Philadelphia Water customers finally have an option to switch to paperless billing and pay their bills online. The City’s Water and Revenue Departments have recently launched a new, paperless e-billing service for water bills. Customers are urged to create e-billing accounts at www.phila.gov/waterbill.

Users of the new e-billing site can:

• Set up automatic payments for free
• Opt-out of paper bills
• Sign up for reminders and alerts
• Look up past bills

Continue Reading

The “Baltimore Crossing” condo construction project is underway near 51st and Baltimore. This is a three-unit building north of Baltimore (Photo courtesy of Holly Mack Ward & Co).

Folks looking to buy a home in West Philly have usually had two options: a pricey Victorian or a more affordable (but still pricey) rowhome. Developers have mostly been reluctant to build condos – essentially apartments that are for sale rather than for rent. That might be starting to change with “Baltimore Crossing,” a new condo development project currently under construction near 51st and Baltimore.

The project includes three buildings – a three-unit building north of Baltimore (at 717 S. 51st St), a five-unit building south of Baltimore (at 732-734 S. 51st), and a townhouse at 5135 Webster St. The construction of the north building is in an advanced stage, and the foundation has been laid for the south building.  Continue Reading

State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell will welcome her constituents to her new district office location during an open house Saturday.

The open house will take place from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at 550 N. 52nd St.

Johnson-Harrell and her staff will be available to show constituents around the new office location, to answer questions and provide help with state government-related programs.  Continue Reading

The development boom along the 4200 block of Chestnut Street will continue with a seven-story, 102-unit building that will likely begin construction early next year.

Developers presented the plan to the Spruce Hill zoning committee last night as part of the city’s Civic Design Review process required for buildings of a certain size and use. But neither the SHCA nor the city itself has much oversight over the “by right” project, the second major “by right” project on that block this year. A 278-unit building is underway nearby at the former site of the Christ Memorial Church at 43rd and Chestnut.  Continue Reading

West Catholic High parking lot at 46th and Chestnut.

West Catholic High School has been bitten by the development bug.

Located at 45th and Chestnut, about a block from an El stop, the school sits on property most developers would love to get their hands on. A small group representing the school asked the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee last night to rezone the school’s parking lot at the corner of 46th Street and Chestnut to make it enticing to developers and clearing the way for a large, potentially seven-story apartment building. The revenue from a possible development deal would fund the school’s refurbishment and provide a scholarship endowment.  Continue Reading

A 3-alarm fire broke out on Monday morning at a large auto body shop located at 59th and Irving, according to multiple reports. The fire broke out shortly after 10 a.m. and soon the whole building was engulfed in flames:

UPDATE: A raging inferno at a West Philadelphia auto shop has reached 3-alarms. Dozens of firefighters are on the scene. Live coverage: https://t.co/wr3SZmdmYk pic.twitter.com/JBrGGkaxSO

— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) October 21, 2019

The heavy smoke from the fire was seen from many blocks away:  Continue Reading