A couple of months ago, we told you about plans for a new home at 956 N. American St., a project that’s still under construction. Today, we have news about another development coming to the block- but first a word about the block itself. The 900 block of American Street represents steady new development with a design trend away from traditional brick fronts and toward a more contemporary look. Many homes here feature interesting horizontal and vertical window schemes that make the houses look like they were designed with Tetris pieces. Check it out:

New home framed out

Interesting architecture on the block

Metal-clad homes with colorful doors, partially hidden by trees

Last month, the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association supported developers’ plans for a new home at 964 N. American St., long a vacant lot. The property was purchased in 2011 for $55K, according to public record. In the last couple of years, the property immediately next door was constructed and looking at it stand alone on the corner you might be able to appreciate why the neighboring two lots have remained vacant for so long.

The new home is next to the lot in question

The home pictured above is, if you can’t tell from the photo, really small for a new construction residence. It sits on a lot that’s under 15′ wide and only 30′ deep. At just over 400 sqft, this lot size presents tremendous challenges for creating a desirable living space and an appropriate amount of yard space. Needless to say, the smaller sized home on this block will fetch a smaller sale price than the more traditionally sized homes.

Still, it says a lot about the pace of development in the neighborhood that even the smallest lots are being transformed into homes. Whether the architecture for the newest addition will be more traditional or whether it will go for the contemporary look like many other homes on the block, we’ll let you know when we check back here in a few months.

–Lou Mancinelli