Greening the Grid, the winning team in the residential element of the Soak It Up! challenge, envisioned retrofits in Queen Village that would plant more trees along residential streets, connect those streets with corner parks, and connect those parks with larger community greenspaces in the neighborhood and across the city. Their submission can serve as model for just about every neighborhood in town.

Greener map of Queen Village

“It won’t be successful at the end of the day if you take a vacant lot in Queen Village and turn it into a rain garden,” said Kristen Knese, senior marketing coordinator at The Olin Studio, and one of the members of the winning residential team, about how to retrofit a residential area with stormwater management infrastructure. While it seems simple enough to improve stormwater management in a residential setting, say by fabricating…

A couple of years ago, Scoot2You opened at 747 S. 4th St., offering a combination gallery space and scooter rental store to Fabric Row. Not only was the opening of the business noteworthy in the sense that they were introducing a cool concept, but also because they were opening in a space that have been vacant for at least the previous five years.

In 2011

Regrettably, Scoot2you couldn’t make it work at this location, moving to a new location in Old City in less than a year’s time. And so this space again sat vacant, though it seems as though it won’t be empty for long.

New sign in the window

According to the sign we spotted in the window the other day, 4 Shore Swimwear Boutique will be taking over this…

It’s been about a year since we checked in on Queen’s Walk, a sixteen-home development at 5th & Montrose that was built to sell, but ended up as rentals in the end. These homes were built where a dessert-topping manufacturer once stood, and across the street from where several blocks of PHA homes continue to stand.

The homes

Homes on Montrose

Looking at the renderings of this project from architects JKR Partners, it looked as though the fenced-in area next to the drive-aisle would be a green space for residents of the homes. Turns out that this is not the case at all.

Green in the corner

Earlier this month, QVNA (and the ZBA the next day) approved a project to construct three additional homes at the…

A couple of years ago, we wondered about a vacant commercial space at the corner of 3rd & Catharine. Most recently home to a software company, this corner may soon be home to a new coffee and crepe shop, the third coffee shop in a roughly two block radius. Despite some opposition from neighbors, members of the Queen Village Neighbors Association (QVNA) agreed to support a variance for the shop with a proviso limiting operating hours from 6am to 8pm Sunday through Thursday, and until 9pm on Friday and Saturday. Trees will also be planted alongside either corner of the café as an additional proviso.

The building

“There’s a couple of neighbors who aren’t real happy,” said Mike Hauptman, of the QVNA zoning committee. “But I think it’s because they don’t want any more commercial on the corner.”

A new coffee…

A year ago, we first told you about Weccacoe Flats, a three-unit project planned for 817-19 S. 5th St. in Queen Village. Brought to you by the folks who built Bancroft Green, the flats replace two homes that were built nearly two-hundred years ago, but have been vacant for quite some time.

In the past

Checking in this week, we saw that the old homes are gone, and the flats have been framed out. And taking a peek at the listings for the three units, which ranged in price from $627,500 to $725,000, we saw that all three of the flats are under contract. Wowza.

Moving along

Rendering looks a little different than reality

Yesterday, we passed along the news that Sneaker Villa, a national shoe and apparel chain, would be taking over the large space on the 600 block of South Street that was last home to a Walgreens. Today, we have news of another national chain on the horizon for a recently vacated space just a couple of blocks away.

The building

For decades, Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant Supply held down this corner of 5th & Bainbridge & Passyunk, offering restauranteurs and neighbors alike a chance to purchase commercial-grade kitchen wares in a very unique environment. Whether you enjoyed the friendly service, the challenge of locating what you were looking for, or the old timey cash register, this store truly had something for everyone. Especially those looking for the odd coffee airpot, chef’s knife, or china set for ten. In conjunction with the