Ever since the building housing Ultimo went up on the northeast corner of 22nd & Catharine, we've been waiting for something to happen to the long-vacant building at the southeast corner. A couple years ago, we were cautiously optimistic that the property would get redeveloped into a mixed-use building, but it's been status quo ever since. If you pass by the building today though, you'll notice there's some change brewing.
Yesterday, artists began work on a mural on the side of this building which will be titled #PhillytheBern. A collaboration between Old Broads and Disto, the goal of this mural is to increase public awareness of everyone's favorite curmudgeonly presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. There's a Kickstarter for the project that has a goal of raising $5,000 to compensate the artists and to cover the costs of the mural and at the time of this writing, they've raised nearly $1,700. When they're done, the building will look something like this:
The PA primary is scheduled for April 26th, and if Mr. Sanders is able to win the Democratic nomination, the general election will happen on November 8th. As murals go, this one seems like it will have an expiration date. And that's all good, because the owner of the property, the same guy that developed the Ultimo building, has redevelopment plans at the ready. The first floor of the property is currently listed with MSC Retail, with 1,900 sqft of space available between the basement, 1st, and 2nd floors. The new building will be a tremendous upgrade over what's there today.
In the coming weeks, will the handful of Republicans in the neighborhood get together and paint a Donald Trump mural across the street?
Sounds like the worst idea ever.