What Could You Do on 2?

You could be forgiven for not noticing the old Spanish at 10th/Highland downtown.

921 Highland is a 1930s original on a double lot (5400 sq. ft.).

If you were to rewind time a bit (which is hard), we'd hazard that the big house was once all but alone on the stretch of Highland near Center Street and the pier. There are stories, to be sure.

Now, though, the question turns to what to do on the site. Someone has just paid$5.400M for the home, and we're not really thinking it's because they're preservationists.

A double lot with ocean views on a walkstreet right in the thick of MB's now-bustling core should probably have a lot of new stuff on it that reflects what MB is today.

You could built one heckuva single-family home, something you could even call a compound. Build a courtyard on the south side and wrap a U-shaped home around that. Or build high on the Highland side and low on the west edge of the lot, and give yourself some good views down the 10th St. walkstreet.

Tempting, perhaps, but those plans would put a lot of principal living spaces on Highland. The street's less busy south of the pier, but it's still Highland.

Our bet: Two townhomes on Highland for the spec market, and a single-family on the middle lot, maybe for the new owner. One to watch.