In general, residential developers in Philadelphia prefer a lot that's at least sixteen feet wide. Fifteen-wide lots are considered acceptable, and fourteen-wide lots are usually as tight as you're gonna see. Last year, we came upon a troika of twelve-wide homes on Hagert Street from the Brickstone Group that sold relatively quickly, though at a discount of maybe thirty percent off the going rate for new construction in the neighborhood. Today, we look at some more skinny homes on the way on Coral Street in East Kensington.
As you can see, the slender 2231 Coral St. has already gone up. The arrangement of the windows on the facade doesn't help you forget that it ain't the widest house on the block. This home is the work of developer Luval Inc., which is currently pouring two foundations next door. Previously, a home stood where one of those foundations is going, but the developers opted to tear it down and build new rather than rehab. The homes are listed for sale, from right to left, for $310K, $310K, and $330K. If they can approach those prices, it would represent a dramatic increase over what the homes sold for on Hagert Street just last year.
Speaking of the Hagert Street project, the same developers are planning more narrow homes on the other side of the new one you see pictured above. Back in April, we predicted three sixteen-foot homes on four twelve-foot lots at the corner of Coral & Fletcher which were, incidentally, previously owned by City agencies. Turns out, the developers are sticking with what worked so well on Hagert Street and are building four skinny homes. It should be interesting to see whether the project next door results in similarly higher prices. We imagine the developers wouldn't complain.
We'll check back here in a few months to not only see what a row of seven narrow homes from two different developers looks like, but also to investigate how well the homes are selling. In this neighborhood, there's a ton of imperfect lots. And if these developers find success here, it could inspire others to make do in other parts of the neighborhood. It could prove to be a major litmus test for a type of new construction not really seen to this point in Philadelphia. Surely, the real estate scientists among us are fascinated.