In Logan Square, there are relatively few development opportunities to be found. Having been so well-established for decades, the neighborhood has few vacant properties and even less vacant land. So it should come as no surprise that a couple of developers looking to construct multi-unit developments find themselves having to demolish a couple of older buildings in order to accomplish the task at hand.

First, we look at the northwest corner of 21st & Race, where a former School District building is nearly gone. This structure had been a part of the Please Touch Museum, which moved to Memorial Hall a few years ago, but has sat vacant since the move. Last September, we told you about plans from Matzi Builder and Developers to build eight new ultra-high-end homes here, with list prices exceeding $1M. We don’t know what the homes will look like, but we suspect they’ll be an improvement over the building that’s coming down.

View from the north

At the corner

Looking west at the rubble

Closer look

Meanwhile, a mere block away, another demolition is underway. A former parking lot at 206-12 N. 22nd St. will soon be eliminated and replaced with five new town homes. We last checked in on this project back in November, when we told you that a new developer had come into the picture after neighbors protested a different developer’s plan for six homes at this site.

Demo notices on the building

Dumpster inside

We’re fairly certain that the new developer is Michael Carosella, the guy who’s built a collection of high-end homes in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood in the last couple of years. We haven’t seen renderings for this project, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see homes that look a little like those at 20th & Fitzwater.

Homes at 20th & Fitzwater, designed by Harman Deutsch

As you surely expect, we’ll keep an eye on these projects and bring you some updates once they break ground.