The Philadelphia Historical Commission voted Friday to designate the west side of the 400 block of S. 42nd Street (420-434 S. 42nd) a historic district, a significant victory for local preservationists who want to protect historic buildings from the rapid development sweeping many of the city’s neighborhoods.

Named the “420 Row,” the cluster of Victorian row homes is the first historic district to be named since 2010, according to the Historical Commission. Designation means that the Historic Commission must approve any demolition or significant changes to the buildings. The designation comes as plans to convert one of the residences, a former fraternity house, into apartments are before the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee.

Block captain Justin McDaniel spearheaded the effort. Here is the designation application. Here is a list of other historic districts in the city, which include Parkside in West Philadelphia.

Increased development and a reluctance to grant historic status to large parts of West Philadelphia has prompted preservationists, including many members of local zoning committees, to seek designation on a “block by block” basis. Other designation applications are likely to follow.  Continue Reading

New Hamilton Court streetscape rendering.

In August 2016, the Post Brothers, the real estate company that has acquired a number of residential properties in University City in the past year, revealed their plans and renderings for the renovation of the historic Hamilton Court apartment complex at 39th and Chestnut Streets. Currently, the company is in the process of making upgrades to Hamilton Court, which was one of Philadelphia’s first apartment buildings when it was built in 1901. The renovations include the conversion of vacant ground-floor space into modern commercial retail spaces, which will be occupied by five dining establishments.

On Wednesday, the developers revealed the restaurants that signed leases for those spaces. Here they are:

• Steve’s Prince of Steaks, one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak restaurant chains, has signed a lease for 2,277 square feet.  Continue Reading

(Google Street View image).

A proposal introduced Wednesday night at the Spruce Hill zoning committee to turn what committee chair called “the single greatest nuisance property in the history of Spruce Hill” from a fraternity house into a three-unit drew skepticism from neighbors, who want the 3,100-square-foot property to go back to being a single family home.

Until recently the property at 422 S. 42nd St. (a block north of Baltimore Avenue) housed the University of the Sciences fraternity Upsilon Sigma Phi, a bane to residents on the block for decades.

New Jersey-based Vasupujya Properties bought the property for $395,000 on Sept. 1 and, according to the zoning request, hopes to renovate its maze of small rooms into three apartments. The building is legally zoned as a fraternity house and can legally accommodate up to 12 residents. The reconfiguration of the four-story building would include a bi-level, two-bedroom apartment in the basement and first floor, a one-bedroom on the second floor and a bi-level three-bedroom on the third floor.  Continue Reading

The property at 4301-4303 Baltimore from an archive photo taken in 1912, when a butcher shop was located where Clarkville is now. Crews work to install the trolley tracks on Baltimore Avenue. (City of Philadelphia, Department of Records).

The days of cheap slices and cold 40s at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore are long gone. At the Spruce Hill zoning committee meeting last night, the owners of 4303 Baltimore Avenue (the row home adjacent to Clarkville and across from Clark Park) threw out a couple of names of restaurants interested in moving into the first floor restaurant space they have proposed.

They include:

• Koreana – A Korean street food place with a current location at 3801 Chestnut St..
• Ant’s Pants – Café/brunch. Current location at 2212 South St.
• Southeast Bistro – Southeast Asian meets Cajun. Current location near 19th and South.
• House – A more traditional lunch/brunch place in Media.
• Same Same – A Vietnamese street food restaurant with a location in Northern Liberties.  Continue Reading

Here’s another chance for residents to weigh in on what restaurant they would like to see at 4303 Baltimore Avenue. A proposal to convert the first floor of the row home adjacent to Clarkville into a small restaurant was first considered at the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee meeting on Oct. 14.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Spruce Hill Center (257 S. 45th St), and this proposal will be on the agenda again among other zoning proposals. The proposal for 4303 Baltimore includes an 1,100-square-foot restaurant on the first floor and renovated, high-end apartments on the second and third floors.

Read more about the proposal here.

An artist’s rendering of the Trolley Car Station restaurant from plans presented last spring to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee.

Developers will soon break ground on a project that should transform the barren patch of concrete at the 40th Street trolley terminal into a landscaped public space complete with a 125-seat restaurant.

University City District officials promise it will be a more navigable public space for pedestrians. Complete with moveable tables and chairs, enough racks to accommodate 48 bikes and “vegetation everywhere,” the project was well received during public meetings and breezed through zoning approval last spring.

The centerpiece of the project will be the Trolley Car Station restaurant, a two-story restaurant that will be built in the grassy area bordering the portal along Baltimore Avenue. A company owned by real estate developer Ken Weinstein, which runs the Trolley Car Diner in Mount Airy, will operate the restaurant.  Continue Reading