2100 Lombard St. is a very desirable property, located on the edge of Fitler Square and just a few short blocks away from the heart of Center City. And yet, for whatever reason, this property has been building free since at least the 1940s and has been used at a surface parking lot since the 1950s. Granted, this area wasn’t as compelling from a real estate perspective as it is today until maybe 20-25 years ago, but still, the parcel has remained as a little parking lot for a mere eight cars. In fact, this remains the case today.

You might not realize since there’s still a parking lot there, but developers purchased the property last year, paying an astounding $1.9M for the 2,400 sqft parcel. The property is zoned for multi-family use, and at such a hefty acquisition price, one might expect a condo building with maybe four flats and 1:1 parking, which would be permitted by right. Instead, the developers are opting for two homes, which might make as much sense, if not more. The proposed project needs a variance for parking and height, and went before the community last month and received a non-opposition vote with the proviso that each home only have one parking space. Architecture for the project comes from Lo Design, and we pulled the elevation drawing below from their Instagram feed which we believe is this project.

Figure the price points for these homes will be around $3M, at par with the Moderna at Rittenhouse project just down the block. Remember, we covered that project a couple years back, as construction was getting started on this eight-home development. At least four of those homes are already under agreement, at list prices between $2.8M and $3M. So the homes at 2100 Lombard St. will have some very useful comps just half a block away. And let’s face it, due to the incredibly small number of new construction homes in Rittenhouse/Fitler Square and the continued desirability of the area, the homes at 21st & Lombard will sell quickly even at these high prices. Sadly, given the expected price point, we aren’t expecting they’ll be hosting any open houses.