It's been over five years, but now Phase II of the long envisioned Duck Flats project in Northern Liberties is finally approaching the building stage.

The original rendering

Back in December, the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association offered its support for Phase II of the project, which will include 13 units instead of the originally planned 15 units at 818-824 N. 4th St., and also feature a ground-floor commercial space, replacing the garage once used to store the Ride the Ducks tour boats. The zoning committee's decision came after repeat visits in previous months. The new plans developed after plans from 2008 failed to matriculate.

Former Duck Boats garage

Approved rendering. Much has changed.

Last fall, we told you about one of the appearances made by folks from Onion Flats, the developers, before the NLNA. Since then, some significant architectural adjustments have been made. The retail space was one of the changes that developed during the neighborhood process. The ZBA approved the project a couple of weeks ago.

Buildings from the first phase

What we like about this project is that the developers stayed with the site through a number of years and continued to work with the neighborhood group. Phase I of this project was recently finished and included eight new units on Lawrence Street. Meanwhile, about two blocks north, seven new homes are planned at 405-45 St. John Nuemann Way, which is another example of a project where developers reappeared before NLNA after making adjustments based on the zoning committee's suggestions that shaved off the number of units first proposed.

Even though years have passed, the number of units have shrunk, and the look of the project has changed dramatically, it seems the completion of Duck Flats project is finally on the horizon. We look forward to the groundbreaking, probably coming very soon.