Rendering of one version of the proposed building at 4125 Chestnut Street.

A 130-unit, pre-fab modular building is coming to the 4100 block of Chestnut Street.

The planned building was presented to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee on Thursday and will replace the Wash ‘n Lube at 4125 Chestnut St. The presentation was mostly a heads up for the community as the project can be built “by right,” meaning it requires very little oversight and no community approval.

The committee considered a proposal earlier in the summer for a 17-story building on the site, but those plans were quickly scuttled, and the property was sold to another developer within the last few weeks.  Continue Reading

Rendering image of the new USciences Student Residence Hall currently under construction at 46th and Woodland.

University of the Sciences and city officials will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony today for the new student residence hall at 46th and Woodland, on the site of the demolished Alexander Wilson elementary school.

USciences purchased the school building in 2014, a year after the School District of Philadelphia closed it down and decided to sell it. The university revealed plans for its new student residence hall in that location in the spring of 2016. The new dorm will house over 400 students and will also include ground-floor retail and an open courtyard along Woodland Ave (see rendering above). It will replace housing the university currently owns.

The new Student Residence Hall and Mixed-Use Facility is set to open in the winter of 2018-19. For more information and images, go here.

The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Many homes in Spruce Hill and Cedar Park lost power last night, beginning shortly before 7 p.m. Power at some homes was restored about 40 minutes later, while other buildings were without much longer.

A fire broke out on the top of a utility pole near 47th and Cedar, according to a reader report.

“After the PECO guy was done extinguishing the fire, the fire dept turned their hose on it for a while. They managed to fix the pole and restore the power well before morning, which was nice,” writes Jen, who took the photo above.

No injuries were reported.

The Chestnut Street Transportation Project, which includes a parking protected bicycle lane, officially opened on Tuesday with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The new bike lane and some pedestrian safety features were added between 45th and 34th Streets as part of the project. The buffered bike lane reduced the three lanes meant for motorized vehicles to two, which allows to slow down traffic in one of the busiest stretches of the street.

Mayor Jim Kenney, who helped cut the ribbon, called the project, also referred to as Chestnut Street Safety Corridor, “a major step towards improving safety for Philadelphia’s most vulnerable roadway users.” The 2012 Pedestrian & Bicycle Plan identified the corridor as a high crash corridor in need of improvement. “We are excited to introduce the first of this type of project in the City and we’ll be back in the coming years with more corridors citywide,” he added.  Continue Reading

Police are searching for an armed suspect who they say robbed a store at 49th and Springfield on Sunday. The robbery took place at 4:25 p.m. when an unknown male entered Waldy’s Mini Mart and pulled a handgun on an employee at the counter after purchasing a few items. He then took an unknown amount of money from the cash register and fled. He was last seen walking west on Springfield Avenue towards 52nd Street.  Continue Reading

Aerial map of the Chestnut Street Bridges project area (courtesy PennDOT).

The Chestnut Street Bridges rehabilitation project began today and street closings near 30th Street Station will affect vehicular and pedestrian traffic for many months.

Northbound Schuylkill Avenue between Walnut and Chestnut Streets closed at 7 a.m. on Monday for approximately two years, according to an announcement by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

The closure of northbound Schuylkill Avenue will prohibit right turns by motorists and cyclists heading into West Philadelphia using the Walnut Street bridge over the Schuylkill River.

Motorists using Walnut Street and heading to 30th Street Station or the ramp to westbound I-76 or the ramp to eastbound I-676 will be detoured west to 30th Street, then right on 30th Street to Market Street, and right on Market Street to Schuylkill Avenue.  Continue Reading