In Center City, the building at 1 South Broad Street represents the fruit of investment, and it might be an indication that the Center City market is prime like a rare London broil. Also known as the Lincoln-Liberty or the PNB building, 1 South Broad is now on the market and could sell for between $70M and $75M, the Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) reports. Meanwhile, the new AVI tax assessments indicate that the building is worth only $64M.

1 South Broad

A private New York firm led by David Werner, according to the PBJ, purchased the building in April 2003, for $48M. Looks like Mr. Werner will have a handsome profit coming his way. Home to a Borders for about a decade, a Walgreens will soon appear in a large, multi-story retail space here.

The PBJ says that it’s possible that additional Center City…

The Benjamin Franklin House is one of the more elegant living solutions in Center City. Occupying the Southeast corner of 9th & Chestnut, the residential building and mega-ballroom are collectively referred to by familiars as The Ben. As its name implies, the site has an intimate relationship with the city’s history as well as a somewhat lengthy list of former occupants. According to Bryn Mawr College, occupants through the early and mid 19th century included Cook’s Circus and Chinese Museum (1838), Burton’s National Theatre (1841), and John Mustin Jr. Trimmings, Threads, Bindings, Fringes, etc. store. The last of these is shown here below in an 1851 sketch taken from Philadelphia Buildings.

Mustin Trimmings, get your threads, bindings and fringes here in 1851

The building that housed these three prior occupants burned to the ground in 1854. For at least…

Last fall, we told you about plans to replace the play areas at Seger Park at 10th & Lombard. At that time, the playground equipment had been torn out and the playground looked a little barren.

Back in September

Well, the construction in the park finished up back in January, and the kiddies have been enjoying the new setup ever since. And with the weather (slowly, slowly) warming back up, it’s fair to expect the number of kids having the time of their lives to steadily increase in the coming weeks and months. And why not? The new playground look great.

From a distance

Closer look at big kid area

Play area for younger children

If you’re looking for an excuse to visit the still-new park, might we…

Pain Center, we hardly knew ye. And we’ll hardly miss he, either.

About a year ago, we first brought you news that developer Virgil Procaccino would be purchasing the Pain Center, at 12th and Lombard Sts., and replacing it with six new homes. Over the past couple of months, demolition has taken place at the site and the building is no more. While the name of the now-destroyed building provided us with some laughs over the years, we can’t say we’ll miss the brutalist structure that held down this corner for over four decades.

It's gone now

Like we told you

In case you’ve forgotten, the developer has been in the business since the 1970s, and has done design work for Joan Shepp and Stephen Starr among others, as well as The…

A year and a half ago, we gave you the rundown on the extremely sketchy disappearance of Tweed from their popular and well appointed Wash West location. For nearly a year, the space at 114 S. 12th St. sat vacant, with little activity to speak of; that is until Michael Klein shed some light on the subject last spring. According to Klein, it seems that Brian Harrington and Gary Cardi, of City Tap House and Public House (NYC) respectively, have plans to open Pennsylvania-6 in the space, and with a target opening date of fall 2012.

The space

You’ve surely noticed that fall has passed and January has set in, with no opening for Pennsylvania-6. According to Foobooz, activity has been taking place of late at the site, and the revised…

The building at 919 Walnut St, identified by lettering on the edifice as the Robert Morris Building, is not to be mistaken with the Robert Morris Building apartments at 17th and Arch. This far more modestly sized building does have its own unique history though.  At one time the residence for the prominent Francis Fisher family, the building made its first mark on the city’s landscape as the William D. Rogers Son & Co. Carriage Factory.  The image here below, taken from G.W. Bromley’s 1895 Philadelphia Atlas shows 919 Walnut St. during this occupancy.

William. D. Rogers Son & Co. Carriage Factory, 1895

According to Coach Built, Rogers Son & Co. was “one of the nation’s largest and most prominent carriage builders of the mid to late 19th century [and] they made quite a few bodies for automobiles before their demise . . . as…