A reader emailed us recently, wondering about a tiered four-story building at 51st & Walnut. This huge property appears to be vacant, but would look wondrous if it could be restored.

The property

Rear of the building

The building, 5052-54 Walnut St., was acquired for just $5,000 back in 1995, according to public record. At the time of the transaction, the sale remarks were “poor condition.” So it seems that the building has been in rough shape for quite some time. Despite the fact that the property is in such deplorable condition, the owners have generally kept the taxes up to date, though there are taxes owed from 2011 and 2013. With annual tax bills exceeding $3,000 and the property clearly not producing any income, one wonders why the owners have continued to hold onto it.

The property has active violations for structural problems, lack of a vacant property license, and too much trash in and around the building. None of these violations have been resolved. One that hasn’t come up yet but probably should is a Doors & Windows violation, which would either result in the rear of the property getting properly sealed or piling up fines that encourage the owners to sell the property off. The building should be renovated, as it has some of the local Victorian flare and its own character with tiered porches. And looking at the rest of the block, this building stands out both architecturally and in the sense that it’s in much worse shape than all the other buildings.

Most of the rest of the block is intact

A block north of here, the Vineyard Community Church (VCC) is working on their new community worship center at a former second responders fire building at 51st & Sansom. And there are plans for the old West Philly High School at 47th & Walnut to be converted into market-rate apartments with ground-floor retail. Perhaps once VCC moves in, it will attract some new attention to this building, and either the current owners or some new ones will bring it back to life.

–Lou Mancinelli