Cedar Park Neighbors is holding a pubic zoning meeting this Thursday (March 29) that will focus on two development proposals on Baltimore Avenue:

• The event space Petite Féte has requested a use certificate for a banquet hall for up to 49 people on the first floor at 5042 Baltimore Ave. This site is currently zoned CMX-2 (Commercial use) and also has two residential units above (on the second and third floor). The proposed use, “Assembly and Entertainment,” requires a special exception approval in this zoning district.  Continue Reading

Dominique Oglesby (Photo via LinkedIn)

A candlelight vigil for Dominique Oglesby will take place this Friday at 6 p.m. at 52nd and Market Streets. Police are still looking for the male suspect who shot and killed Dominique, a 23-year-old West Philly resident and Penn State senior on Sunday afternoon outside of Galaxy West Bar & Grill at 52nd and Market.

The unidentified shooter and another female were reportedly involved in an altercation with Dominique inside the bar and started shooting while running away when her father and grandfather showed up after the altercation escalated. Her father and grandfather were also shot, but will recover from their injuries.

Dominique was shot once in the back and transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m. on Sunday. Her father was shot in a foot and her grandfather was shot in an arm, according to police.  Continue Reading

The city of Philadelphia is preparing for heavy snow through tomorrow evening. The Philadelphia School District has announced that all public schools will be closed Wednesday. All parochial elementary and high schools will also be closed.

The City has declared a Snow Emergency beginning at 9 a.m on Wednesday, which means all vehicles parked along snow emergency routes must be moved to another location to allow plowing. Snow Emergency information and a map of Snow Emergency routes can be found here. Cars left on Snow Emergency routes will be moved to other parking spots. If your car is moved, call 215-686-SNOW to find it. Please do not call 911.  Continue Reading

The facade on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street. This building will form a “T” in the rear, widening along the Ludlow Street to the north.

Developers formally presented an apartment building project on Monday night to the Spruce Hill Community Association that will profoundly reshape the 4400 blocks of Chestnut and Ludlow Streets.

The Orens Brothers Real Estate is proposing a pair of buildings on the two blocks that would require the demolition of several properties, including the building at 4415 Chestnut that houses the company’s headquarters and the popular Fit Gym that they operate. The plan would include two six-story buildings housing 165 residential units and ground floor commercial space along the 4400 block of Ludlow and Chestnut Streets.  Continue Reading

SEPTA has announced two major reconstruction projects in West and Southwest Philadelphia that will result in some street closures and affect service of trolley routes 11 and 36.

SEPTA will begin working on the complete replacement of the Woodland Avenue bridge, located on Woodland Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets. Street closures for the construction begin on Sunday, March 18, and the project is expected to be completed in Summer 2019.

During the construction, SEPTA Trolley Routes 11 and 36, which normally use the bridge, will be detoured to Chester Avenue between 49th Street and the 40th Street Portal.  Continue Reading

Former Graphic Arts Inc. building at 41st and Chestnut (Photo West Philly Local).

Last August, we reported that Amazon had bought the former Graphic Arts Inc. building at 41st and Chestnut, but we weren’t certain to what use the e-commerce giant was going to put the 35,000 square-foot space. Now, we know: Prime Now LLC has applied for, and been granted, a permit to operate a “food establishment” on that site.

Prime Now is a service that Amazon operates in some urban areas — not Philadelphia yet — that features two-hour delivery for commonplace household goods, from groceries to socks to electronics. Amazon has also hinted that it might be expanding Prime Now into the restaurant delivery arena. As such, this new service is positioned to compete directly with supermarket and convenience delivery services like Instacart and GoPuff, as well as food delivery services like Grubhub, Caviar and Eat24.  Continue Reading