Proposed zoning changes fall within the area pictured above.

Proposed zoning changes for the area stretching from 45th to 50th streets and between Chestnut and Spruce streets will be the subject of a public meeting tonight at the Lea School Auditorium (47th and Locust). Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced the proposed changes on May 8th and the City Council’s Rules Committee hearing (the last opportunity for public input) is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, according to Garden Court Community Association’s Zoning Chair Mariya Khandros.

The Garden Court, Walnut Hill and Spruce Hill neighborhoods are included in the area, so residents in these neighborhoods are encouraged to attend today’s meeting to provide their input (yes, we know it’s Friday night but the zoning changes affect almost every block in that area, so the organizers want to make sure that as many residents as possible give their input).

The changes include switching some parcels from multi-family to single-family zoning, or changing a commercially zoned location to residential. The parcel that includes the old West Philadelphia High School would also reportedly be zoned  for commercial use, presumedly to clear the way for  development of the high school building.

Blackwell introduced several zoning changes earlier this month, including proposed rezoning of the old University City High School parcel at 38th and Powelton.

The meeting will be held from 6 – 8 p.m.. Tuesday’s public hearing will be held in Room 4000 in the City Hall.

Hawthorne Hall (Photo from grayareaphilly.org)

Down every street, and around every corner, we see Philadelphia’s history chronicled in the old brick roads, the abandoned trolley tracks, and every lot overrun by foliage.

Most of all, we see the city’s history in the timeworn foundations of its older buildings. Be it the imposing Provident Mutual Life Insurance building or the grandiose Divine Lorraine Hotel, Philadelphia’s antiquity is forever sealed in their unique brickwork and beguiling design.

But how we preserve the architecture of that history has become uninspired, if not non-existent. Instead, Philly’s historic buildings are bulldozed to make way for shopping centers and luxurious townhouses. Or they’re left abandoned—nothing more than waning icons relegated to the pronoun of “I wonder what that used to be.”

That’s where GRAY AREA comes in. Supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, GRAY AREA is an experimental project launched by the University of the Arts and DesignPhiladelphia of the Center for Architecture that looks at “historic preservation in the modern city.” Currently in its third phase, GRAY AREA aims to engage both design and development experts and the public at large in envisaging creative ways to maintain and repurpose the city’s older buildings so they’re moments of revitalization in their communities.

As part of its third phase, known as GRAY AREA 3, a multi-disciplinary cohort of experts and community partners spent most of last year studying two historic buildings: Hawthorne Hall (3849 Lancaster Avenue) in Powelton Village/Mantua, and the Max Levy building (212-220 Roberts Avenue) in Germantown. Armed with a series of questions raised during GRAY AREA’s first two phases—a panel discussion and a facilitated conversation, respectively—the team researched the buildings’ history and their cultural significance in an effort to cultivate ideas for “eventual interpretation, reuse and design.”

This Wed, May 28, the GRAY AREA 3 team will gather at the Catalyst for Change Church (3727 Baring Street) to share their findings on Hawthorne Hall with the West Philly community. The event, which begins at 6 p.m., will serve as the third phase’s final community meeting in which they will test a preservation toolkit developed for “encouraging meaningful dialogue, making unexpected and new connections, and generating ideas,” GRAY AREA Project Director Elise Vider told West Philly Local.
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In an effort to keep the West Philly community up-to-date on happenings in the area, West Philly Local followed up on some projects we have followed over the last year. Here’s what we found so far:

First, for the most important update, Taco Angeleno is open for business! The outdoor taco joint, located at 5019 Baltimore Avenue, officially opened on Thursday, May 8 after months of delays and red tape. The grand opening party is this Friday (May 23), from 5 – 9 p.m. If Taco Angeleno’s Facebook page is any indication, it seems business is so far going well for owner Vanessa Jerolmack—even selling out of food her first weekend open. To satisfy those taco cravings, stop by Taco Angeleno from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

In other local food related news, the guys from Pitruco Pizza, the popular wood fired pizza truck often seen on the Drexel campus, who are also serving their signature fare as Enjay’s Pizza at Smokey Joe’s on 40th St, recently started a delivery service out to 50th Street for a $2 charge. “A real nice service for the neighborhood,” writes West Philly Local reader and Pitruco/Enjay’s fan Louis Tannen.

Gush Gallery co-founders Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate (Photo courtesy of Thielke and Slate).

This summer, Taco Angeleno will have a new neighbor, Gush Gallery. The art gallery space, which West Philly Local profiled in January, will open Friday, Aug 1 at 5015 Baltimore Avenue, which is currently home to a local barber shop (owners Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate get the keys to the space on July 1). On opening day, which is also a First Friday event, the duo will premiere their first group exhibit, “Embark,” which will feature local artists. There’s a chance they may open a week earlier than the exhibit’s launch date, but don’t hold them to it.

In real estate news, it seems construction of the Sedgley Apartments (pictured right) will finally be finished by next week and available to rent in June, Noah Ostroff, principal at 400 S. 45th Street, LLC., told West Philly Local. This is different than what he told us in September; when asked about the six month difference, Ostroff said there weren’t any delays, but “construction took longer than expected.”  Continue Reading

Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local

Earlier this month, a reader reached out to West Philly Local inquiring about the vacant lot on 46th and Sansom Streets. According to the reader, it seems a sprinkler-type system has been installed and dampening one of the lot’s holes, which were excavated earlier this year. “What is the story on that lot?” the reader asked us.

So we stopped by the fenced-in lot to find out exactly what’s happening on the site. Unlike our reader, we didn’t notice a sprinkler-type system on the grounds, but did see that the land is clearly undergoing redevelopment work. And our research confirmed this—according to a March Naked Philly post, the lot’s owner, Sansom Street Development LP, is in the process of constructing several rental units in the area.

In 2002, several run-down buildings on the parcel, encompassing 128-138 South 46^th Street, were demolished as part of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s 45th and Sansom Redevelopment Plan established that year. According to the plan, 128-38 South 46th Street, along with 4611-21 Sansom Street and 4610-20 Sansom Street, were to be torn down to make way for new or “interim open space and possible future residential development.” Over the last decade, Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections has issued a number of violations for the vacant 128-138 parcel, mostly for the lack of lot maintenance (in spite of the plan’s intention, which stated the open space should be “well maintained, preferably under the stewardship of a local community-based organization”).

Minutes from a May 8, 2012 Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority meeting revealed that the PRA Board approved a resolution authorizing Sansom Street Development as the redeveloper of 128-138 S. 46th Street, in addition to other properties along the 4500 block of Sansom Street — all located in the 45th and Sansom Street Urban Renewal Area. As noted by Naked City, the minutes show Sansom Street Development plans to build on the 46th Street lot six units containing four two-bedroom, market rate rental apartments. They will be known as the Sansom Street Flats, according to the redeveloper’s economic opportunity plan, West Philly Local has found.

According to public records, Sansom Street Development current property licenses for the 128-138 S. 46^th Street site expire at the end of February 2015.

In 2011, Sansom Street also completed construction of a multi-family home at 4534 Sansom Street under the business name Sansom Street Development SSD1, LP. It was one of two plots conveyed to the company by The Partnership CDC, done so without PRA’s consent (PRA approved a redevelopment agreement with the Partnership for 4530 and 4534 Sansom Streets in 2004). During a August 14, 2013 meeting, the PRA approved Sansom Street Development 1 as assignee of the redevelopment agreement for those properties.

–Annamarya Scaccia

(Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Ten years later, and it seems repair work has finally started on the neglected roof where the notorious looming steeple of Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church (4233 Chestnut Street) once stood.

Much like Naked Philly, a reader tipped West Philly Local off about the work last month after they noticed scaffolding erected around the base of the former 170-foot-high steeple, which collapsed in 2004 during an intense storm. According to a permit pulled from Philadelphia Licenses & Inspections, that section is undergoing partial roof demolition and extensive roof repairs, including installations and replacements.

As shown in the photo above, the steeple area of the church on the corner of 43rd and Chestnut Streets is fenced in, with a rubble pile atop the steps, and construction equipment left around on the 43rd Street side. A letter from the City of Philadelphia regarding a permit for equipment placement for building demolition, dated for 11/16/2013 – 1/16/2014, was tacked to the fence.

Currently, the former Christ Memorial Church houses the Media Mobilizing Project, a grassroots community and media-organizing group, and Christ the King Prayer Chapel, which runs a Sunday school and Sunday worship service. The 127-year-old church building was sold to Guy Laren, a local private developer, nearly a decade ago after its former congregation faced legal issues with its insurance company.

-Annamarya Scaccia

Click to enlarge.

As West Philly Local has reported before, coworking is picking up steam in Philadelphia, providing freelancers, remote workers, and independent contractors an opportunity to trade in the four walls of their home for interaction with like-minded professionals.

Well, it seems The Enterprise Center (4548 Market Street) is tapping into the trend by launching its own coworking and entrepreneurial development platform, the Venture Acceleration Center. The program, opening next month in Enterprise’s Market Street headquarters, will offer business coaching, resource learning sessions, and peer-support meetings, as well as make available a coworking space fitted with free wifi, workstations, conference and event space, and video conferencing.

“The Venture Acceleration Center will offer a totally unique experience for member-businesses that is both structured and flexible,” Iola Harper, The Enterprise Center’s senior director, said in a press release. “We want businesses to grow and create jobs in the community and we are here to provide the all of the support needed.”

To introduce the Venture Acceleration Center to the community, the Enterprise Center is holding an information session at its Market Street office next Saturday, April 26th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event, titled “Start-Up Stampede” is open to all Philadelphia entrepreneurs looking for guidance and support in accelerating their business growth. Light refreshments will be served.

While Start-up Stampede is open to all business professionals, membership into the Venture Acceleration Center is only open to early-stage businesses in operation for six months and in the construction, beauty, hair, fashion and food industries.

Readers can register for the information session here. It is a $5.00 fee through today, and $10.00 fee thereafter.

-Annamarya Scaccia