2nd Street, between Spring Garden and Girard, transforms from a standard city street into an extra-wide, Nascar track for most of its length in Northern Liberties. Only one block in the neighborhood, between Spring Garden and Fairmount, retains its original width. Not surprisingly, there’s quite a bit of retail on this block, including the delicious Koo Zee Doo, the earthy Soy Cafe, and the incomparable Very Bad Horse. And it seems that there will soon be another addition to this stretch.

612 N 2nd St

A currently vacant lot is set to become a new four-story building, with a commercial space on the first floor, and one apartment unit on each floor above. These apartments should be fairly sizable, as the lot occupies a healthy 2,000 sqft. In addition to the building, there will be two parking…

Late last week, the Arden Theatre announced a planned expansion, with plans for a new 22,000 sqft facility at 62 N 2nd St., a few doors to the north of their main building.

Arden Theatre

Formerly the location of the Classic Lighting Emporium, this building was purchased by the Arden for $1.5M back in 2010. And in the near future, this building will become the Hamilton Family Arts Center and will allow the Arden to expand programming, especially for children and families.

Future Hamilton Family Arts Center

Currently, Arden Drama School lessons are taught all over their current building, including in the lobby and backstage. With 450 performances taking place over the course of the year, space constraints have become more of a challenge in recent years. This new expansion will…

We’ve wondered about the northeast corner of 2nd and Brown Sts. for years, curious as to why nobody has yet developed the self-proclaimed “Best Corner Left in Northern Liberties.” This location was once the home to the NoLibs Meat building, but has been a vacant lot for years. According to public record, 712 N 2nd Street LLC purchased the property in 2003, but lost it to foreclosure in 2009. The property was finally purchased from the bank at the end of 2010. This, in part, could explain why nothing has happened on this lot for so many years.

The vacant lot

In November, and then again in December, developer and realtor Chris Richetti presented a plan for this parcel to the NLNA zoning committee. In December, according to zoning chair Larry Freedman, Richetti presented a plan for a six story…