In Old City

A little less than two years ago, we brought your attention to 107 Callowhill St., a t-shaped lot close to an I-95 onramp. The lot was understandably neglected given its location, but the redevelopment plans made some sense when you consider the construction activity in recent years just a couple

Old City is great. It's where America was born! The architecture is wonderful. The stores are plentiful and adorable. There's like a million coffee shops. First Friday is always a good choice. And on a Saturday night in some establishments, it's like visiting New Jersey without having to pay a toll.The

In Old City, surface parking lots can be found all over the neighborhood and they're probably a necessity with all the tourists that come through on a daily basis. But that doesn't mean we have to like them and it especially doesn't mean we're sad to see them disappear. Over

In recent months, we've told you about a few Old City surface parking lots going the way of the dinosaurs, getting replaced with mansions. On Arch Street and Church Street, construction is well underway. On Race Street, another project should get moving pretty soon. Recently, a thread on Philadelphia Speaks

For years, we knew what Old City was about. First Friday. Our city's history. Attractive residential conversions of former factories. Great restaurants. The occasional confounding blighted property in the middle of a block. Restaurant equipment. Bros behaving badly on weekends.New mansions haven't been part of the equation in Old City

It wasn't so long ago that the 3rd & Market intersection had the same campy look it had possessed for years. On the northeast corner was the gaudy Shirt Corner. And the slightly less gaudy but still ridiculous Suit Corner held down the southwest corner. And we liked it that

Over the last several months, a new four-story building has appeared on the 100 block of Race Street. This quadplex, which has been dubbed Race Street Square, is replacing a surface parking lot at 138 Race St. that was previously associated with the building next door. Since cars had to

In the spring, we told you of plans for a sixteen-unit building on a vacant lot in Old City, north of the Ben Franklin Bridge. So when a reader checked in over the weekend, sharing news that a new hole had appeared on 2nd Street north of the bridge, we

Despite a great run of redevelopment in the last fifteen years or so, Philadelphia still has its share of prominent vacant lots. The northeast corner of 15th & Chesnut, which could become a hotel, stands as one example. Broad & Washington, both the northwest and northeast corners, is another one.

The southwest corner of 3rd & Chestnut falls right in the heart of Philadelphia’s tourist-friendly historic district.  And like much in the surrounding area, this corner has seen its fair share of change over the years.  The earliest available records, from Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, tells us that 300 Chestnut St. was