In Bella Vista

As we've mentioned in the past, the Philadelphia Department of Public Property is selling off a small number of individual lots and vacant buildings owned by different city departments. One such lot, 1121 Catharine St., was purchased about a year ago for $65,100 by Metro Titan Acquisitions.

The lot had some

We were heading north on 13th St. the other day and this construction site at 13th and Kater Sts. caught our eye. We shouldn't have been surprised- there's a ton of development activity in the immediate area, with a few new construction sites popping up recently. In recent weeks, we've

For years, 1300 South St. served as a spot for getting inked. South Street Tattoo opened its doors here in 1987, and shuttered them sometime in the past few years, closing for good after switching tattooed hands. A 1997 City Paper article quotes the shop's owner, Sonny Tufts, as giving

We've gotten numerous emails about 1318 South St., a double-wide building currently under construction that looks different from just about every other building in the neighborhood.

The developers, Michael and Mario Carosella, own C&R Building Supply, and have gotten some (virtual) ink on our site for their upcoming project at 18th and

For years, we've stared at a vacant lot, yawning in its vastness and surprising for its location, just south of the corner of 7th and Bainbridge Sts. This nearly 6000 sqft. lot was in the same family for decades, and we seem to remember some dilapidated buildings being torn down

In June, we talked about a construction project on the 1200 block of Bainbridge St., an apparent rehab of a former plant store. In our original story, we speculated that the builders were keeping the existing building's facade and building above it.

From what we've seen in the intervening months, the

A few months ago, we reported on Bella Vista's Triangle Park, it seems that the Friends of Triangle
Park are could be a step closer to acquiring this small pocket of real estate and keeping it as the garden they've worked to create. The large 'For Sale' sign has come down,

The intersection of 6th and Fitzwater Sts. was a dark one for awhile, but its been brightened up recently by a new hair salon.

The Philadelphia Hair Studio, owned by Michael Esposito, has put the finishing touches on its tasteful space at 744 S. 6th Street and is open for business.

Today, we snagged a delicious lunch at Paesano's and were reminded of a rather large empty lot in the middle of the Italian Market, just south of Carpenter St., on the east side of the street.

The address of this lot is 1009-11 S 9th St., and it's been vacant for

Located on the northeast corner of 11th and Montrose Sts., the former home of the South Philadelphia State Bank is a total mystery to us.

The building itself is pretty large, sitting on a lot that covers over 2,600 sqft, with 31' of frontage on 11th st. We haven't been able