Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - OCF Realty

Oct 19

Cherry Street Pier Adds a Sweet New Public Space to the Delaware Waterfront

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Oct, 19, 2018 | No Comments | Old City

Long before we were born, and surely before you were born as well, the Delaware River was the commercial engine of Philadelphia. Even into the 20th century, factories operated along the waterfront and ships ran cargo to and from piers up and down the river. In 1919, the City of Philadelphia built Municipal Pier No. 9 just south of the yet unbuilt Ben Franklin Bridge, in an effort to goose the local economy that was still recovering from the [...]
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Oct 18

Check Out This Adaptive Reuse Candidate on College Ave.

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Oct, 18, 2018 | 2 Comments | Brewerytown

We were on our way to Brewerytown the other day, and a building we'd never noticed before caught our eye as we were traveling up 20th Street. From 20th & Girard, it looks like a regular enough brick building that's just a bit taller than its neighbors. Upon closer inspection though, we realized that the structure at 2000 S. College Ave. is rather unique, both in terms of shape and architectural details. To put a [...]
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Oct 17

Surprise! Demo Permit For 1101 Chestnut Street

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Oct, 17, 2018 | 5 Comments | Market East

Surprisingly little ink has been spilled regarding 1101 Chestnut St., a monolithic, beige colored structure that covers the entire north side of the block. If you think about it you can probably figure out that this building houses a parking garage on its upper floors, joining a collection of retail tenants on the first floor. It was constructed during the first couple years of World War II by the Chestnut Street Association, designed by Ballinger, and it originally housed an annex [...]
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Oct 16

Massive Development Planned on the Edge of Port Richmond

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Oct, 16, 2018 | 7 Comments | Port Richmond

Investment opportunities cross our desk on a fairly regular basis, but the vast majority of them are unworkable for any number of reasons. Most commonly, properties are simply overpriced, making redevelopment financially impossible. Other opportunities have a financial path, but only with a zoning variance that we don't have perfect confidence the ZBA would grant. Geography also comes into play, as we have to take into account the immediate neighbors as well as the surrounding neighborhood. For many [...]
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Oct 15

Small Block in South Kensington Picking Up Some New Residents

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Oct, 15, 2018 | No Comments | South Kensington

The 1300 block of N. Orianna St. is not your typical block, but that doesn't really come as much of a surprise in this part of South Kensington, where unusual blocks probably outnumber typical blocks. The east side of this block is dominated by two-story homes that date back to the mid-1960s that we suspect were built as an affordable housing development. The homes definitely have an urban renewal vibe, as they're set back from [...]
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Oct 12

Moderna at Rittenhouse Will Rise Across From Lombard Swim Club

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Oct, 12, 2018 | 1 Comment | Rittenhouse

The 2000 block of Lombard Street has long stood as one of the fanciest blocks in town because of the presence on the exclusive Lombard Swim Club on its southern side. The northern side of the block though, was dominated by a large old warehouse building that was used as a parking garage for a very long time. A little less than two years ago, we told you that the garage had sold to developers, and [...]
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Oct 11

Demolition and Duplexes Coming Soon, Next to Gretz Brewery

Categories: None

Oct, 11, 2018 | No Comments | South Kensington

There's an good looking building at 1600 Germantown Ave., across from the vacant Gretz Brewery, that we believe was last used as a boarding house. Whether that's true or not, we can say with total confidence that it won't be used for anything ever again. If you visit this building (and you should do so quickly if you'd like to see it in one piece), you'll quickly spy the demolition notice posted on one of the doors. Soon [...]
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Oct 10

Apartments Will Join Recording Studio in Industrial Building on Norris Street

Categories: None

Oct, 10, 2018 | 1 Comment | Fishtown

Norris Street west of Frankford has experienced some major changes over the last several years, as a number of old industrial properties have turned over and gone residential. We've seen vacant land get filled in and old buildings torn down, with a few different projects rising on Norris Street and in both directions on Blair Street. Through it all, 2187 E. Norris St. has remained relatively unchanged, with its white painted facade and a splash of [...]
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Oct 10

Two Dozen Homes Planned For Narrow Francisville Streets

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Oct, 10, 2018 | 2 Comments | Francisville

Even if you've lived in Francisville for a long time, it's quite possible you've never heard of Bowers Street or Erdman Street. These tiny streets branch off of the 800 block of Perkiomen Street, and both dead-end into the backyards of homes on Leland Street. Just a couple years ago, developers built a handful of homes on Erdman, cleaning up the block considerably. But the lots across the street from those homes have remained vacant, [...]
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Oct 09

Randolph Street Project Loses Some Units and Rearranges Its Layout

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Oct, 09, 2018 | No Comments | South Kensington

Over the summer, we told you that Streamline Philly had plans to redevelop a sizable vacant lot at 1500 N. Randolph St., a property we had previously called out as ripe for development. We shared the project details, gleaned from their Civic Design Review presentation back in June, calling for a total of 49 units over seven 6-unit buildings and one 7-unit building, with 16 parking spots. At the time, we questioned the choice to go with a bunch [...]
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