A reader tipped us off to a new house being built on the corner of Lawrence & Tasker Sts., which we confirmed earlier today. This site was a vacant lot for many years, owned by the city since 2004. For a vacant, city owned lot, it didn’t look so terrible…

In the past

As we’ve mentioned in the past, an online bidding program implemented by the Department of Public Property has resulted in the sale of a few dozen city-owned properties over the past couple of years. The recently sold 1121 Catharine St. is a fine example of this program working successfully. While the program has its flaws (an entirely closed bidding process, for example), it’s definitely a step in the right direction, considering the staggeringly long list of vacant, city owned properties.

This particular lot was purchased last fall by Great Eastern Holdings LP for $44,900 through the online bidding program. Over the past few months, the developer has replaced the vacant lot with a newly framed out building, which we imagine will eventually be a single-family home. Next to the much older surrounding housing stock, it sticks out some at the moment. That being said, we’re guessing it’s a conforming structure, since there’s no zoning application we can find online.

Under construction

With close proximity to Dickinson Square Park and the delightful Grindcore House, this home should be very desirable for buyers. Particularly in an area that doesn’t have a ton of new construction, this place will really offer something different. We’ll see how quickly it moves…

Dickinson Square Park in the background. We weren't kidding. It's really close.