Back in September, we shared news that the tax delinquent owners of the former Liberty Self Storage warehouse near 4th & George had apparently saved their large building from sheriff's sale by beginning to make good on their back taxes. The building sold back in April, and now the property looks like it will soon be demolished.
Though you can't tell in the photo above, 1036 N. 4th St. extends all the way back to Leithgow St., and has frontage on George St. as well. Over the last couple of months, the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association zoning committee heard presentations from developers Callahan Ward for a new home on 4th Street, a new home on Leithgow Street, and a new home on George Street. Having built several projects in this neighborhood in recent years, Callahan Ward is old hat at getting homes built in Northern Liberties. After a second presentation, after making some tweaks to the garages, the developers got community support.
Nearby, at 5th & Poplar, there are numerous projects now underway. At the northwest corner, an old block-long warehouse was demolished last summer and in its place 21 new homes are almost completed. More recently, this March, three homes were proposed less than half a block south of that, at 5th & Myrtle. Meanwhile, half a block south of 4th & George, the NLNA approved plans (after developers shaved off some height and one unit) for seven new homes at 405-45 Saint John Nuemann Way back in December.
Add these all together and you've got 34 new single-family homes within a three-block radius coming online over the next year in this little area of Northern Liberties just south of Girard. And with rumblings that townhomes will be replacing the nearly entirely demolished Ortlieb's Brewery at 3rd & Poplar, Northern Liberties could be seeing even more homes rise in the very near future.