There is a long story about the neighbors preventing those lots from being built on and opposing any and all feasible development proposals. But snark is more fun.
100% boomer pastoralist NIMBYism turning the area next to green st station into ahistorically low density homes + vacant lots. And the historical density was far too low for heavy rail subway proximate areas.
This is fantastic. A really great location for more cafes and open air dining. Will just attract passersby too. It feels like when it first opened, 1 lincoln had some prominent restaurants and has not really kept that up since the pandemic.