Old North was originally going to be in the footprint of the Northside TIF (Blairmont, one of the shell LLCs, takes its name from a property McKee bought at the intersection of Blair and Montgomery in the neighborhood).
But neighborhood opposition caused the McKee to withdraw Old North from his plan. The only problem is that he didn’t sell his holdings in the neighborhood right away, allowing his properties to deteriorate.
With there being community initiative to redevelop their neighborhood themselves, there was no need for McKee to interfere.
Old North is where my Dad was born and grew up. His factory was in the Old North, too. Despite the decay show, there is a peculiar beauty in those bricks.
Wow, I had no idea about your father growing up in Old North!