I don’t mind the look of that steam plant at all. It think our industrial buildings such as power stations and factories have their own aesthetic which add some interest and diversity to this city that once branded itself the ‘Workshop of the World’. Not every street can be leafy and green, and potential buyers may have no problem with an industrial look to their block. Or I could be crazy.

I just don’t understand why people will pay top dollar to live in the shadow of that power plant. Good luck to ‘em though.

I choose to drive by it every day.  And I love the view of it framed by rowhomes on either side looking North on 27th St.  But I wouldn’t want to live next to it.  It’s just out of scale for a residential area.

I really doubt it.  What would replace it?  There is so much infrastructure there tied to it and PECO is endlessly upgrading that infrastructure.  It also burns bunker oil, so any other use of that parcel would likely require extensive environmental remediation.  

Not to mention the fact that PECO, a notoriously cheap company, happens to be owned by Chevron and I doubt either of them plan on spending that kind of money to build a new power plant elsewhere.

 Exelon, not Chevron.

[...] on the fringe of the neighborhood. While this property isn’t in the Devil’s Pocket, like the homes we told you about last week, it’s also extremely close to the Veolia Plant as well as the CSX tracks. Will that deter [...]

The plant is loud and smelly, actually. Not constantly smelly, but several times a year the blocks closest to the plant are enveloped in a diesel/heating oil smell. I looked at a house on the 2400 block of Carpenter, and it was one of those days. I bought a few blocks farther east instead.

I live a block up from the power plant and I don’t consider the constant “hum” loud. It has become white noise. Yes, when we first moved here several years ago, the air had an almost constant smell from Trigen, now Veolia. With constant phone calls by neighbors to Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, Trigen was fined and the smell is gone. 

The PECO plant is to be retired… http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120118006151/en/PECO-Invests-60-Million-Philadelphia-Substation

wow.  That’s huge news.  I wonder what that means for the near future of this land?

The PECO substation (the transformer farm) is to be retired.  The Veolia plant is to be unaffected and continue operation.  So not much of an impact.

[...] recently and is set for significant change in the coming years. Back in March, we told you about three condo units under construction near the far end of the block, and those homes are now complete. Recently, construction got [...]