The remnants of the “Fake House” which was demolished last month to make room for a new apartment building. Photo: Mike Lyons/West Philly Local.

Last month, a graffiti-covered building at 3862 Lancaster Avenue was demolished to make way for a three-story, 22-unit apartment building to be developed by Turn Key Realty LLC, according to city records. The building sat vacant after its residents were evicted last December.

The building was formerly a venue and makeshift apartment for artists called the “Fake House.” It was first occupied by a group of artists in the late ‘80s, according to an article by Philadelphia Weekly, and had occupants and musical performances up until the evictions.

The building was known as Fake House because the word “Fake” was painted in large letters on the front of the building. Much of the graffiti on the building enforced its counter-culture reputation, as there were strong anti-gentrification and anti-corporate messages.

The occupants never signed a formal lease, and as one resident admitted to Philadelphia Weekly almost a decade ago, “We know we’re all this close to losing our space. Anything could change at any time.”

He was right, of course. But the fascinating and somewhat subversive alt/punk hub still got another decade under its belt. The final punk show took place just a week before the evictions.

–Alex Vuocolo

Here’s another chance to save some money on your property tax bill – if you have owed and lived in your home since July 2003.

Homeowners have until Jan. 15 to apply for the Longtime Owners Occupancy Program, which is in place to help offset tax increases brought on by neighborhood development (some are calling it “gentrification relief”). If approved, the tax relief is good for 10 years.

Taken from city brochure on the LOOP program.

This offer is different from the Homestead Exemption offered earlier this year and you should apply whether you received that or not.

• You must own and have lived in this property as your primary residence since at least July 1, 2003.
• Your home is either a single family or a multi-unit property with no more than three residential units and one commercial unit.

• Your property has not received a tax abatement.

• The real estate Taxes on your property must be paid in full or you must be up-to-date on a payment plan (or have an application for a payment agreement pending).

• There is an income limit based on household size (see graphic).

Here is a brochure with more details about the LOOP program. The application is available here. The city says that applicants will be notified in March. Call 215-686-9200 with questions.

Another holiday season has come to 52nd Street and efforts are continuing to help the teeming commercial strip regain its reputation as “West Philly’s Main Street.”

52nd Street Station after renovation.

Over the past five years, the Enterprise Center’s Community Development Corporation (TEC-CDC) has invested in the renewal of 52nd Street, a once busy commercial corridor hit hard by the 10-year Market-Frankford EL reconstruction project. Providing guidance and support, the neighborhood initiative group has worked to spur economic growth in the area, hoping to bring back its vitality.

As part of those efforts, TEC-CDC recently hired Akeem Dixon as the retail gateway’s first-ever Commercial Corridor Manager, made possible by support from the Philadelphia Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC). In his role, Dixon will primarily oversee a cleaning contract managed by the center, funded in part by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, aimed to “help make 52nd Street the best it can be,” said Bryan Fenstermaker, TEC-CDC’s senior director of programming.

52nd Street Station before the 2007-2008 reconstruction project / Photos: Wikipedia.

“Our [work] is to make 52nd Street the most attractive and vibrant corridor that it can be,” Fenstermaker told West Philly Local. “52nd Street is really the livelihood of West Philadelphia … A number of people grew up here on the corridor and remember what it used to be like. There’s no reason it can’t come back.”

Hiring a portal manager is a major development not only for the corridor, but for the local organization,  which has a hand in its planning and economic growth. According to Fenstermaker, the new manager will also serve as a soundboard for the “wants and needs” of the area, helping TEC-CDC leverage the requests of 52nd Street’s businesses and residents. Dixon will, in effect, act as a liaison for those partners involved in the corridor—be they local community associations or business owners and street vendors—so there’s full engagement among everyone who has a stake in 52nd Street’s success.

“What we would like to see is the businesses and vendors come together to support somebody that’s full-time on there as a sustainable practice,” said Fenstermaker. “We’re there to support the stakeholders and the corridor, so I see us being there long-term.”

Continue Reading

As always, we here at West Philly Local aim to keep neighbors abreast of community news and inform you of updates to that news. For today’s installment of updates, we’ve rounded up news about three big projects we’ve featured in the last three months that verge from the exciting (tacos!) to the conflicting (another expensive development!). And, of course, if there are other updates you’d love to know, we’d love to hear them in the comments.

Groundbreaking for Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral’s $110 Million Development

Photo by West Philly Local.

Tomorrow, Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and Radnor Property Group (RPG) will hold a groundbreaking for 38Chestnut—the $110 million mixed-used development at 38^th and Chestnut Streets that will see the razing of two historic brownstones (pictured) formerly used as the Cathedral’s parish house. The demolition will make way for a three-prong 326,000 square-foot project (owned by 3737 Chestnut, LP and developed by RPG) to be completed in 2015, and will include the construction of an allegedly “state-of-the-art” 25-story apartment building targeting professionals and grad students, as well as the Episcopal Cathedral Center that features a three-story office building with ground floor retail, a community center, and an early-learning childcare center. Additionally, as part of a settlement with the Preservation Alliance, the development will also see the renovation and maintenance of the cathedral itself. The groundbreaking starts at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral, located at 13-19 South 38th Street.

As we reported in November, the demolition to the two 19th-century brownstones has been nothing but contentious since it made news last summer. In an 8-2 vote, the Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the Cathedral’s hardship application to bulldoze the two historically-sanctioned houses, which were on the list of Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The Preservation Alliance appealed this decision almost immediately, but came to an agreement with the Commission in March, in which a 50-year preservation and restoration plan is implemented and maintained by the Cathedral, with project funds set aside for immediate work on the house of worship.  Continue Reading

4510 Walnut Street / Photo by Mike Lyons.

After years as a shop selling phone cards to most recently an art studio, it looks like the storefront at 4510 Walnut St. will become West Philly’s third tattoo studio.

The property owner and the potential studio proprietors presented their plan to the Spruce Hill Community Association’s zoning committee last night for the 1,200-square-foot storefront, which is a couple doors west from Monarch Hardware. Marvin Graaf, the owner of the Falls Taproom in East Falls who would be a co-owner of the studio, told the committee that the studio would require no changes to the facade of the building, “no major construction” inside and, importantly for the committee, no neon signs anywhere, Graaf said.

Graaf and his partner recently met informally with people from nearby businesses, a church and mosque to talk about his plans and told the committee he received mostly positive feedback. One local business owner initially responded negatively, afraid that “Hell’s Angels types” might be hanging around the studio, a committee member said. But that business owner was persuaded that the tattoo scene has changed.

“I think the common perception is that you get a seedy crowd hanging around,” said Graaf. “That’s really not how it is anymore.”

The studio would be open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.

The studio still needs a nod from the full SHCA and a special use variance from the city.

– Mike Lyons

A new chapter began last night in the ongoing saga of 400 S. 40th Street, the contentious property on the edge of the University of Pennsylvania’s growing footprint that includes a historic mansion that community members, developers and Penn officials have been quarreling over for a decade.

Developers presented preliminary drawings last night to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee for a graduate housing complex that keeps the original mid-19th Century Italianate mansion, strips away the hideous concrete block additions added when it was a nursing home and adds a detached five-story, L-shaped housing complex aimed at graduate students.

Residents look over a preliminary drawing of a new proposal for 40th and Pine last night at the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee meeting.

“We’re hoping to build support for this approach and avoid a couple more years of litigation,” said Jonathan Weiss of Equinox Management and Construction, the developer behind “Azalea Gardens.” “We’re trying to find a way forward.”

The developers and officials from Penn, which bought the property at 40th and Pine streets in 2008,  presented the plan as a compromise to  head off a lawsuit filed by the nearby Woodland Terrace Homeowners Association after the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (and the Philadelphia Historical Commission and SHCA) approved a plan last November that would have demolished the mansion to make room for a five-story structure. Penn officials argued that the mansion presented a hardship for any plans to develop the property.

That five-story structure without the mansion was proposed after many residents balked at a previous plan for a seven-story structure that kept the historic mansion intact. That proposal came after a plan to build an 11-story, long-term stay hotel (which was eventually built on the 4100 block of Walnut) was abandoned.  Continue Reading