The Baltimore Avenue and Lancaster Avenue Business Associations are teaming up again to provide a unique holiday shopping experience for neighborhood residents next month. The Winter Express Shoppers’ Trolley (W.E.S.T.), connecting two of the busiest West Philly streets and commercial corridors – Baltimore Avenue and Lancaster Avenue – will return on Saturday, Dec. 3.

From noon till 5 p.m. this free trolley will travel along both avenues, stopping along the way at designated shopping and dining destinations. Businesses will welcome riders with specials, promotions and giveaways, as wells as with some delicious treats.  Continue Reading

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, Milk and Honey Market (45th and Baltimore) will host a meet and greet for Baltimore Avenue business owners and neighbors. This is an opportunity to meet owners of some of the recently opened Baltimore Avenue businesses, including Eight Limbs Academy, Greensgrow West, The Nesting House, Hair Vyce, and more. There will be some food, fun and opportunities for networking. The event will be held from 5 – 7 p.m.

The event is organized by Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA).

Developers pitch a proposal for an apartment building at 4045 Baltimore to the Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee on Thursday evening (Photo by West Philly Local)

The owners of a parking lot on the 4000 block of Baltimore are proposing a five-story, 55-unit apartment building.

New Horizons Housing, which owns the lot at 4045 Baltimore Ave. (see Google Street View image below) and an adjacent apartment building, brought the proposal before the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee last night for feedback. A formal zoning request has not yet been made.

An apartment building once stood on the lot, but burned down in the mid 1980s. The proposed building would include mostly 450-square-foot, one-bedroom units and a few studios.

Under one version of the proposal, the plan includes a small 900-square-foot retail space. Concerns included the proposed building’s height. At 71 feet, it would be about 15 feet higher than a nearby apartment building (owned by the same developers) and would be the tallest structure in the immediate area.  Continue Reading

Ice Cave owner Po Chang and dessert chef Jessica Wang (Photo by Rana Fayez/West Philly Local)

People of West Philadelphia, you no longer have to travel to Chinatown for Taiwanese shaved ice treats. Ice Cave has opened at 4507 Baltimore Ave next to Atiya Ola’s and The Nesting House.

This is only one of a number of new businesses opening up on Baltimore Ave this year. Flavors such as strawberry, matcha, coffee, peanut and mango are on the menu with toppings like mango, kiwi and berries. If shaved ice is not your thing the shop also sells some of its flavors in a popsicle format.

Owner Po Chang graduated from Drexel in 2012 but decided to stay in West Philadelphia after earning his degree in Public Health. His dessert chef, Jessica Wang, was trained in Taiwan for five years in the craft of shaved ice.

If you like cold treats for breakfast, you may be out of luck. The shop is open 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday. On Fridays it closes at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m.

Not sure if you’re into it? Come out to the Dollar Stroll tonight to try it, the shop will be selling sample sizes for $1.

– Rana Fayez

The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll is returning this week. The popular West Philly event, which is now held only once a year, will take place on Thursday (Sept. 8), 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. As always, this is a great chance for local businesses to showcase their signature products and for locals to enjoy $1 samples and deals. Well-known businesses, as well as newcomers will participate in the event (about 40 businesses overall).

Here’s what you should look for: $1 samples of everything from samosas to slices of pizza, cheesesteaks, ice cream and small pours of beer, but also highlights businesses offering pet supplies, children’s clothes and toys, handmade items, plants, and more. Vendors line the sidewalks and people are encouraged to walk up and down the avenue between 43rd and 52nd Streets sampling all sorts of food and drinks.

The Dollar Stroll will also feature street performers and live music.

The goal of the Dollar Stroll is to celebrate established businesses on Baltimore Avenue while introducing visitors to new stores and restaurants, such as Black Hound Clay Studio, Amari’s restaurant, Vital Step Physical Therapy & Fitness, and more.

For the list of participating businesses and their $1 bargains, visit the event’s Facebook page.

The event is organized by the University City District (UCD) and Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA).

The building at 4529 Baltimore Avenue that used to host Tony’s “Just For Men” Barber Shop has recently been listed for sale for $415,000. The 1,760 square feet property includes a ground-floor commercial space, a partially finished basement, and two apartments (a large two-bedroom with a deck and a studio on the ground floor behind the commercial space). It is zoned CMX-2 (Commercial/Commercial Mixed-Use).

The property was for sale in 2013, shortly after the original business owner, Tony Rodriguez’s, passing. Then it was listed for $285,000 but was taken off the market a month later. It appears that Rodriguez’s family kept the business running for a few more years.

The property is listed by MPN Realty, a company that often handles properties in this section of Baltimore Ave.

LoopNet.com, which is also listing the property, provides the following description of Baltimore Avenue:

“The face of Baltimore Avenue has changed dramatically in the last year alone from unstable mom and pop businesses to more professional successful operations. In the last year alone, The Nesting House, Jinxed, Renata’ s Kitchen (formerly Café Renata) and Loco Pez have opened or are in the process of opening businesses in Spruce Hill.”