Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- April 23

101 Sky

101 Spring Garden Street

               Is this fucker even dead? This staid-looking asstower has been promised for the last eight years and still hasn't seen a stick of construction. Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!

           

              

Empty Lot of the Week-- April 16th

Spring Garden Violation Shit Lot

1200-1212 Spring Garden Street

           


Blarf!!! Billboard-palooza!

                This corner looks like shit. This isn't even the only empty lot at this location! How the fuck did it get to this point? With all the improvements happening nearly every few blocks in Philadelphia, how did this lot get so neglected? Fuck this lot and everything it stands for. An abandoned property whose tax delinquent owner is making a shitload of money on its FOUR billboards. That's right, FOUR. Oh, and fuck Clear Channel for leasing the billboard space from this slumlord. This all gets exacerbated by the fact that this neighborhood was once one of the best in the city!
                 Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!


             

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- April 15th

Northern Liberties National Bank

300 North Third Street

                      This old bank is a relic of ancient Northern Liberties. Check out my write-up about it at the Hidden City Daily!

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- April 9th

Centennial Tower

Fairmount Park

               Now this is crazy as shit. This was Philly's attempt at an Eiffel Tower-style structure well before Eiffel was ever a thought. Had it been executed, this gigantic tower would still be the tallest building in the city.
                Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Empty Lot of the Week-- April 2nd

Drexel Greenville Pre-NIMBY Lot

3428-3442 Lancaster Avenue

               Lancaster Avenue gets no damn respect. This road was once a major thoroughfare-- one of the most important single streets in early America. This surface lot that sits on its 3400 block sucks ass. Though the lot's days SHOULD be numbered, a small group of angry NIMBYs is determined to keep it a surface lot for the rest of time.
              Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

                 
             

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- April 1st

Northeastern Title and Trust Company/Flomar Building

3160 Kensington Avenue

Photo by Brad Maule for Hidden City

                This big-ass building down at K & A is like the Kensington Empire State Building. Read all about it at the Hidden City Daily!

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- March 26th

River's Edge Corporate Center/Campbell's Soup HQ Tower

Camden Waterfront

The only living rendering is this overhead view from an old Camden Waterfront Master Plan. Yes, it would have included that huge parking lot.

            You think Philly's Delaware Riverfront is development-cursed? Check out Camden's. Camden's waterfront has many development-driving advantages over Phiadelphia's. There's no gigantic interstate highway running alongside, the real estate is much more abundant (and much less expensive), and the view of Philadelpia's skyline from Camden is about 10,000 times better than the reverse. Despite all that, Camden's waterfront has been through just as many goofy waterfront proposals as Philly's in the last 30 years. This is the story of one that was pretty certain to happen until it all went to shit.
          Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!!!