We saw a guy working on a red stucco building on the southeast corner of 2nd & Master the other day, and figured there may be something going on at this location in the near future. Looking more closely, we noticed a couple of building permits posted on one of the doors.

In the past

Recent shot

Previously, according to this thread on Philadelphia Speaks, this was the location of the El Presidente bar, an establishment that was quite a headache for near neighbors. As you can see comparing the photos above, the building looked pretty terrible back in 2009, with many boarded up windows and ivy growing up one of the walls. The exterior of the building has now been repaired, the windows replaced, and the ivy removed, and the building is looking really red these days.

Hey, at least they preserved the cornice!

As for what’s going into this location, nobody really knows. Will it simply be a reincarnation of the previous bar that made it’s home here for years, or will it be something new and exciting? Considering the Crane Building is just a block away, and numerous residential development projects are getting off the ground within a few blocks as well, this would seem to be a dynamite location for a new neighborhood watering hole. We’ll keep our eyes open and see what materializes…