If you’ve found yourself near Geno’s Steaks at any point in the past several years, perhaps you too have been surprised to notice an abandoned-looking building, sealed by L&I. While there are countless buildings that look just like it all over town, one simply does not expect to see so forlorn a building immediately adjacent to one of the most frequented intersections in Philadelphia. We did a little digging and discovered that it is owned by a gentleman named Salvatore Di Cara, who has been the owner for decades. According to some folks who work at Geno’s, the building has looked like this for quite some time, though some intermittent work has been done on the other side of the building over the years.

View of the building from Passyunk Ave. We dig the door to nowhere.

Walking around to the back of the building, we noticed an open door and peeked inside. From the looks of it, the owner has been using the building to store various construction materials and large bits of twisted metal. For years. After about three seconds of observing the carnage within, we were approached by a gentleman who informed us that he was working for the owner to clean up the building. Seems that after years of neglect, the owner is attempting to do something productive with the space. According to the worker, no decisions have been made yet, but the owner is considering selling or leasing the space in the not-too-distant future. We’re crossing our fingers and hoping for another cheesesteak place- maybe one that only serves people who DON’T order in English?

Sigh.