It's no secret that South Kensington is experiencing a building boom. And we've seen projects of all shapes and sizes in the neighborhood, with one-off projects, multi-home projects, and major mixed use projects all within blocks of each other. In the fall, we told you about plans for twenty new homes in the middle of the 1300 block of Mascher Street, and we confess we don't really have any updates on that project at this time. But if you take just a few steps to the north, to 1350 Mascher St., there's definitely something brewing.
As you can see, an old warehouse has been totally demolished. In its place is now a vacant lot. But the signs on the site suggest that it won't remain vacant for long. No folks, Mascher Street is getting another twenty homes. Check out the rendering and site plan:
Looking at the site plan, Mascher Street will technically only get four homes. That's because Master Street will get ten of 'em and Hancock will get six more. We're pretty sure the first phase of the project will include the homes on Mascher and Hancock, with the Master Street homes to follow. Some of the homes are already listed, with prices in the mid-400K range. That gets you 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2,800 sqft of living space, and a parking spot.
You might wonder how the developers expect to get these prices at this location. And if it were just a couple of years ago, we'd be wondering the same thing. But given the recent growth in this neighborhood and the expected development on the way, those prices sound more reasonable by the day. South Kensington is becoming, for many buyers, an attractive and less expensive option compared to Northern Liberties and Fishtown. Let's agree, these homes would be at least 30% more expensive if they were on the other side of Girard and maybe 15% pricier on the other side of Front Street. It remains to be seen whether these disparities will linger as development continues to blow up in this neighborhood. So if you're thinking of buying in South Kensington, perhaps it's best to get on it sooner rather than later. You might just get priced out.