Northern Liberties is a hot neighborhood, in case you haven't heard. It's been that way for the last few years, in fact, with home prices shooting up and demand for development sites increasing dramatically. With that in mind, it's no surprise that developers have increasingly been looking at unorthodox properties in this neighborhood, expecting the market to follow them along for the ride. Such is the case for the Iron Place Town Homes project at 74-82 E. Laurel St., which we first brought to your attention over two years ago. This location is a little outside the box for this neighborhood because it's east of Front Street and pretty much next to I-95.

Seriously next to the highway

We weren't kidding

We've seen other development in this neighborhood that's close to the highway, but most of those projects at least have some semblance of a surrounding neighborhood. This project has the highway on one side and a row of warehouses on the other. Oh, and Sugarhouse is the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that is Laurel Street.

Sugarhouse Casino down the block

So let's see, highway to one side, casino to the other side, maybe you'd think the buyers aren't lining up to buy homes here. And you'd be wrong. Of the nine homes, eight are either sold or under agreement. Only one home remains available for purchase, at an asking price of $560K. On the one hand, you're getting 2,800 sqft of living space, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and parking. On the other hand, there's all the other stuff we already mentioned.

The project

Closer look at the first row of homes

If the neighborhood remains white hot and the more of the block fills in with residential development in the next few years, these homes will suddenly seem much more appealing, at least in our view. Then again, with the Fillmore around the corner, we'd think that the crowds from the (excellent) venue will be a serious source of noise. What do you think? Would you want to live here, or is the location too much of a hurdle?