We’ve said it before, but there is nothing quite like getting out on foot to truly experience the goings on in the city. Even familiar areas can be seen with new eyes when out for a stroll, which is exactly what occurred the other day at 27 N. 3rd St. in the heart of Old City. This gorgeous, historically protected building was originally the Manufacturers National Bank, which moved from 3rd & Vine to its new location in 1870. This structure was built by Fraser, Furness & Hewitt and thankfully stands today much as it did 154 years ago. A look at the sturdy facade of 27 N. 3rd St., w ..read more

Bella Vista translates to “beautiful view,” and it’s abundantly clear to see why the neighborhood is named this when strolling through on a brilliant spring day. With the tree buds still exploding into their chartreuse glory, the neighborhood is indeed as pretty as a picture. This picture, at 825 Bainbridge St., focuses on a 15-unit condo project that we visited almost exactly one year ago. As we made our way toward Palumbo Recreation Center down the block, we paused to take in the sight. Looking NW at 825 Bainbridge St. Previously home to the studio of muralist Meg Saligman, the propert ..read more

Whether you deem it Northern Liberties or Fishtown, we should all be able to agree at this juncture that the parking lots around Rivers Casino are a suboptimal use of space. These huge swathes of surface parking are never close to full, while also creating a pretty big chasm in the streetscape and pedestrian experience. But at 933 N. Penn St., tucked between the casino and the Waterfront Square towers to the south, things are thankfully looking up. An aerial of the greater Rivers Casino area, with 933 N. Penn conveniently identified While we first stopped by here all the way back in 2012 ..read more

Marshall St. in Northern Liberties has seen a wild transformation on the blocks between Girard Ave. and Poplar St. over the last decade. We visited this stretch in 2014, when the former commercial strip was seeing signs of redevelopment after years of disinvestment. When we returned in the summer of 2021, the scene was barely recognizable, with new homes and apartments rising everywhere. However, 949 N. Marshall St. remained steadfast in its 1980’s, one-story glory at the time. But if you head to the same spot in April 2024, yet another round of change has taken place along this reimagined c ..read more

The Keystone Mill has stood at 201 Leverington Ave. since 1887, when the shoddy mill – which was not poorly built, but manufactured rough wool from old fabric and rags – was built for the Johnston family (Fun fact: the original home for the family’s mill was at the SE corner of 20th & Washington – OCF Realty’s current HQ). After a good run manufacturing this cheaper alternative to the tariff-laden foreign fabrics, the building changed hands several times, serving a number of industrial purposes over the years, most recently as Trent, Inc., an electric heating company that closed in March ..read more

It has been slightly over two years since we were at the NW corner of 13th & Bainbridge, when we told you about enlarged plans for a project that was slated to rise on a vacant lot. After plenty of back and forth, this city-owned parcel was finally approved to move forward with a 99-year ground lease, allowing for 45 units to rise here across four stories. While we do love our green spaces, this “park” seemed like it would be much more useful as housing in such a central location. The empty lot at the NW corner of 13th & Bainbridge a couple years back An aerial of the proposal fo ..read more

Rittenhouse Square is jam-packed with amazing architecture, with the stately Boyd’s building at 1818 Chestnut St. serving as an amazing example of the area’s offerings. This grand clothing store has been operating here for nearly a century, serving as a vestige of the shopping habits of years past, hearkening back to a time when Amazon was strictly known as a river in South America. The grandest of facades for Boyd's in Rittenhouse While we admittedly haven’t spent much time shopping at this institution which opened a Main Line presence two years back, we have always admired its gorgeous ..read more

It was just last week that we found ourselves at the intersection of Frankford Ave., Lehigh Ave., and Coral St. at the tippy top of East Kensington. As we were checking on the Coral House rising on what was once a surface parking lot, we mentioned the shuttered Kensington Community Food Co-op, which closed back in February. We were completely unaware, however, that there were plans ahead at 2666-72 Coral St. when we discussed the future of this property. Let’s take a quick trip through recent history to check out the corner once again. The corner of Coral & Frankford back in 2014, pre ..read more

One of our favorite pastimes is to wander the streets, ducking into alleys and narrow lanes to see what we can see. When walking along Chestnut St. in Old City the other day, we glanced down the narrow Bank Ln., where a tall, yellow presence caught our attention. Looking north from Chestnut up Bank St., with something yellow peeking over the rooftops We found ourselves drawn toward 20-22 Bank St., at the somewhat hidden intersection of Bank St. & Elbow Ln., where a mobile crane hovered high above our head. We actually brought you to this very spot almost five years ago, when we saw s ..read more

The area around the train tracks north of Lehigh Ave. at the Fishtown/Kensington/Port Richmond border have been, at times, ground zero of the opioid epidemic in Philadelphia. At the same time, Fishtown and East Kensington have been booming in recent years, and development has been making its way into Port Richmond as well. And so things have started changing along Lehigh, with the Kensington Courts project being the most prominent example, bringing hundreds of units to the north side of Lehigh Avenue. This momentum has continued immediately next door at 2157 E. Lehigh Ave., where a four-buil ..read more