We were zipping around Brewerytown the other day, following up on some reader tips, when a sign caught our eye at the northeast corner of 27th & Thompson. The sign is posted on a building that has wonderful bones and was probably amazing in its day, but vinyl siding on its bay and corner turret unfortunately take things down a notch. The sign advertises new construction from Design Pro Development, and we were concerned that this meant that the old building would be demoed and replaced with something possessing less gravitas.

It turns out the sign refers to a Design Pro Development project up the block which will be getting started in the next couple months (and you should look for more info here when it does). But the sign inspired us to turn onto the block, where we discovered a rather significant project already under construction. For quite a long time, the roughly 6,000 sqft property at 1305 N. 27th St. was sitting vacant. But right now, there’s some heavy equipment on the site digging a sizable hole in the ground.

Our first assumption was an apartment building for this property, but then we looked at the permits and realized we were off base. Instead, the developers are building  a 6-unit town home development, with parking. The layout will be a little unusual, with three homes in the rear of the property and two homes and a carriage house at the front of the property. This layout is necessary because the property is roughly 55′ wide by 100′ deep. The only alternatives would have been three homes with no parking and huge yards or an apartment building.

Just a handful of years ago, the roofing company located next door to this project made perfect sense at this location. But with this project now under construction and countless others happening nearby, such a business seems to fit in less and less. We wonder whether the roofing company will decide to move to another spot at some point in the near future and sell their really handsome building to a developer looking for a residential reuse. Given the pace of development in the neighborhood and the rapidly rising prices, they might be wise to wait a couple more years before making such a move.