places to call it a paved street. But N Street NW has other holes as well.

Gaps in its urban fabric. Small lots big enough for a rowhouse and nothing more. These lots don’t lend to exciting speculation, like the large developments including City Center DC or The Yards, but small infill development projects are having an easier time getting financing in the current sour economy. Progress is happening here, things are moving forward, unlike those large projects.

Here are pictures of a couple of them (the photos are already a few weeks old, so progress has made things look different from what you see here):

Left: 907 N Street, NW before. The lot is full of Ailanthus trees. Image from Google Street View. Right: 907 N Street, NW after.

Left: 226 N Street, NW before. Concrete barriers protect a giant hole in the ground. Image from Google Street View. Right: A large rowhouse appears.

Cross-posted at The District Curmudgeon.

Geoff Hatchard lives in DC’s Trinidad neighborhood. The opinions and views expressed in Geoff’s writing on this blog are his, and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.