At some point in the last couple of months, a large warehouse-like structure came down at 5th & Fairmount.
In its place, US Construction will soon get moving on plans for 36 townhomes, 1 duplex, and a mixed-use building with 5 apartments and ground-floor retail. The project came before the community and went to CDR over the summer, getting approval from the ZBA in late July. JKRP Architects did the design work, and these renderings will give you an idea of what to expect in the coming months.
We can't say with total certainty, but we'd guess that this project, like others from these developers, will mean rentals for the next few years and the homes will eventually get sold off. While neighbors might prefer homeowners immediately, it's hard to argue that this project won't represent an improvement over the bland structure it's replacing. The inclusion of corner commercial is a change from US Construction projects we've seen in the past, so we're hopeful that this will be the start of a trend for this company that seems to be pumping out a couple of huge residential projects every year.
It's worth noting, this project wil join two other projects nearby, already in progress. Across 5th Street, you can see a row of homes that are part of the larger Transatlantic project. And on 6th Street, there's a row of eight new homes basically in the backyard of the US Construction project, but built by another developer.
Combined, these three projects will represent 117 new residential units in Northern Liberties. This is obviously fabulous news for Coffee House Too, the relatively new business on the northwest corner of 5th & Fairmount. It should also mean good things for whatever business opens in the upcoming retail space on the southwest corner.