In Hawthorne

We were so excited to attend the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition meeting last November where developer Bart Blatstein presented his plans for the long-vacant lot at the northeast corner of Broad & Washington. We can't say we expected the project would be in the ground by now, but we were at least hopeful.

Today, a couple of readers reached out with a heads up that a fence had appeared in front of 711 S. 12th St., home to New Hope Temple Baptist Church since 1936. The building actually dates back to 1893, when it was built as the Twelfth Street Baptish Church. With

Three years ago, we wondered about a shed on the 1200 block of Fitzwater Street, next door to the Hawthorne Lofts. The condo building next door, remember, was once a school that was converted into low-income housing in the 1980s. The Rufo Company converted the property into market-rate condos a

13th & South has been on our mind for years. Back in the summer of 2012, we first brought the property to your attention, pondering the absurdity of a huge vacant lot on such a prominent corner. So last summer, we were particularly jazzed to share news that the parcel

Regular readers know that we've had a bee in our bonnet over Broad & Washington for years. And who wouldn't, really? Two of the largest streets near Center City intersect, and two of the four corners are huge vacant eyesores. In 2008, it looked like a developer was finally going

Over three years ago, we wrote about the 13th & South intersection, hoping for change for the two southern corners. Slowly, over the last year, we've learned about plans for the Residence at Twelve40 and Katertown, two adjacent projects on the southeast corner which will eventually mean twenty-one new condo

We're generally peeved about large vacant lots in prominent locations. Broad & Washington (two lots!) drives us nuts. We're annoyed about the large triangular lot at 19th & Wylie in Francisville. And the vacant lot at 13th & South has raised our ire for years.The lotBut ah, when those lots

In real estate, we always talk about location, location, location. Sometimes it seems though, that traditional maxim goes out the window. Sometimes the big picture of a location trumps the small details about the location. And such is clearly the case with the Parke Place Townhomes on the 1300 blocks

In the spring, we burst everyone's bubble when we reported that a Wegman's seemed less than likely to appear in a planned commercial development on the northeast corner of Broad & Washington. In case you don't recall, this was Tower's proposed plan for the long-vacant, extremely depressing lot at the bottom

Heading across town over the weekend, we passed by the building that was previously home to Hawthorne's before a fire this past winter closed the business temporarily. When we last visited this site, we were concerned (with the obvious caveat that we're not engineers) that the building might not survive