Former Graphic Arts Inc. building at 41st and Chestnut (Photo West Philly Local).

Last August, we reported that Amazon had bought the former Graphic Arts Inc. building at 41st and Chestnut, but we weren’t certain to what use the e-commerce giant was going to put the 35,000 square-foot space. Now, we know: Prime Now LLC has applied for, and been granted, a permit to operate a “food establishment” on that site.

Prime Now is a service that Amazon operates in some urban areas — not Philadelphia yet — that features two-hour delivery for commonplace household goods, from groceries to socks to electronics. Amazon has also hinted that it might be expanding Prime Now into the restaurant delivery arena. As such, this new service is positioned to compete directly with supermarket and convenience delivery services like Instacart and GoPuff, as well as food delivery services like Grubhub, Caviar and Eat24.  Continue Reading

Multiple trees and tree branches were down on Saturday morning after a storm with hurricane force winds passed through the area on Friday. Several vehicles were damaged. Some streets were still closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Saturday evening as city crews worked to remove broken trees and branches. Here are some more photos:  Continue Reading

A new retail and community services complex is coming to West Philadelphia’s Haddington-Cobbs Creek neighborhood. New Market West is a four story, 135,700 square foot hub which will be built on a 1.5 acre vacant site at 5901 Market Street, half a block from the 60th and Market Street El stop (see rendering).

The new building will house organizations focused on early childhood education, workforce development, educational and emergency support services, behavioral health service, and will include community-serving retail.

Governor Tom Wolf joined other state and city officials and representatives from local community organizations in a groundbreaking ceremony for the complex on Friday morning. During the ceremony, the governor announced the approval of $10.5 million in tax credits to support the project, in addition to the state’s $5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program investment announced in December. Continue Reading

A family was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint on the 4600 block of Larchwood Avenue on Wednesday at about 1 p.m., according to the University City District.

Two young adult males approached a family that was exiting their vehicle on the block and asked for money. The family refused to give them any money, and one of the males produced a gun and demanded valuables. The two young men also stole the family’s vehicle.

Two males with the same description attempted to carjack another vehicle a block away about 10 minutes earlier, according to UCD. The driver in that incident refused to exit his car, and the two men fled.  Continue Reading

The Penn Division of Public Safety is reporting that due to power outages in West Philadelphia traffic lights are out Monday morning in the following locations:

• 34th and Market
• 38th and Walnut
• 39th and Walnut
• 40th and Walnut
• 34th and Chestnut
• 38th and Chestnut

Police are on location directing traffic. Commuters should expect delays.

Police are investigating three gunpoint robberies that happened in Cedar Park, Garden Court and Walnut Hill neighborhoods in the past two weeks, including one at 11 a.m. and another just before 1 p.m.. One of these robberies resulted in an arrest of two suspects. Here are more details from police:

January 14, 46th and Hazel
At approximately 12:50 p.m., two people were walking on the 4600 block of Hazel Ave when they were approached by three young males. Two of them pulled out guns and announced a robbery. The suspects took cell phones from both victims and one victim’s wallet with identification, an unknown amount of cash and credit cards. The suspects then ran eastbound, and then northbound on 46th Street after the incident. The investigation is active and ongoing with Southwest Detective Division. All three suspects are described as black males 17-24 years old. Two of them were armed with small black revolvers, according to police.  Continue Reading