Lost Building of the Week -- June 4th

People's Trust Company

1133 Arch Street



This old postcard shows a rendering of the building from before it was built.

           Now here's a building from when they knew how to build buildings. The People's Trust Company Building ruled the corner of 12th and Arch for eight decades. Its unusual design and construction made it a marvel in its own time... but that crap didn't matter when the Pennsylvania Convention Center came along to knock it out of existence.
          Read more at Philadelphia Magazine's Property Blog!

Empty Lot of the Week-- May 28th

Washington Masonic Three Banks Lot

709-713 Chestnut Street

               This lot is the kind that lasts forever. Its not like there's a lack of parking around here-- there are parking garages and larger surface lots all over the place. Its that fucking mural. That's what will keep this shitty lot alive forever. Though the murals we find all over the city are meant more as placeholders than actual development, there have been plenty of incidents whereby development covering a mural has caused a NIMBY explosion.
              Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- May 28th

Henry C. Lowden Residence

4424 Market Street

              Here's another one I've been researching on and off for quite a while... read all about it at the Hidden City Daily!!