In East Kensington

The corner where E. York Street hits Jasper Street has been vacant for decades. Until quite recently though, this felt quite natural, as the surrounding blocks were chock full of vacant lots, some of them measuring well over an acre in size. Slowly but surely though, development from Fishtown has tracked
Read MoreDuplexes Under Construction on Howard Street, Beyond Cumberland
27 December, 2019 | No Comments | East Kensington
As Northern Liberties development spilled over to Fishtown and as Fishtown development spilled over to East and South Kensington, the trend is continuing as development is slowly pushing further into North Philadelphia as investors look for the next hot neighborhood. Perhaps Norris Square will be that neighborhood and in the coming years
Read More
From the late 1800s through the early decades of the 20th century, the triangular parcel bounded by Front Street, Jasper Street, and York Street was home to several buildings associated with the Bromley Carpet Factory. This made sense, since this part of town was then known as the Workshop of the
Read More
Trenton Avenue is a bit of an oddity in the Fishtown/East Kensington area, ostensibly due to its unusual history. The street was originally laid out as a railroad line which went all the way to Trenton, hence the name. The line started (or ended, depending on where you were coming from)
Read More
The two industrial buildings at 2139 E. Huntingdon St. were originally home to the Franklin Carpet Mill and were built during a time that the surrounding neighborhood produced goods in countless factories in every direction. The property is on the National Historic Register, and its nomination shows that the three story building
Read More
It's pretty much impossible for us to imagine what life was like a hundred fifty years ago, fond as we are of indoor plumbing and electricity, let alone our smartphone. But alas, back in 1865, people didn't have toilets or light bulbs or supercomputers in their pockets, and things were just
Read More
The property at 2009 E. Susquehanna Ave. has gone through some significant changes over the last few years, but then again, you could say the same about countless other properties in this part of town. A building stood here until 2016, sitting vacant and blighted. It traded at sheriff's sale a few
Read More
East Kensington has flourished over the last several years, mostly because it's directly adjacent to Fishtown, and its lighter home prices have attracted buyers that want to live in this part of town on a lower budget. After years of disinvestment thanks to the departure of industry, there was a considerable
Read More
Developers prefer to build homes on lots that are at least sixteen feet wide, but we live in an imperfect world. A narrower home often means a reduced sale price, but assuming the purchase price is correspondingly lessened, developers will still look to buy and build on skinnier lots. When East
Read MoreFormer Carpet Mill Getting Converted on E. Huntingdon Street
14 February, 2019 | No Comments | East Kensington
As we've reminded you on numerous occasions, Kensington was once known as the Workshop of the World, producing all kinds of stuff, from hats to chairs, dyes to toxic chemicals. As a result, the neighborhoods in the River Wards are a mix of homes which housed the factory workers and the
Read More