Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - OCF Realty

Mar 18

We Spied a New Foundation Near 20th & Snyder

Categories: None

Mar, 18, 2019 | No Comments | Point Breeze

The West Passyunk neighborhood isn't one we cover too frequently in this space, since it doesn't see a whole lot in the way of development activity. The neighborhood's boundaries, for those unfamiliar, go from 18th to 25th Street from east to west, and Mifflin Street to Passyunk Avenue to the south. Point Breeze gentrification hasn't generally made its way this far to the south, Girard Estates is to the south and has barely changed in decades, [...]
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Mar 15

Co-living Building Will Be a Step Up From Beer Distributor Near Girard Avenue

Categories: None

Mar, 15, 2019 | 1 Comment | Northern Liberties

It was roughly ten months ago that we told you that the Global Beer Distributor at 1150 N. American St. had moved on to the keg cooler in the great beyond, as developers had purchased their 17K sqft parcel for $2.8M. This transaction made sense on a number of levels. Northern Liberties has pretty much finished its transition from spunky up and comer to established and high-priced neighborhood. A single-purpose one-story building on a sizable lot might have made sense [...]
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Mar 13

Homes Replacing Mario Lanza Museum on Montrose?

Categories: None

Mar, 13, 2019 | 1 Comment | Bella Vista

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, located on the 700 block of Montrose Street, is a gorgeous church with a rich history. Per Philaplace, it was the first Italian national parish in America when it was formed in 1852, and served as a cultural center for the immigrant community. As the Italian population grew in South Philadelphia, additional Italian national parishes appeared in different parts of the city, with the closest being just a few blocks [...]
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Mar 12

Additions and Subtraction on Kater Street

Categories: None

Mar, 12, 2019 | No Comments | Graduate Hospital

The 2100 block of Kater Street has a lot going for it. It's just a half block off of South Street, which might present a bit of a challenge over in Queen Village, but in this part of town it just means that the residents have easy access to commercial amenities. There's a gym around the corner, plus a pharmacy, a coffee shop, a bar, a few brunch places, and a Wawa. Not to mention, the [...]
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Mar 08

Vacant Lot Disappears on North Broad, Plus an Uptown Update

Categories: None

Mar, 08, 2019 | 2 Comments | Temple Area

We were cruising along North Broad Street the other day, on the lookout as always for any new construction activity that might catch an eye. We were rewarded for our efforts when we spied some early excavation at 2235-37 N. Broad St., a parcel that's been sitting vacant for at least a decade. Though there's not even foundation work ongoing as of yet, we can tell you that developers are planning a mixed-use building here, [...]
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Mar 07

Another “Student Housing” Tower Under Construction at 3720 Chestnut

Categories: None

Mar, 07, 2019 | 4 Comments | West Philly

Changes at Temple and Drexel over the last couple decades have had a dramatic impact on their surrounding neighborhoods. Both schools have seen enrollment rise and at Temple, the number of commuting students has dropped considerably. As such, we've seen a ton of student housing construction occur on and around both campuses, transforming swaths of North Philadelphia and Mantua, respectively. At Penn, meanwhile, we're fairly certain that the student body is roughly the same size [...]
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Mar 06

Perth Street Garages Will Disappear in Favor of New Homes

Categories: None

Mar, 06, 2019 | 1 Comment | Bella Vista

Bella Vista is such a settled neighborhood, it hardly sees much development activity these days. When it does, most projects are one-off homes getting renovated or rebuilt after longtime owners move on, in one way or another. It's precisely because the neighborhood is so settled that any slightly underused property surely catches the attention of developers and attracts waves of unsolicited offers. And we suspect that 729-33 Pemberton St. fit that description for a long [...]
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Mar 05

Kensington M.E. Church Going Residential

Categories: None

Mar, 05, 2019 | 2 Comments | Fishtown

The Kensington Methodist Episcopal Church is one of the more historic churches in Philadelphia and it's likely you've never laid eyes on it. The church is located at 300 Richmond St., on one of the three blocks of Richmond Street between Frankford Avenue and the place where I-95 and Delaware Avenue pinch together to squeeze Richmond Street out of existence for a few blocks. So it's not exactly a place that you'd stumble onto- unless you [...]
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Mar 01

Harpermania Coming to the Hale Building

Categories: None

Mar, 01, 2019 | 4 Comments | Washington Square West

We've long loved the Keystone National Bank building at the corner of Juniper & Chestnut, admiring its amazing bones and wondering how such a marvelous building at such a tremendous location could have found itself in such a state of blight and disrepair. This edifice is more commonly known as the Hale Building because it's one of the most famous buildings designed by architect Willis G. Hale. Hale, who also thought up the Divine Lorraine and many buildings [...]
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Feb 27

What’s Going on at 10th & Girard?

Categories: None

Feb, 27, 2019 | 2 Comments | West Poplar

Between 2003 and 2013, the Althea Gibson Community Education and Tennis Center at 1000 W. Girard Ave. provided a safe space to neighborhood children at a tennis facility that might have felt more at home in the 'burbs then on this West Poplar corner. The community center ultimately closed due to lack of funding, and developer Michael Alhadad purchased the parcel for $1.5M in 2014. A couple years later, we openly wondered what would happen with this parcel, opining that its proximity [...]
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