A reader recently wrote in, asking about the vacant building at 1355 N Front St., across the street from El Bar. On the side of this mystery building, an old stone sign reads ‘W.M. Mulherin’s Sons.’

The sign

The building

This property went on the market back in March, and Hidden City took a tour at that time, and took some interior photos as well. According to their writeup, the property was once home to a distillery, which has clearly long since flown the coop. The inside of the property, if you take a look at their photos (and as you might guess from the look of the building on the outside) is in shell condition.

Back in 2011, the property received a variance for a coffee shop on the first floor and four apartment units. In March, another variance was granted for the addition of a roof deck. Around that time, the building went on the market for just below $400K. And in July, a new party purchased the building for $330K; a small price to pay for a piece of distilling history in Philadelphia, right?

Front of the building, El in the distance

Small park is across the street

With the recent purchase of the property, and zoning approvals already lined up for its adaptive reuse, we’d imagine it won’t be long now before this old beaut turns into the Whiskey Cafe, or the Residences at Mulherin’s, or something to that effect. How much fun the tenants are gonna have on the roof deck that will come within twenty feet of the El, that’s a question for another day. For now, we’re just happy to see another vacant property in the neighborhood become occupied once again, and for an attractive building to be reused instead of demolished.