Penn Book Center, one of Philadelphia’s oldest independent bookstores, will close its doors next month. The reason for closing is not surprising: the business has been experiencing losses due to online sales giants, like Amazon, selling textbooks at cut-rate prices.

Penn Book Center was founded in 1962, and current owners – Ashley Montague and Michael Row – purchased the business in 2005. Located on Penn’s campus at 130 S. 34th St., the store carried many books that appealed to students, professors and scholars.  Continue Reading

The two-story restaurant space on the southwest corner of 40th and Walnut, where Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar used to be located, is finally getting a new tenant. Panera Bread is coming soon to the space, according to a sign posted outside. The space, which also includes an outdoor seating area, is currently undergoing renovation.

Harvest Seasonal closed its doors in early 2017 and until now the space remained vacant. The University of Pennsylvania owns the building and had been looking for “a tenant that will appeal to both the University and surrounding community,” according to an earlier report.

There is no official opening date for Panera Bread yet, but it is expected to be this Spring.

The City has begun rehabilitation of two I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) viaducts – in Center City and West Conshohocken. The project in Center City will include repairs or replacement of the concrete joints and deteriorated sections of the concrete deck, rehabilitating piers and columns, and repairing the viaduct’s drainage system.

Due to the project, overnight and weekend closures will take place intermittently from April to July at the following locations:

• University Avenue Exit 346B
• South Street On-Ramp
• South Street Exit 346A
• Walnut Street On-Ramp

The nearly $40 million project is expected to be completed in Fall 2020. More information is available at: https://i76viaduct.com/. For construction schedule, go here.

Demolition of 19th century Christ Memorial Church underway (October, 2018).

The demolished 19th century Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church building on the northeast corner of 43rd and Chestnut Streets has recently been resold (for a second time) to a new developer, according to reports. Alterra Property Group, the same developer who is currently erecting a 6-story prefab apartment building on the 4100 block of Chestnut, purchased the property for $17 million in February, according to a recent report by Philly.com, and is planning to build another apartment building aimed at “graduate students, retained graduates, and young professionals” on the site.  Continue Reading

The new 3-story mixed-use building at the southeast corner of 42nd Street and Chester Avenue may be getting a coffee shop. A request for a special zoning exception was submitted to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for 4134 Chester Avenue to include a coffee shop with up to 20 seats in the ground-floor commercial space of the building, which also houses two residential units on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

According to the zoning appeal posted on the city’s License’s and Inspections website, the coffee shop will not use any commercial cooking appliances and will serve prepared food.

It’s worth noting that there is a Dunkin Donuts shop on the same block, and a Starbucks on Woodland Avenue, just a block away from this building. However, Millcreek Tavern across the street may soon be replaced by another residential building, so that corner will likely have more residents soon.

Stay tuned for more information.

Ahimsa House and community garden (Photo West Philly Local).

Everybody at the Cedar Park Neighbors zoning meeting on Tuesday night lauded the mission of the Ahimsa House, the volunteer run community space on the first floor of a three-story house at 5007 Cedar Ave. The question is, how to make the whole thing “legal”?

The Ahimsa House (“ahimsa” is a Sanskrit word meaning “non-violence”) dates back to 2011, when Meg Ferrigno bought the Cedar Avenue property through the Penn home ownership program. The three-story property had been a triplex and Ferrigno was advised to have it re-zoned as a duplex to qualify. A mix-up at the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) resulted in a single family designation.  Continue Reading