It was over two years ago that we first spotted earth moving around on the 800 block of N. American Street, next to the vacant former Ortlieb's Brewery buildings. For quite some time after, it was radio silence for this property. But in late 2012, new owners purchased 824-36 N. American St. for $1.1M, and by the end of 2013 there were finally some buildings coming out of the ground. We stopped by the other week and saw this firsthand.
According to the permits that have been pulled, this development consists of nine new homes with fifteen parking spots between them. We have no doubt that they will find healthy demand when they're finally put on the market.
Directly across the street from the new homes is the former Ortleib's Bottling Plant. Remember, we told you a little less than a year ago that architecture firm Kieran Timberlake had purchased the building and would be moving their offices there after a massive renovation. While this effort isn't yet finished, the building looks so much better than it did before. Amazing what some new windows can do to a place. We hope to get a tour once they're all done with the renovation.
But all news isn't good news for this block. Sadly, the former brewery is currently being demolished. Really slowly. You may recall, these buildings have been vacant for many years now, and we've been hopeful for an adaptive reuse, like we're seeing at the old bottling plant. Alas, it ain't happening. And while it seems quite likely that there will be significant redevelopment once the brewery is gone, we will still wish the old buildings could have somehow been preserved.
This snapshot in time presents a block that's in the middle of a series of big changes. It will be very interesting to revisit every few months to see just how different things look every time.