by SANDY SMITH· for Philadelphia Magazine
This extra-large condo, part of a nine-unit development called LIV, offers high-end amenities and a unique layout in a convenient location.
This condominium in Queen Village looks like it’s been there almost as long as its more Colonial neighbors. Actually, it was just recently completed. And you now can be one of the first people to live in LIV if you buy 720 S. 2nd St., Unit G, Philadelphia, PA 19147 / Photography by Loren Vaughan, OM Media; rendering above and photos via Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty
Are you looking for a place to live?
Buy this new construction Queen Village condo for sale and you will have a place where you can really LIV.
LIV is the name of the nine-unit development where you will find this condo. Located on Second Street just south of Bainbridge, it consists of a reworked 19th-century townhouse paired with two new-from-the-ground-up buildings. One of those two appears in the rendering above; the other is around the corner on Monroe Street.
You will note that the new building plays real nice with its much older neighbors. “The idea was to have it fit into the neighborhood in a way that didn’t simply replicate the past but did harmonize with it,” says Jacob Roller, founder and principal of J. Roller Development, which built this project in partnership with JKRP Architects, Mega Supply Pro and The How Group.
JKRP delivered on the promise of buildings that harmonized with the past yet were very much here and now, often in subtle ways. Starting with that facade. Note the variety of its fenestration, the different window widths, the facade setback and the clerestory over the building’s north end, a hint at the presence of a fourth floor that you can’t see from this side of the building.
The individual units are just as varied. Each one has a unique layout, with most spanning multiple floors. The photos below are of the model unit, Unit G.
There are nine units in all in the two buildings in this development. (Part of the existing house’s footprint got incorporated into the new building, thus making those two one.) As the nine units occupy six traditional rowhouse lots, this project added a little more density to this Queen Village block.
“It also created a lot more livable floor plans,” says Roller. The 14- and 15-foot-wide rowhouse lots, he said, would “not be up to 2023 standards” in terms of the kind of space buyers want. And indeed, the two- and three-level units in this development include several with much less cramped footprints, like the model unit pictured here.
“Normally, densification” — building more units on a given plot of land, as is the case here — “means small units. In this case, it means larger units. Every unit except for one in this entire development has at least three bedrooms,” he continues.
What this means is that you could raise a family in these condos. Many buyers might want to do that, given LIV’s location in the Meredith School catchment.
And here’s an example of the kind of condo you could raise that family in.
This unit is a bi-level condo on the third and fourth floors of the new building. You enter the building via the door with the canopy over it to the left of the drive aisle to the parking lot in back. An elevator and stairs both serve the third floor.
The main floor offers single-floor living for the owner. It has an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen.
The kitchen boasts high-end finishes and fixtures, including Carrara marble backsplashes, countertops and waterfall island. It also has a custom-built Bertazzoni range and a Bertazzoni microwave/convection oven. “I was told that on this particular model, the doors were painted at the Ferrari factory,” says Roller.
The primary bedroom sits next to the living room.
Its bathroom is as sumptuously outfitted as the kitchen. It has quartz tile wainscoting and a quartz-tile shower with a giant rain shower head.
The upper floor has two bathrooms, a hall bath with dual vanities, the laundry and a roof deck accessed through sliding doors in both bedrooms.
Something else unusual about this new construction Queen Village condo for sale is that it has extra space in its hallways and landings that can be put to good use. “These are spaces that lend themselves to some customization,” says Roller. “If you want to put in a library wall, a home office or even a bedroom, you have space for that.”
The location is also convenient. A walk of a block and a half gets you to South Street and Head House Square. Two blocks gets you to Bainbridge Green and Fabric Row. Another block over the I-95 pedestrian bridge deposits you at Penn’s Landing. And there’s much, much more within walking distance. And you have your choice of using SEPTA or your own car to travel further, as the unit comes with a parking space in its rear lot.
Not only is there nothing else like it in the neighborhood but also nothing else exactly like it in the building. But the other eight units all have their own personalities. If this one doesn’t float your boat, you have eight other completely different units to choose from.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 1,840
SALE PRICE: $1,295,000
OTHER STUFF: A $402 monthly condo fee covers maintenance and insurance of the building and common areas.
720 S. 2nd St., Unit G, Philadelphia, PA 19147 [Melanie Stecura and Linda Knox | Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty] / LIV website
Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty 