Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - OCF Realty

Jan 17

Broad Street Picking Up Four Mansions Next to Brandywine Workshop

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Jan, 17, 2020 | No Comments | Graduate Hospital

Non-profit Brandywine Workshop bought 730 S. Broad St. roughly 40 years ago, a purchase that included a historic double-wide building, a beat up warehouse, and a sizable vacant lot. According to a story from Hidden City, the historic Italianate building on the property was designed by architect Samuel Sloan and dated back to 1849. It was originally built as a volunteer fire house and was used as a police station and a starch works over the years, but when Brandywine bought [...]
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Jan 16

Subaru Dealership Makes All the Sense Next to I-76 in Grays Ferry

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Jan, 16, 2020 | No Comments | Grays Ferry

In writing about Washington Avenue countless times over the years, we've railed against its outdated industrial zoning and hoped for a speedy remapping process which would permit mixed-use development by right on the corridor. Hasn't happened, obviously. This isn't to say that we're opposed to industrial uses or industrial zoning in Philadelphia- it's just that we grew up playing Sim City and locating industrial zones right in the middle of residential zones never made any sense [...]
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Jan 15

Washington Avenue Property Wants to Keep Industrial Use While Adding Residential

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Jan, 15, 2020 | No Comments | Graduate Hospital

The triple-wide building at 2031-35 Washington Ave. has a decidedly backward looking approach to the corridor on which it sits. This two-story industrial building stretches all the way to Kimball Street and dates back at least over half a century. For many years, a tire business occupied the majority of the building and more recently a small restaurant occupied a small space as well. We had a lousy breakfast sandwich from this place maybe ten [...]
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Jan 14

Apartment Building Coming Near the Bottom of Point Breeze Avenue?

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Jan, 14, 2020 | No Comments | Point Breeze

Passyunk Avenue runs on an angle through several neighborhoods east of Broad, offering walkable retail and an impressive mix of different types of businesses. Over the last twenty years or so, this corridor has changed dramatically, shifting away from a focus on the surrounding neighborhood and becoming a retail and dining destination for people from all over the city. During those years, we've also seen changes in the neighborhoods around Passyunk, as home values have gone up [...]
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Jan 13

Office Building Has Lost Its Facade on Grays Ferry Avenue

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Jan, 13, 2020 | No Comments | Grays Ferry

When we think about the potential upside for real estate in the Grays Ferry neighborhood, a fewf things always come to mind. Its location is a definite strength, sitting adjacent to Grad Hospital and Point Breeze, and with easy access to the highway and West Philadelphia. Another plus for the neighborhood is the waterfront access, through the Grays Ferry Crescent section of the Schuylkill River Trail. We can only imagine what will happen when Center City people discover Grays Ferry, [...]
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Jan 10

Fishtown Says Farewell to Xynatech and Will Say Hey to a New Apartment Building

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Jan, 10, 2020 | No Comments | Fishtown

It wasn't so long ago that an enterprising manufacturer or artisan could easily and inexpensively set up shop in Fishtown, in one of many old industrial buildings scattered around the neighborhood. With the rapid gentrification of the neighborhood and the influx of retail to Frankford Avenue, this area has transitioned into a neighborhood where people want to live and work and hang out, and are willing to pay good money for the privilege. As a result, [...]
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Jan 09

Three Homes Near 23rd & Wharton, On Lots Long Owned By the City

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Jan, 09, 2020 | No Comments | Point Breeze

Did you know that a few different agencies associated with the government of the City of Philadelphia own several thousand vacant properties, scattered across the city? The City is set up to own specific types of properties, including government buildings, parks, recreation centers, police stations, and the airport. Things are far less streamlined when it comes to the staggering number of vacant lots the City owns. Remember, when you own property you are responsible for its upkeep, including [...]
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Jan 08

Will We See a New Apartment Building at Belgrade & York?

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Jan, 08, 2020 | No Comments | Fishtown

The stretch of E. York Street between Frankford and Aramingo is a unique animal, different from just about any block we can think of in town. It's extra-wide, and a section of the street had a rail line running down the middle back when this part of town still had a strong industrial presence. Today, the street is a mixed bag. Some blocks are filled with homes with corner commercial, while others still maintain large commercial or even industrial [...]
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Jan 07

Rainbow Row of New Homes on Salmon Street

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Jan, 07, 2020 | No Comments | Port Richmond

We really enjoy a good pierogi, and perhaps the best in town are made Czerw's Kielbasy in Port Richmond. This family business has been operating out of a storefront on Tilton Street since the late 1930s, and apparently makes a pretty good kielbasa too. Unfortunately for us, the secret is out about this place and it's not so easy to get pierogi anymore- per their website: DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING DEMAND FOR OUR IN-HOUSE, HANDMADE PIEROGI, WE [...]
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Jan 03

Naked Philly Predicts What’s to Come in 2020

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Jan, 03, 2020 | No Comments

Christmas is over and New Years has come and gone- it's 2020 in Philadelphia! Let's make some predictions for the coming year, shall we? We've been spending a lot of time meditating and thinking prognosticating thoughts, so hopefully we can do better than our middling performance in 2019. Here we go... What do we see? January: A new City Council is inaugurated, and it's the most progressive legislative body in the history of Philadelphia. Even though the Mayor [...]
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