When we think of 3rd & Brown, the first thing that comes to mind is North 3rd, a Northern Liberties restaurant stalwart that’s been holding down the northeast corner for a long time. We don’t know exactly when this place opened, but we know we celebrated New Years there back in 2003 or 2004. Ah, memories. Now that we’re thinking about it, we should probably get back there sometime soon, it’s been a minute.
To the north of North Third is a building that’s got a demolition notice posted to its front. 807 N. 3rd St. is a relatively unassuming warehouse, aside from the fact that it’s got inscriptions on its front that say ‘N. Toconita Building’ and the year 1935. Doing a wee bit of research, we learned this place was a bike company for many years, though we confess we don’t know how it’s been used more recently. Whatever the history, the building was sold about a year ago, with developers tied to Atrium Design Group paying about $850K for the property.
As the demo notice suggests, the developers are planning to tear down the building and replace it with something new. The parcel is zoned IRMX, and it appears they are able to build a mix of apartments and offices here, but are seeking a zoning variance to build a 14 unit apartment building with 7 parking spaces. Plans call for a five-story building, and NLNA has already lent their support to the project.
And why not? North 3rd Street has seen a ton of new development in the last few years, with so many projects happening to the north and south of this property. We’ve seen a mix of homes and apartments, and given the base zoning for this parcel and its 50’x80′ footprint, an apartment building with 1:2 parking seems to make sense. And with a bar next door, apartments are an even better idea. Atrium typically designs pretty unique buildings, and we’ll be interested to see this project move forward. And if anyone has a rendering for this thing that they’d like to send along to us, we’d be glad to share it with the world.
Update: Here’s a rendering of the project, thanks to a tip from a reader. Looks awesome.
