Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - Page 6 of 613 - OCF Realty

Jul 03

Long Overdue, Spruce and Pine Streets Getting Repaved in Center City

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Jul, 03, 2019 | No Comments | Rittenhouse

For reasons we can't begin to get into here, the budgets for the City of Philadelphia experienced severe shortfalls during the early part of this decade, resulting in various cuts. The Streets Department was not immune to those cuts, and one result was a dramatic reduction in street paving activity. Per a story from Philly Voice, national standards would have Philadelphia resurface 131 miles of roads per year. We were getting to maybe 25% of that number for [...]
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Jul 02

New Building at 20th & Spring Garden Will Fit In With Its Surroundings, Mostly

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Jul, 02, 2019 | No Comments | Logan Square

There are over a dozen historic districts in Philadelphia, most of which are centered around a collection of buildings whose architecture makes them worthy of designation. But there are always stragglers in each district which don't clear the historic bar, generally because they are new compared to their neighbors or they're of a similar age but have been altered beyond recognition. Those buildings are considered "non-contributing" buildings within a historic district, and these structures are afforded considerably [...]
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Jul 01

Good Shepherd Community Church Likely Sticking Around, After All

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Jul, 01, 2019 | No Comments | West Philly

It was just a few months ago that we directed your attention to the Good Shepherd Community Church building at 314 S. 46th St., noting that the church was moving on from its longtime home and that developers had the property under agreement. This is an incredibly common story in Philadelphia in 2019, especially in neighborhoods where population shifts have resulted in diminished congregations and increased property values. We told you that the developers intended to demolish the [...]
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Jun 28

Coming Soon to 43rd & Chestnut: The Next LVL

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Jun, 28, 2019 | No Comments | West Philly

It wasn't so many years ago that Penn students seeking to live close to campus had a very limited number of options that ranged from dorms to off-campus apartments that hadn't been renovated in a generation. Times have changed, and it's been quite dramatic. Developers have built countless duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and the like to the north and west of campus, radically changing numerous blocks in Spruce Hill, Walnut Hill, and Cedar Park. Closer to [...]
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Jun 27

Two Homes Under Construction Next to Mifflin Square

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Jun, 27, 2019 | No Comments | South Philly

Frangelli's Bakery opened at the corner of 9th & Jackson in 1947, moving to the corner of 9th & Ritner in 1994. In case you've never heard of this amazing place, they make delicious donuts, and their most recent creation is the Franolli, a donut/cannoli hybrid. It's a little spot which you could easily miss, but now you know it exists and you have no excuse not to go check it out. Plus, if you [...]
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Jun 26

Hahnemann is Closing – Now What?

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Jun, 26, 2019 | No Comments | Logan Square

Hahnemann University Hospital was founded in 1848, and according to a Philly.com report that came out this morning, it will be closing in 2019. We are sorry to say that we predicted that this might happen a little under two years ago. At that time, an investor group had a deal in place to purchase Hahnemann and Saint Christopher’s Children’s Hospital for $170M after both hospitals underperformed during two decades of Tenet ownership. When the deal was struck, Hahnemann was losing money to [...]
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Jun 24

19th & Brown is Trading Body Shop for an Apartment Building

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Jun, 24, 2019 | 1 Comment | Francisville

For as long as we can remember, 808 N. 19th St. has been home to an auto garage, the misleadingly named Girard Body Shop. Of course, the auto-centric use dates back to at least the 1940s, much further back than we can remember. Interestingly, it seems the property hasn't been used for residential purposes at any point, as it was used as a livery stable way back when, before cars were a thing. If you [...]
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Jun 21

Juniper & Sansom Intersection Reopens After a Year of Repairs

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Jun, 21, 2019 | 4 Comments | Market East

If you're ever driving through Center City on Chestnut Street and you encounter traffic (so most of the time), a pro move is to take a detour down Juniper Street and drive south until you reach some more manageable traffic patterns. That's been our strategy for years, but it has been unavailable to us since July 3rd of last year when a water main broke at the intersection of Juniper & Sansom. This shut down [...]
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Jun 20

Freeman’s Auction House Will Turn Into a 20 Story Building

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Jun, 20, 2019 | 5 Comments | Rittenhouse

There are many people out there that believe in the virtue of architectural homogeneity, either from an aesthetic point of view or as a thinly veiled tool to push back against gentrification. To the former point, we can appreciate the perspective. The only thing better than one awesome building is a row of awesome buildings that look the same. Case in point, the 4700 block of Chestnut Street. As far as the latter point goes, we agree that three [...]
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Jun 18

On 7th Street, South Kensington Development Stretches Past Susquehanna

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Jun, 18, 2019 | 2 Comments | South Kensington

Development abounds all over South Kensington, with projects large and small dramatically changing the landscape in a neighborhood that's still emerging from a post-industrial hangover. As developers continue to buy up vacant land in the neighborhood as ever escalating prices, we're seeing the natural progression of builders pushing the boundaries to find more lots at lower prices. This is done with the understanding that projects farther north and west will result in lower sale prices and rental [...]
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