I drive down Prospect almost every day and have always been curious about the "shotgun" buildings on the street which are prevalent between East 40th and the Innerbelt.

 

They are generally nondescript one story buildings (although a couple are two stories) with narrow fronts that extent way back on the lot.  Some are actually well kept and have a few nice architectural features (although this is rare).  Over the years they clearly have been remodeled to  become even more bunker like (probably in the 60's and 70's). Most seem occupied.

 

These shotguns are actually prevalent all over the city (St. Clair Avenue comes to mind) but I am most curious about their development on Prospect since at one time it was a charming street (mini millionaires row) with wonderful residential buildings.

 

I guess my questions are, when were these buildings developed, was there just one developer or multiple speculative developers who saw a need and was there any one particular architect or firm responsible for them or did the developers simply get their hands on some standard plans that were available at the time since the buildings are so simple and generic?

 

I sure would have liked to have seen Prospect in its hey day before this construction.

 

By the way, I have been a member for almost six years and this is my first topic post.  I am just all tingly inside.

Congratulations on your first topic!  Which buildings are you talking about specifically, though?  A "shotgun house" is a specific type of house, and I'm fairly sure that there are none on Prospect.

Actually I just came up with the term "shotgun" for lack of a better word since the commercial buildings I am referring to have a short "frontage" and then are long.  Very rectangular.  I am not referring to a shotgun house, such as those which are popular in New Orleans.

 

There are a number of these buildings on Prospect on both sides of the street.  Again, they are generally nondescript and I am sure replaced some stunning houses.  At least one thing they have going for them is that at least they come up to the sidewalk rather than having parking lots in the front.

I was going to chime in, since I live in a NOLA shotgun house, but X beat me to it :)

 

Can you hit google streetview and let us know where the houses are?

Guys...they are not houses.  They are commercial buildings as I indicated.  There are probably 10-15 of them on Prospect, and they are common throughout the city.  My only interest with them on Prospect is when they were developed, why, perhaps by whom (one developer or many) and was a stink raised when they torn down the great houses to build such nondescript structures.

I took a virtual stroll down Prospect from E. 40th to the Innerbelt via Google Streetview. (because it was done on a sunny summer morning, it looks quite pleasant)

 

I don't see anything unusual about any of the buildings.  It just seems like a typical development pattern from the first half of the 20th century.  The houses were getting old, and the street was probably getting busier.  So, the old houses were taken down to make room for low-density commercial.  If Cleveland continued to boom, and the demand was there, the low density commercial structures would have eventually been replaced by higher density structures.

^My bet is that the buildings too which I am referring were built right after World War 2.

Frontage probably had more effect on real estate prices than anything else.  Its just getting the most bang (sq ft) for your buck.  Just a guess, but I think that makes sense.  Say you had a lot that was 100x100.  If you wanted to divide that lot and sell it off, you could probably change it into 4 25x100 lots and make more money than selling the whole.... and zoning laws would have prevented subdividing the land any way other than each divided parcel fronting the street.

 

I've noticed a trend in my nabe over the last 10 yrs or so where people with double lots will divide their property into two parcels and sell it off, allowing a new build on the empty lot.

^Also, residential lots were, historically, narrower than commercial lots.  So, the buildings were narrow and deep because the builder bought maybe one or two houses and filled that lot with their new building.

I think the term is a bowling alley property, because of its shape.