Naked Philly Blog Posts Archive - Page 6 of 606 - OCF Realty

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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Feb 26

Hammer & String Mews Are Some of the Fishier Homes We’ve Seen

Categories: None

Feb, 26, 2019 | 2 Comments | Brewerytown

At 1305 N. 27th St. there was once an industrial building which contained a leather business back in the early 1900s, according to a historic map. More recently though, as Brewerytown went through some incredibly difficult years, the sizable property was sitting vacant and unused, like so many other properties in the neighborhood. Even more recently, as the neighborhood has seen a wave of redevelopment, this property surely caught the eyes of numerous developers, eventually selling a [...]
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Feb 25

Hundreds of Units Will Appear Next to Quaker Building on Poplar

Categories: None

Feb, 25, 2019 | 7 Comments | West Poplar

If you stand at 8th & Poplar, the first thing you'll notice is the Quaker building, an old warehouse originally built for Strawbridge & Clothier in 1918, just a block to your the west. The building not only catches the eye because of its size, but also because of its poor condition, with the windows boarded up and the facade covered in graffiti. Fortunately, this building is on its way toward redevelopment into a project called "The [...]
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Feb 22

Spot Zoning Might Be the Last Hope for Saint Laurentius Church

Categories: None

Feb, 22, 2019 | 5 Comments | Fishtown

If you read this blog with any regularity, you're probably at least generally familiar with the concept of zoning. But for any first timers out there, please allow us to provide a very basic bit of background. Every property in Philadelphia has an underlying zoning designation that dictates what its owner is permitted do with said property. The vast majority of properties are zoned residential, commercial, or industrial, a concept that you're probably familiar with [...]
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Feb 21

Another Apartment Building Coming to the 1600 Block of PB Avenue

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Feb, 21, 2019 | 5 Comments | Point Breeze

The diagonal Point Breeze Avenue was once the commercial heart of the Point Breeze neighborhood, allowing residents to shop for most of their needs without straying too far from home. Like the rest of the neighborhood, the corridor fell on very tough times over the second half of the 20th century, as businesses moved away or closed forever and many buildings sat vacant and eventually crumbled as the years rolled along. Vacant buildings and lots remain [...]
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Feb 20

Development Opportunity Among Mansions Near Temple University?

Categories: None

Feb, 20, 2019 | 1 Comment | Temple Area

In the years just before the founding of the school that would eventually be known as Temple University, wealthy Philadelphians were building spectacular mansions for themselves in the neighborhood which Temple would eventually come to occupy. While the greatest homes were probably located on North Broad Street, there were some pretty amazing homes constructed off Broad as well, with several located on the 1500 block of N. 16th Street. The Disston House at 1530 N. 16th [...]
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Feb 18

Delorean Time Machine: Inolex Chemical Complex

Categories: None

Feb, 18, 2019 | 3 Comments | South Philly

Many Philadelphians take the nameless shopping district along the southern part of the city’s Delaware waterfront for granted even through the auto-oriented area of strip malls and big-box stores feels more like the Northeast than South Philly. Nonetheless, the vestiges of the area’s industrial roots are visible in all directions-- the massive old industrial warehouses; some still in warehouse use, others repurposed as self-storage, strip clubs, retail stores, and a legendary wrestling venue. While some old industrial concerns [...]
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Feb 14

Former Carpet Mill Getting Converted on E. Huntingdon Street

Categories: None

Feb, 14, 2019 | 5 Comments | East Kensington

As we've reminded you on numerous occasions, Kensington was once known as the Workshop of the World, producing all kinds of stuff, from hats to chairs, dyes to toxic chemicals. As a result, the neighborhoods in the River Wards are a mix of homes which housed the factory workers and the factories which employed said workers. As times have changed and industry has largely left Philadelphia for greener and lower taxed pastures, we've predictably seen dramatic [...]
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Feb 13

High End Triangular Home is Under Construction on Francis Street

Categories: None

Feb, 13, 2019 | 1 Comment | Francisville

Traditionally, 1802 Francis St. was used as a side yard for 1804 Francis St., the home next door. It was well maintained, fenced-in, landscaped, and an old listing indicates that it was also used as a small garden. When the owners of the home at 1804 decided to sell last year, they made the decision to sell their home to a person looking for a place to live, and to sell their yard to a developer. [...]
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Feb 12

More Townhomes Are Coming to the Delaware Waterfront

Categories: None

Feb, 12, 2019 | 10 Comments | Fishtown

Ask ten people and you'll probably get ten opinions on what to do with the Delaware River waterfront. Historically, the Delaware was the center of commerce for Philadelphia, bringing goods in, shipping goods out, and providing countless jobs in this endeavor. As times have changed and shipping has become less of a thing in this town, the waterfront has undergone a massive transformation, and currently accommodates a mishmash of uses, including shopping centers, public space, [...]
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