In West Philly, a trench laden with railroad tracks separates the Mantua and Parkside neighborhoods. Some north-south streets, like 40th Street, pass over the tracks. Others, like 39th Street, stop in Mantua and pick up again in Parkside. 41st Street stands alone in that it once allowed travel between the

Amazingly, it's been almost a year since we last checked in on the huge CHOP project on Schuylkill Avenue. At that time, the former Springfield Beer Distributor air hangar was in the process of being demolished and the former JFK Vocational School was next on the, ahem, "chopping" block. The

For the thirsty hordes that typically descend on Manayunk every weekend, a project currently under construction has slightly diminished the parking options. Previously, 4304 Cresson St. was a parking garage. Considering its location underneath the rail tracks, this seemed like an extremely reasonable use for this big old building. Incidentally,

As we've said ad nauseum, the East Girard Avenue corridor continues to improve. Some of that improvement is coming in the form of new construction, like the still-newish building at Shackamaxon Street with five apartments and a Palm Tree Market. Or the building planned at Crease Street which we just

At 7th & Berks, we told you last week about plans for nine triplexes, ostensibly targeting Temple students. A commenter was kind enough to direct our attention one block to the east, to 6th & Berks, where a long-vacant lot is now home to a new foundation.In the pastCurrent viewNaturally,

Developers have been working since this past winter, trying to get approval for their plans to transform a vacant East Girard lot at 1142 Crease St., only two blocks beyond Frankford Avenue. They reappeared before the Fishtown Neighbors Association in early July, and got support for their plans to build

Recently, we heard from a reader, wondering about the former church at the corner of 12th & Lombard. They noticed that the planters have disappeared and there's a lockbox on the door.Former churchView from another angleThe building was previously home to the Saint Peter Claver Center for Evangelization until the

A couple years back, we predicted that two large projects, Liberty Square and Soko Lofts, would transform the South Kensington neighborhood and bring new attention to an area that teemed with potential. After a lengthy delay, Liberty Square finally got moving in December, but progress has been slow. And the Soko

The Exchange Lofts building at 17th & Poplar is one of our favorites around town. The property was designed by architect John Torrey Windrim as a Bell Telephone Company exchange (see what they did there?) but sat vacant and deteriorating for several years. Thankfully, developers purchased the handsome structure in 2007 and

It's been over two years since we first shared the news that the former Saint John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, located on the northwest corner of 3rd & Reed, would be demolished in favor of twelve townhomes. The beautiful church had stood for over 120 years and was brought down in about a