Inquirer
- City Paper says Second District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson has re-categorized some $2.2 million in Qualified Redevelopment Bonds from acquisition to rehabilitation, allowing for the renovation of up to 11 badly dilapidated shells of city-owned buildings in Point Breeze. This change in strategy comes three months after Johnson met stiff resistance in his eminent domain scheme for the neighborhood.
- Urban rhythms are changing in University City, says the Philadelphia Real Estate Blog, as four eateries have just announced their intention to set up shop in Chestnut Square by late summer. The establishments (another Shake Shack and Joe Coffee, the Japanese coZara, and the wine bar Zavino) will all lend “the new Drexel University social-residential hub” some of the flare of Rittenhouse Square and Manhattan’s Midtown Village.
- More and more neighborhoods around the city are imitating Old City’s popular First Friday art fest. NEast Philly chats with Bill Becker, the chairman of Mayfair’s “Third Thursday Arts Initiative,” who has just begun to teach the neighborhood’s children the basics of drawing technique.
- With automatic cuts to federal appropriations eminent if Congress fails to strike a budget deal, NewsWorks looks at how officials at Independence National Historic Park would manage. For one, half of the sixteen buildings maintained by the Park would be closed to the public.
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
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The city should sell those properties for development but fixing them up is better than buying more to sit on and hurt the neighborhood.
Wow. $200,000 per rehab. Are they going to be getting gold-plated appliances down there?
This is sadly just another sound bite. The properties being suggested for renovation will cost more to repair than building new construction. The City has held them for far too many decades and they are now in disrepair….the end product will be more un-affordable affordable housing.
Similarly, how can a Councilman “change his mind” after condemning someone’s property? Is this just an oops, my bad? $1,000,000 in tax payer dollars was spent condemning real estate that was ready to be built on…..is the money he was claiming was there to build on those lots no longer available? Was any thought put into condemning vacant land or was the Councilman just flexing his muscles?