In Pennsport, a project consisting of twelve contemporary homes replacing a house of God has progressed a long way since the 120-year-old St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church at 3rd & Reed was demolished several months ago.

In the past

When we passed by this corner the other day, the first two town homes of this project, designed by Harman Deutsch, had been framed out. The project will consist of two rows of six homes separated by a driveway accessed on Reed Street that will allow owners to drive right up to their garages. The homes will feature the usual amenities inside and will attempt to integrate a contemporary look with a traditional look, combining brick and cement board on the facades.

First two homes

Coming soon

A block to the east, at 2nd & Reed, foundations have been poured for six new homes. This lot has sat vacant for years, and was a concrete parking lot as recently as last spring. From here, you can look toward 3rd Street and see how this section of Pennsport is being built up just by these two projects alone, which will bring eighteen new homes within one block of each other. And that’s not even considering the eleven homes in progress at 2nd & Wharton!

New foundations

Looking toward 3rd Street. In the distance, you can just make out the first project we mentioned.

It should be interesting to see how all these new homes contribute to the value of Pennsport housing stock. Will all of this new development make the neighborhood more attractive and continue to push prices up? Or will a glut of new homes keep prices flat or even knock them down some? Either way, it won’t take away from the attractiveness of the neighborhood, which seems to be getting better by the day. And with plans for the redevelopment of several parcels along the waterfront like Pier 68 for example, you can begin to see the attraction for developers, renters, and homeowners in Pennsport.

–Lou Mancinelli