The Spruce Hill neighborhood is famous for its architecture, with its tree-lined blocks home to a variety of architectural styles that have held up remarkably well over the last 150 years. The neighborhood includes examples of Second Empire, Italianate, Georgian Revival, and Queen Anne styles among others, collectively creating a rich architectural canvas. In 2024, a new historic district was created in a section of Spruce Hill, with plans to add other sections of the neighborhood to the district in the future.

But not every building in Spruce Hill belongs in a historic district. Take, for example, the double-wide building at 222 S. 45th St., which rises only one story and doesn’t seem to have any distinguishable architectural style. It appears the building was constructed for a grocery store, but it was used for karate instruction for a huge chunk of its life. Remarkably, a karate studio opened here all the way back in 1962 and it’s been used as such for over 60 years.

Roundhouse kicks are on the outs, however, as this building will get demoed in the near future in advance of a new mixed-use building. Developers are planning a four-story building with 20 apartments and commercial space on the first floor. This kind of project makes all kinds of sense at this location, and is a much higher and better use for this roughly 6,000 sqft parcel. Not only are we pleased with the density, but we also like the commercial space on the first floor, as it fits in nicely with other commercial spaces on this stretch of 45th Street.

As part of this project, the same developers are also planning another mixed-use project around the corner. 4507 Locust St. was once a home that was surely beautiful, but the home was demoed after a fire in the late 1980s and the property has been vacant ever since. The plans call for a three-story building with ground-floor retail on the first floor and four apartments in the rest of the building. This retail space makes a bit less sense than the proposed space on 45th Street, but the developers obviously didn’t want to pursue a zoning variance so they’re just following the code.

Gnome Architects is the design group working on this project, and we’ll be interested to see how their new buildings fit in with their surroundings. We won’t hold them to the standards of the buildings built in the 1800s, but based on their projects over the years, we expect these buildings will look sharp and won’t distract from the buildings nearby. Incidentally, the timing is outstanding for this project, as the current boundary of the Spruce Hill Historic District is at Spruce Street. If and when the district expands, a project at this location would need the blessing of the Historical Commission, adding more time and bureaucracy to an already fraught development process. With the district currently ending a block to the south, the path is clear for this project to move forward expeditiously.