Progress on 20-Unit Development on N. 3rd Street

This two-row townhome development differs from the usual.

Photo by Sandy Smith

Photo by Sandy Smith

We admit we were a little puzzled by the permit information on file with Licenses & Inspections for this 20-townhome project currently under construction at 826-32 N. 3rd St. in Northern Liberties.

There are two separate permits for this project designed by JKR Partners and being built by U.S. Construction. One okays eight three-story dwellings and the other, 12 four-story ones.

How these were to be arranged wasn’t clear when we visited the site in December. It’s clear now that the homes have been built to their final heights.

The three-story homes are in the middle of the rows, with four on each side of the central driveway court. Four of the four-story homes are at the 3rd Street end of the rows – two per row – and the other eight, four per row, are at the far end of the plot.

That marks a departure from the usual pattern of townhome construction in both this neighborhood and elsewhere in the city, where the norm is for all the homes to be the same height with maybe one or two exceptions, usually negotiated to please abutters worried about loss of light and air. As that’s not a problem here, it may be that the developer wants to offer homes at a wider range of price points.

Two other noteworthy features of this development: the homes will be fully sprinklered and there will be parking for 38 cars total, a greater than 1:1 ratio.