It’s pretty rare that we find ourselves covering development in Society Hill, mostly because there’s hardly any real estate to develop in the neighborhood. There are, though, some notable exceptions, one of which we’ve been eyeing since 2011. Back then, we told you that 212-218 S. 3rd St. was listed for sale for $5M and we wondered if and when a developer would step in to purchase the property. In retrospect (and this happens all the time in this business) it was a no brainer to buy a 14K sqft property in Society Hill, and we were just too dumb to do it.

It wasn’t until 2015 that a developer finally stepped forward to buy the property, paying roughly $2.7M. In short order, zoning notices appeared, indicating a plan to convert the historic former Salvation Army building at the corner into 14 apartment units and to demolish a newer northern building and replace it with four large town homes. Last year, a large sign appeared on the front of the property, advertising the new homes and indicating that each would include 2-car parking and provide over 4,000 sqft of living space.

We passed by this property the other day and saw that construction is progressing steadily. The bricks of the apartment building seem to have gotten their first cleaning in decades, revealing a much lighter facade than we could have expected previously. And framing is moving along for the homes to the north.

When the sign went up at the property last year, we figured that these homes would be listed for over $1.5M. Er, we should have said $2.5M. The project is called Estates on 3rd, and we see one of the homes is currently listed for sale for $2.65M. This home will have 4 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 half bathrooms, and roughly 5,100 sqft of living space. CANNO Design did the architecture work, and these homes will be among the most contemporary in this historic neighborhood.

These are going to be ridiculous homes at an amazing location at a high but probably appropriate price point. So if you’ve got some extra change in the couch cushions and/or if you win the lottery, perhaps they’re worth a look. Honestly, we’ll just be stoked to attend an open house, if one ever takes place.