The Edward Corner building at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Shackamaxon Street has sat empty for as long as we can remember, a blighted link to the area’s industrial past. Back in 2010, plans came and went to renovate the building and put a diner on the first floor. A couple years ago, we learned that Core Realty had a plan to demolish the building and build a large mixed-use project in its place. A combination of community opposition and historic designation scuttled that idea. Last fall, we got details on a by-right plan to renovate the Edward Corner building into something mixed-use in conjunction with a larger mixed-use building next door with 170 units and a rock gym.

This seemed like a pretty good outcome and we assumed we’d revisit the project at some point during the construction process. But alas, here we are covering this property again before groundbreaking has taken place. So what gives?

According to Plan Philly, the Edward Corner building is in worse shape than anyone realized. Core Realty is arguing that the building is in such poor condition that simply renovating the 150 year old structure isn’t financially feasible. As such, they applied to the Historical Commission’s Committee on Financial Hardship with a proposal to defray the renovation costs. In short, they’re looking to add three stories and fifteen apartments to the existing structure on top of the existing structure. The income from these units would, over time, make up for the extra costs on the front end.

Despite the fact that Core has owned the property for many years and has had some role in allowing the building to degrade to its current condition, the committee accepted their hardship application, paving the way for this effort. From a big picture perspective, this is great news as it will ensure the preservation of this wonderful building and its ghost signs.

That being said, we don’t know that we’re in love with the architecture for the addition. We get the idea of going with something contemporary and clearly different from the existing building, but we might like it better if the addition had just a little of its own personality and didn’t seem like it was going out of its way to blandly defer to the three stories underneath. Maybe seeing if we saw the revised Edward Corner building in the context of the rendered buildings that are coming next door, we might feel differently, but we have no idea when or if those images will become available.

What do you think?