With the weather taking a turn for the warmer (at last!), we find that we're spending a little more time outside, enjoying public spaces. Schuylkill River Park is one of the better ones in Center City, with a big dog park, basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, and a connection to the Schuylkill River Trail. At 26th & Panama, across the street from the tennis courts, we recently came upon a project that's frozen in time- demolition has been done but construction hasn't started.
Developers have demolished a home on 26th Street, a home on Panama Street, and a walled-in patio space at the corner. Last year, they appeared before CCRA with plans for three new homes, from what we can tell, each with two-car parking. According to representatives from the community group, the project met with some resistance from near neighbors, ostensibly due to height and open area issues. CCRA expected that the developers would come back to the community after their attorney asked for a continuance from the ZBA, but now it seems that the developers will be pursuing a by-right project. We're pretty sure they also own the three homes at the corner of 26th & Pine, and it's unclear whether they will remain or get torn down as well.
You'd be hard pressed to find a more attractive address in town, so it's clear that whatever gets built here will be extremely expensive and extremely attractive to buyers with much deeper pockets than us. But until that happens, there's a fenced-in vacant lot at this corner. We'll be interested to see what eventually fills it in- and we'll be similarly interested to see how long it takes to happen.