Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - OCF Realty

Jan 18

Residential Conversion for Historic Church at 18th & Wharton

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Jan, 18, 2019 | No Comments | Point Breeze

The Friendship Baptist Church at 1730 Wharton St. was constructed in 1888 as the 18th Street Methodist Episcopal Church, designed by J. Franklin Stuckert. In honor of its hundredth birthday, the gorgeous building was added to the Philadelphia Historic Register, protecting it from demolition and/or significant exterior alteration. This is great news from a preservation perspective, given the number of old churches that have disappeared over the years in gentrifying neighborhoods. Even if a building is designated historic, [...]
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Jan 17

Furniture Store Will Disappear at 2nd & Cecil B Moore

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Jan, 17, 2019 | 4 Comments | South Kensington

If you're looking to buy a desk, dresser, or couch, there's no shortage of places to make such a purchase in our fair city. Ikea is a tried and true choice, offering relatively inexpensive yet highly functional furniture that will surely survive one move but might not make it through a second or a third. Downtown, Chestnut Street has several spots within a few blocks of Broad Street. Ditto Main Street in Manayunk, where a few stores are located in close proximity, [...]
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Jan 16

Five New Homes Replacing Junk-Filled Fishtown Lot

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Jan, 16, 2019 | 8 Comments | Fishtown

Fishtown is a white hot neighborhood, buoyed by the eclectic Frankford Avenue commercial corridor and a seemingly unending parade of development projects throughout the area. We know this not only because Forbes Magazine says so, but because we've been paying close attention over the last decade, providing you with the play by play. But this wasn't always the case. For decades, this was a working class neighborhood, ignored by developers, hipsters, and property assessors alike. With negligible [...]
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Jan 15

An Addition Gets an Addition on 13th Street

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Jan, 15, 2019 | No Comments | Loft District

We were traveling through Callowhill the other day, heading up 13th Street on our way to North Philadelphia, and some construction activity near Spring Garden Street caught our attention. We've covered the block of 13th Street between Hamilton and Buttonwood a few times previously, and we were pleased to see something new on this block. From what we can tell, 439 N. 13th St. was originally built as a two-story industrial building and was used as [...]
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Jan 14

Dilworth House Has Been Vacant For Years, But Could Get Redeveloped Soon

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Jan, 14, 2019 | 2 Comments | Society Hill

Society Hill is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, thanks to its central location and status as a historic district. This was not always the case, as anyone can attest if they're old enough to remember what this town was like in the years after World War II. Shortly after he became mayor in 1956, Richard Dilworth made the decision to move to Society Hill to demonstrate his commitment to the revitalization of downtown Philadelphia, and that [...]
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Jan 11

Wharton Square Park Going Even Greener

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Jan, 11, 2019 | 2 Comments | Point Breeze

If you're reading this blog, you're probably quite familiar with the perks of city living. Walkability! History! A dozen coffee shops within half a mile of your home! The list goes on. Of course, living in a city isn't all peaches and cream. It's not always a treat to live in such close proximity to our neighbors. For someone that doesn't have a parking spot but needs a car, things get a little dicey after 5pm in most neighborhoods. And [...]
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Jan 10

What’s in Store for an Old Industrial Building at 6th & Berks?

Categories: None

Jan, 10, 2019 | No Comments | South Kensington

A couple readers have reached out to us over the last few weeks, wondering about the old industrial building on the northwest corner of 6th & Berks. It's a little surprising we've never thought about this building in the past, as we've previously covered projects in this general area, including a barn-like home/studio space on the southeast corner of the intersection. That building is a picture of contemporary industrial chic, while its catty corner neighbor [...]
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Jan 09

Arbor House Makes a Statement on York Street

Categories: None

Jan, 09, 2019 | 6 Comments | Fishtown

Exteriors of new construction homes and condos are fairly predictable in Philadelphia in 2019. Standard new construction usually calls for brick facades, bay windows clad in metal, and vinyl siding in the rear. Higher end models usually get some stone on the first floor before moving onto bricks, a slightly more expensive material on the bays, and a swap of vinyl for the aforementioned metal cladding in the back. These architectural trends are commonly decried by people who [...]
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Jan 08

More Apartment Buildings Coming Soon on the 1500 Block of N. American?

Categories: None

Jan, 08, 2019 | 2 Comments | South Kensington

As we've told you many times before, N. American Street has generally retained its industrial character, even as South Kensington has experienced a residential boom on either side of the corridor. This stands in direct contrast to Washington Avenue, which is now (finally) on the cusp of making the transition from light industrial building supply haven to mixed-use connector of Graduate Hospital and Point Breeze. Despite its continued industrial nature, we're still seeing changes on [...]
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Jan 07

V2 Properties Making a Bet on a Little Pocket of North Philly

Categories: None

Jan, 07, 2019 | No Comments | Temple Area

While perusing the ZBA calendar for this week, we noticed hearings for 932 and 938 Edgley St., with plans calling for the construction of single family homes. The name of the street was familiar to us, though we couldn't place the block on the map, offhand. At first, we believed Edgley Street to be located in Manayunk, but a Google Maps query reminded us that Edgley Street can be found in North Philly, running on and [...]
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