Longtime West Philly resident Jeff Lutzner pitches “Pentridge Station,” a playground/park/beer garden proposed for a vacant lot on the 5100 block of Pentridge Street (Photo by West Philly Local).

A longtime West Philly resident is gambling that people will want to travel down a troubled street that is lined with abandoned cars, empty buildings and a quasi-legal automotive shop that sometimes hosts raucous outdoor parties during which shots have been fired to visit his kid-friendly, pop-up beer garden.

It sounds risky, but several people who attended last night’s Cedar Park Neighbors zoning committee meeting to discuss the proposed seasonal beer garden in an abandoned lot on the 5100 block of Pentridge Street said they will support it. Jeff Lutzner, a longtime resident and block captain on the 4900 block of Cedar Avenue, owns the lot and hopes that the beer garden/playground might bring some much-needed attention to the block.

“We really want it to be a place where families could convene,” Lutzner told the 30 or so people gathered at the meeting.  Continue Reading

Lola38, a creative placemaking project in West Philadelphia, is seeking artists to design and create art installations at the former United Bank building and the fence around the site of the demolished University City High School in an effort to beautify neighborhoods surrounding Lower Lancaster Avenue.

On March 30, these artists will pitch their ideas to neighbors, some of which are fellow artists and curators themselves. The five-minute-presentations, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the former bank (3750 Lancaster Ave) will be done in the style of PechaKucha, a Japanese method in which 20 slides are displayed for 20 seconds each. In addition to arguing why their work should be chosen, artists are also encouraged to respond to one of the following three questions: “How does progress feel?“, “Which walls are invisible?“, and “Is there a good rate of change?”  Continue Reading

Cedar Park residents and all interested individuals are invited to a community meeting on Tuesday, March 21 to hear a proposal of a pop-up (temporary) beer garden on the 5100 block of Pentridge Street. The meeting is organized by Cedar Park Neighbors.

The beer garden is being proposed at 5112-5120 Pentridge St. (see map), the area that currently includes a few empty lots. A search of the BRT database revealed the owner of the property as Fatty Tuna LLC. The meeting is an opportunity to meet with the owner, see the plans of what they would like to do and voice your opinion on this issue.

The meeting will be held at the Calvary Center (4740 Baltimore Ave.), beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Those who would like to comment but cannot attend the meeting are welcome to send their comments to CPN: zoning@cedarparkneighbors.org.

The Walnut Hill Community Association will hold a public zoning meeting on Tuesday, March 7, to discuss a few development projects proposed in the area.

Developers have requested zoning variance for construction of a four-story, nine-unit apartment building at 4622-24 Sansom St. The building will include a roof deck with a pilot house and a covered porch (see rendering image). The building’s height is requested at 38 feet.  Continue Reading

Rendering of a high-rise apartment building proposed near 42nd and Chestnut (from www.kcadesignassociates.com).

Developers are interested in building a high-rise apartment building at 4125 Chestnut St., according to reports. A 17-story residential tower is being proposed for the site currently occupied by Wash N Lube car wash. The 240-unit tower will include 4,158 square feet of ground- and second-floor commercial space, as well as 82 underground parking spots, according to a report by Philly.com. The plans were posted last week on the city’s Civic Design Review board website.

The project developer has been identified as CRP Builders, and architect Hyon Kang of KCA Design Associates LLC was listed as the project’s applicant. The next design review board meeting is on Tuesday, March 7, where the project may be considered. Please check their website for more information and updates.

A new affordable housing project has been completed in West Powelton. 4050 Apartments, a 24,350 square feet three-story building, is designed for low-income artists, families, and others. The new building, which contains 20 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, has replaced a large vacant lot.

The grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for this project will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 2-3 p.m. Attendees will be asked to create artwork together, including a large map of the local neighborhoods and a rope of cloth strands braided together to represent the impact of developments that incorporate the arts, community and housing available to all.  Continue Reading