Last week, we told you about the ongoing renovation and expansion at the Hard Rock Cafe on Market Street, next to the Reading Reading Terminal Market. Directly across the street is a vacant commercial space that's been empty now for a couple of years, since sports bar Champps closed a couple of

Six weeks ago, we told you about excavations in preparation for two new foundations on the 2000 block of Ellsworth Street. These lots, in the middle of a block that's seen plenty of new construction and rehabbing in the past few years, had sat vacant for many moons.

We swung by

Speaking of Annin Street, a construction site caught our eye the other day when we were in the Passyunk Square neighborhood. 600 Annin St. was a vacant lot for awhile, and now a new house is rising at this address.

This particular block of Annin dead ends halfway down the block

Across the street from a somewhat controversial lot-turned-garden, fencing went up around another long-vacant lot a few weeks ago, ostensibly in preparation for new construction. As you may have supposed from the signs that are up on the fence, this project will come from OCF Holdings, a sister company of

We were in the neighborhood the other week and spotted a zoning notice on the extremely vacant 1600 block of Master Street. Peering in for a closer look, it became clear that new student housing, seemingly everywhere in this area, would not be on the agenda for this location.

Looking at

A couple of weeks ago, 2327 Ellsworth St., an occupied home in Point Breeze, collapsed. Remarkably and thankfully, no one was injured, even though a few people were inside when this occurred.

Within a few days, the remnants of the home were torn down by the City and according to several

If you've passed by 22nd and Catharine Streets any time recently, you've surely noticed that change is afoot at this corner. As we told you about a few months back, SOSNA has spearheaded an effort to transform a fenced-in corner lot into an attractive little public green space called Catharine Park. Local

Last fall, pizzaman Joe Beddia was hoping to bring a new pizza place to the corner of 4th and Poplar in Northern Liberties, replacing the shuttered Almanac Market. But the neighbors said "no thanks," and Beddia's plan was shot down. Instead, Cafe Chismosa, a Latin-type cafe took over the space, opening

Last November, we brought 538 Federal St., a former Peco substation, to your attention. At that time, we'd discovered crews working inside the building, doing some interior demolition work. Since then, however, all's been quiet at this attractive old building on the corner of 6th & Federal.

A reader recently gave

Appropriate for a neighborhood that's seen more than its share of new construction and renovation in the last several years, Simple Kitchen and Bath recently opened its doors in a warehouse on North 3rd Street. As you might suspect, this new business makes its hay designing custom kitchens and bathrooms, and