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In case you're unaware, the southwest corner of 8th & Market is a surface parking lot. Has been for decades, actually. Historically, this was the address of the Gimbels department store, which started operating on this block in the late 1800s, and by 1927 occupied a collection of handsome buildings that sold all manner of goods, with a focus on middle class customers. Needless to say, they don't build buildings like this anymore. Maybe 40 years ago In [...]
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Market East should be one of the most vibrant and desirable neighborhoods in Philadelphia. With its location in the heart of downtown, everyone should want to live there- but that hasn't really been the case, historically. We don't know that we can pin down exactly why Market East has lagged behind just about every other Center City neighborhood, but we can definitely point to signs that the area is emerging from its slumber, and with a [...]
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Conventional wisdom says that small lots and tall buildings don't mix. But in the last decade or so, there's been a shift in thinking as land has become increasingly valuable while rents and sale prices have continued to climb. New York has seen a number of skinny buildings rise in recent years, with buildings sporting heretofore unprecedented slenderness ratios now dotting the skyline. Now, in true Philadelphia fashion, we are starting to catch onto this trend, albeit [...]
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Center City is set to lose another low rise parking garage, and this time it's the unexciting two-story structure at 123 S. 12th St. that's on the outs. This isn't the first time we're bringing this building to your attention though - remember about two and a half years ago, we told you that Brickstone Companies had purchased this property and were considering their options to add to their portfolio of Market East projects. At that [...]
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If you're ever driving through Center City on Chestnut Street and you encounter traffic (so most of the time), a pro move is to take a detour down Juniper Street and drive south until you reach some more manageable traffic patterns. That's been our strategy for years, but it has been unavailable to us since July 3rd of last year when a water main broke at the intersection of Juniper & Sansom. This shut down [...]
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Surprisingly little ink has been spilled regarding 1101 Chestnut St., a monolithic, beige colored structure that covers the entire north side of the block. If you think about it you can probably figure out that this building houses a parking garage on its upper floors, joining a collection of retail tenants on the first floor. It was constructed during the first couple years of World War II by the Chestnut Street Association, designed by Ballinger, and it originally housed an annex [...]
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Like a vestige from another time and place, a one-story Wendy’s sits on a skyscraper-zoned plot of land in Center City, on the northwest corner of 11th & Walnut. How in the world did this happen? Believe it or not, the building was not built as a Wendy’s and it wasn't built all that long ago. In 1967, developer Keefler & Kessler Associates acquired a 19th century commercial building that was in use as a 27-unit rooming house, [...]
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As the name suggests, Parkway Corporation is in the parking business. They don't own all the parking lots in Center City, but they own or operate at least a couple dozen lots or garages around town, so if you've got a car then you've probably given them some of your money somewhere along the line. But Parkway isn't just in the parking business, they're also in the development business. We can think of several examples [...]
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Looking back on our childhood, we hated going to I. Goldberg. A trip to Goldberg's meant it was time for a new jacket or a new backpack or a tent for a family camping trip, and shopping in general was no fun back then. Years later, we remember meandering through the aisles at I. Goldberg, admiring military jackets we weren't cool enough to wear and wondering why anybody would purchase an old gas mask or a [...]
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Market East was a commercial center in Philadelphia in the early part of the 20th century, but as the decades rolled along, increased competition from the suburbs and other factors resulted in a diminished status for this shopping district. The Gallery opened its doors in 1977, in an effort to beat back this phenomenon, creating a suburban shopping experience in an urban setting. And people were really into it! The first phase of the mall [...]
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