Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - OCF Realty

Jun 05

What’s Up With the Vacant Lot at Front & Spring Garden?

Categories: None

Jun, 05, 2020 | No Comments | Northern Liberties

We were in the area recently (dropping off a mail-in ballot, if you must know), and we were pleased to see some nice progress on a new apartment building just north of Front & Spring Garden. A little more than three years ago, we told you that developers had purchased the little building at 614 N. Front St. and were planning to tear it down in favor of an apartment building. It took a little longer than [...]
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Jun 04

The Pavilion Casts a Sizable Shadow as HUP Steps Up Capacity

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Jun, 04, 2020 | No Comments | West Philly

Philadelphia is a first class city, home to several large corporations and a host of small businesses, but "Eds and Meds" are the biggest drivers of the local economy. The eds are the local colleges and universities, like Penn, Drexel, Temple, and University of the Arts, to name a few. The meds are the local hospitals, med schools, and health care systems, including HUP, Jefferson, CHOP, Temple (making a second appearance of sorts), Tower, and [...]
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Jun 03

Staggering Changes For the 1900 Block of N. Orianna

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Jun, 03, 2020 | No Comments | South Kensington

At this point, it's well worn territory that South Kensington has changed dramatically over the last several years. In its heyday, this neighborhood was part of a larger section of town known as the Workshop of the World, home to numerous factories which produced goods that were used locally and, uh, all over the world. But industry changed through the 20th century and American urban factories fell out of favor as production moved to less [...]
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Jun 01

New Building Coming Soon, Around the Corner From Jewelers Row

Categories: None

Jun, 01, 2020 | No Comments | Washington Square West

A reader reached out to us recently, wondering about some nearly completed demolition activity near the corner of 8th & Walnut. Needless to say, this is not an area that typically sees buildings get torn down, so our first assumption was that we were losing a wonderful historic structure. In reality? Not so much. In the past As anyone might expect, the north side of the 700 block of Walnut Street is quite historic, with buildings dating back [...]
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May 29

Sweet Renderings For Francisville Apartment Building

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May, 29, 2020 | No Comments | Francisville

About a month ago, we asked you to direct your gaze to 1723 Francis St., a sizable and handsome building at the intersection of Francis and Perkiomen Streets. As we told you then, the building was once known as the Tilden Home For Aged Couples, and was used for senior housing as far back at the late 1800s. As the years rolled along, it eventually became a rooming house. A little over a decade ago, a proposal [...]
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May 28

Homes Are Under Construction on Fernon Street, A Sign of Things to Come

Categories: None

May, 28, 2020 | No Comments | Point Breeze

Counterintuitively, the 2200 block of Fernon Street isn't visible from 22nd Street, thanks the the diagonal orientation of Point Breeze Avenue. Coming down Point Breeze Avenue, however, this block is quite obvious to anyone. The block particularly sticks out these days due to the three new construction homes currently under construction, all of which are rising on lots that were previously vacant. A fourth home is under construction closer to 23rd Street, where a third floor addition has [...]
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May 27

Funky Addition at Front & Susquehanna

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May, 27, 2020 | No Comments | South Kensington

We were making our way through East Kensington the other day and as we approached the Front Street from Susquehanna, we spied some construction activity just on the other side of the El. The construction in question was taking place at 100 W. Susquehanna Ave., a mixed use building that's had a variety of uses over the years. Per old zoning records, this building has been used as a drug store, a candy shop, a [...]
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May 26

A Storage Facility Appears on Swanson Street and For a Change This Makes Sense

Categories: None

May, 26, 2020 | No Comments | South Philly

A reader reached out the other day, wondering about a new building that appeared over the last several months on Swanson Street, in that weird industrial area behind the Columbus Commons shopping center. The property in question is 2351 S. Swanson St., a parcel that was home to an ink works back in the day. More recently, it looks like it was a Comcast warehouse for a time, and even more recently it was a transportation [...]
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May 22

Development Opportunity on Frankford Avenue?

Categories: None

May, 22, 2020 | No Comments | Fishtown

Back in the day (and by that we mean like ten years ago), things were radically different on the Frankford Avenue corridor than they are today. As the years have fallen off the calendar, Frankford Avenue has become one of the premier commercial corridors in Philadelphia, with an enviable mix of small businesses that make it a crucial aspect of life in the neighborhood and a destination for people who live elsewhere. A mere ten years [...]
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May 21

Sergeant Street Homes Shedding Their Skins After About a Decade

Categories: None

May, 21, 2020 | No Comments | Fishtown

For many decades, until around 2008, a pair of industrial buildings covered the property at 2304-18 E. Sergeant St., despite the fact that the immediate surrounding area is primarily residential. Given the industrial history of the neighborhood, this wasn't an unusual situation, but we nevertheless have to think that most neighbors would have preferred the sight of homes over the sight of these worn down structures. Even back in the mid-aughts, we imagine that at least a [...]
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