After 18 months of construction, the Glasshouse apartments next to Station Square on the South Side is scheduled to officially open its doors to incoming and prospective residents next month. Altogether, the development will add 320 luxury rental apartments to the riverfront neighborhood.

Junior one-bedroom, one-bedroom, one-bedroom and den, and two-bedroom units starting at $1,610 per month.

The $70 million building sits on 15,000 square feet of land near that was formerly the center of Pittsburgh’s booming glass industry during the late 19th and early 20th century; hence the name.

“We’ve been fascinated by the history of the site,” James Murray-Coleman of Trammel Crow Co., a representative of the ownership group, told NEXTpittsburgh just prior to construction. “For instance, we learned there was a massive sandbar in the middle of the Monongahela River years ago. That’s one reason why there were glass facilities located here: they mined the sand for glass.”

The homage to the area’s glass-making past doesn’t stop at the name. The developers worked with local artists to design unique art and design elements for each room (look for a story on that soon in NEXTpittsburgh).

Per the Department of Environmental Protection regulations for historic areas, the Verona-based archeologist Christine Davis explored the site for artifacts prior to construction.

Murray-Coleman said that Glasshouse will be Pittsburgh’s biggest transit-oriented development, with access to the light rail system, buses, bike networks and the Monongahela Incline. It’s a 10-minute walk to Downtown.

Residents will have access to an infinity pool, a 335-space underground garage, three courtyards and a communal kitchen. The apartments are designed in a “U” shape to allow the majority of residents a stunning view of the river and Downtown Pittsburgh.

In addition, tenants will have access to their own free, on-site bike-share program through Healthy Ride. The site is along the Great Allegheny Passage, a popular bike trail that connects Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

The developer is High Street Residential, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow, while Baltimore-based architecture firm Hord Copland Macht led the design.