Doggie Style opened a location at the southwest corner of 3rd & Poplar over a decade ago, in a junky looking industrial building. This was a great outcome for the property at the time, as it provided neighborhood pet owners with a go-to pet store. Over time, the corner has evolved as a pet center, with a veterinarian opening next door a few years back, and Saved Me adoption services operating here as well. The large dog run in the rear is a major highlight, affording city pups the rare opportunity to play off leash in a space that’s not a dog park.

Let’s agree though, this isn’t the highest and best use for a 20K sqft parcel in Northern Liberties. So it should come as no surprise whatsoever that developers have purchased this property and they’re now pursuing a plan that will entail demolition and complete redevelopment of the property. The developers will be presenting this plan to Civic Design Review next month, and as a result we got our mitts on their project packet which provides details and renderings.

Look for three homes on Orianna Street, ten homes on Poplar Street, and a new mixed-use building on 3rd Street with 25 apartments and retail on the first floor. The homes will each have a parking space, and there will be 12 additional spots associated with the project located on the site. The design looks great, as we would expect based on other neighborhood projects from Atrium Design Group. The proposal did trigger several refusals though, including height (57′ proposed, 38′ permitted), rear yard (9′ required, 0′ proposed), and for only having commercial on 3rd Street. As a result, the project came through NLNA last month. Given what we know about process in this neighborhood, we imagine it’ll be coming back this month, ahead of the CDR hearing.

Assuming the project gets approved and built, it will be a substantial upgrade over what’s here today, at least in terms of height and density. It’s possible that Doggie Style or the vet could relocate their business to the new retail space at this corner, but we’d think it’s more likely that they’d move someplace else in the couple years it’ll take to get this thing built, if they reopen at all. For dogs in the neighborhood, it will be a sad day when these businesses shut down, with the loss of the dog run being especially painful. Neighborhood cats, on the other hand, will probably feel a little different about the situation.