In Rittenhouse

The vacant lot on the 1900 block of Walnut Street, across from Rittenhouse Square, has embarrassing the neighborhood for over twenty years. Over the years, a variety of possible projects have come down the pike for this property, including a large parking lot and movie theater project from the PPA.Current

What a slog it's been for the northwest corner of 17th & South. For years, this large and prominent lot sat vacant.In the pastIt was therefore with great excitement that, in the summer of 2011, we shared the news that developers were planning a new mixed-use building for this address.

Many months ago, we attended a Center City Residents' Association meeting at which the developers for the Hudson Hotel presented plans for their proposed project at the corner of 17th & Chancellor. The plan called for the demolition of the four-story building which not only contains a parking garage but

Chestnut Street has seen a serious retail revival in recent years, marking a major recovery from the damage caused by the Chestnut Street Transitway (and Philly's general malaise through the early 1990s). Stores like Uniqlo and Nordstrom Rack have opened their first downtown locations on Chestnut. Joan Shepp, seeking more

We've been fascinated by old movie theaters for as long as we can remember. There's just something about that old marquee that transports us to a time long before we were born, before megaplexes, when movie premieres were a thing and people actually got dressed up to go to see

We've gotten some questions in recent weeks about construction taking place at 1506-08 Spruce St., a commercial building that's struggled to keep tenants. For a long time, there was a pizza place at the corner of Hicks & Spruce. We can remember an Italian place holding down one of the

When we last checked in on the McIlhenny Mansion at 1914-16 Rittenhouse Square St., owner Bart Blatstein had gotten approvals from the Historical Commission to demolish a curved one-story facade at 1916 Rittenhouse Square and replace it with a four-story addition. The project also included the demolition of the actual mansion but the preservation of its historic

In the core Center City neighborhoods, it's intuitive that we don't see the same development activity that we see in neighborhoods like Brewerytown, Francisville, and Kensington. So when there are three projects to mention on a single block in the Rittenhouse neighborhood, it's quite an unexpected treat. But that's just

For many years, Walnut Street has been Center City's ritziest commercial corridor, the place that every high-end retailer wants to sell their wares. Still, a few holdouts have stubbornly remained, resembling a sore thumb more and more as time has passed. Several tenants at the attractive building at 1501 Walnut

With the weather taking a turn for the warmer (at last!), we find that we're spending a little more time outside, enjoying public spaces. Schuylkill River Park is one of the better ones in Center City, with a big dog park, basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, and a connection