At a time when Boston’s real estate has never been more valuable, an old house being turned into a bunch of condos is hardly unusual. But this house has a history tied to the city's most notorious gangster, Whitey Bulger. Known by its too-cute moniker the “The Haunty,” it's where Bulger and his associates murdered three people, buried their bodies in the dirt cellar and then dug them up and moved them when the house was sold to its current owners.

When “The Haunty” went on the market in late July, it made for splashy headlines and dredged up the days of Bulger’s murderous reign in South Boston.

A few weeks ago, the owners got zoning approval to knock down the existing structure and build four townhouses on the property. But will the property's sordid history impact its value?

There are plenty of examples of famous “murder homes” that have had trouble selling. Quentin Tarantino’s recent film “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” recreated the house where gruesome Manson murders took place, but the actual property had been razed, and the even street number was changed. The luxury estate near Los Angeles where music producer Phil Spector killed his girlfriend has been on the market for six months, and its asking price was recently cut.

In 1985, "The Haunty” owners paid just $120,000 for the house on its 5,000 square foot lot. The current ask is just under $3.4 million, a price that leaves locals agape.

Real estate agents told WGBH News that developers won’t care about the house's murderous history, given South Boston’s hot real estate market. And though the Whitey lore was brought to life for a younger generation by the Johnny Depp film “Black Mass,” new residents are more focused on the hip area and convenient location. A 28 year-old, who asked that we identify her only by by her first name, Jen, has been living in South Boston for two years. She loves it and doesn't think "The Haunty's" horror history would deter her or her peers.

"It would be would be eerie, but I also can’t afford that house so it doesn’t really matter," she said with a laugh.

Bulger himself probably wouldn’t recognize the old neighborhood — now filled with fancy condos, yoga studios and gourmet coffee-toting young residents. One older local said his generation calls the area “kiddyland.”

South Boston local Jim Johnston still lives in the house he grew up in — next door to “The Haunty.” He said he never worried about raising four daughters in the neighborhood and always felt safe.

“Nobody noticed anything funny” about 'The Haunty,'” he said, but he remembers when police and the FBI arrived to search the house, and neighbors gathered in the streets.

Johnston said he will be happy to see the Bulger-era reminder knocked down.

“Everybody will be glad to see that history go,” he said. “But it’ll be remembered for some time, because it takes a couple of turns of the neighborhood to completely forget about it.”

But the neighborhood was far more than just Bulger's haunt, Johnston added. it was a place where neighbors knew each other. Johnston longs for the days when the neighborhood was filled with children and grandparents. While Bulger may be gone, locals say voracious development now robs the area of its warmth.

“You don’t recognize anybody anymore,” said one elderly woman who has lived in South Boston since moving from Italy 63 years ago. Property developers, she said, are “taking over everything.”