In Northern Liberties

Parking surely tightened up in Northern Liberties a few months ago, when the parking lot east of the Piazza and south of the Shops at Schmidt’s closed to the public. At the time, we had no idea what was going on with this property, but we had a couple of theories. We

There are countless homes under construction around Philadelphia at any given time, and in an effort to avoid driving ourselves crazy, we try to limit our coverage of one-off projects. Simply put, there's usually not a whole lot to be said about a single family home getting built on a random lot

For Northern Liberties residents, the large vacant lot just south of 2nd & Girard has surely been a source of frustration for many years. And those that aren't annoyed by the vacant lot have surely at least experienced some aggravation from the blighted building right at the corner. For many people, especially

In a city full of architectural curiosities, the log cabin at 872 N. Lawrence St. is one of the more unusual and unexpected buildings you'll see. We've wondered about it for many years, confused about how a home fit for Abraham Lincoln landed on this Northern Liberties corner. Now, thanks

There's a building on the east side of the 600 block of N. Front St. that's sitting, looking rather lonely, in the middle of a sea of surface parking. We've called your attention to this structure a couple times over the years, first noting that it was listed for sale

If you've eaten a burger in a Philadelphia restaurant, there's a decent chance that said burger originated at George L. Wells Meat Company. Wells is a meat, poultry, and seafood purveyor, and they've been doing their thing for over a century. As far as we can tell, they've operated their business out

It was maybe half a year ago that we spied some workers doing what looked like ground testing at 1102 N. 2nd St., and it got us wondering whether this large and curiously ignored parcel in Northern Liberties could soon get developed. We explained that the property was owned by Tower

721 N. 2nd St. has been used as an auto garage specializing in European cars for as long as we can remember, surely for longer than the decade than we can see in Google Maps Street View. Once upon a time, back when there was very little retail activity on this

As recently as fifteen, twenty years ago, it made sense that J.T. Riley Lumber Co. was located at 3rd & Girard. Northern Liberties was on the upswing, but still maintained many traces of its industrial past. Girard Avenue was a major barrier, with South Kensington effectively considered the "wrong side of the (trolley) tracks." Now

As Northern Liberties continues to trend upward (in terms of prices and retail diversity), it's a little curious that two prominent and enormous parcels remain vacant on the northern side of the neighborhood. Half a year ago, we wondered whether something might be happening with the large triangular lot bordered by Girard, 2nd Street, and