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…

Two summers back, we wondered about the numerous vacancies on the 600 block of South Street, noting a couple of large and empty spaces that once held national retail tenants. Slowly, though, new businesses have trickled onto the block, replenishing some of the corridor’s lost vibrancy.

Two years ago

Only a few months after our post, European Republic opened at 602 South St., which was vacant for years after a wonderful burrito place closed its doors. Meanwhile, Starr collaboration Serpico is set to open its doors at 604 South St. sometime next month.

Current view

Now, according to an article in the Inquirer from last month, the largest space on the block is set to reopen its doors. 610 South St. has been home to many different businesses over…

A thread popped up on Philadelphia Speaks the other day, sharing the news that Murray’s Steaks and Other Fine Foods, located at 26th & Girard, had closed its doors. Based on the commentary from several posters who seem to live in the neighborhood, Murray’s wasn’t exactly serving up particularly high quality fare.

No more Murray's

From the west

As you can see in the photos above, Murray’s was located in a rather unattractive one-story building that was clearly built in recent decades. We believe that the Fairmount Theater once stood here, but we can’t find very much information about it online except that it existed and was located at this intersection. But now the old building is lost and we’re left with what you see now.

In all likelihood, the owners of this property will…

A down home sandwich-serving neighborhood lunch place is slated to open sometime in the next few months on the southern edge of Queen Village. The commercial space at 525 Washington Ave. has been a vanilla shell since the building was constructed over a year ago.

On the right

It will mean the introduction of a different kind of eatery to this street, which mostly features ethnic establishments representing various corners of the globe. That it is a new kind of restaurant contributed to the support for a needed variance to operate at the location. Members of the Queen Village Neighbors Association (QVNA) supported the project, despite what zoning chair Mike Hauptman described as serious concerns from neighbors. The concerns, it seems, have been addressed.

Closer look at the space

Neighbors voiced concerns about trash, and staffers

…

We’ve had reason to find ourselves on Fairmount Avenue a lot in recent months, and at some point we discovered the wonderful Rybread. We’ve tried several of their sandwich offerings, and we can honestly say that the only problem we can identify with the place is that there aren’t nearly enough places to sit.

Rybread

In an effort to address what we imagine is a fairly common bit of feedback, the folks who own Rybread are going ahead and opening a second location, according to Foobooz. The new establishment, tabbed to open in late April, will be located at 2816 W. Girard Ave., on a block we’ve profiled a couple of times in the past (and yes, the building across the street next to Mugshots is still blighted). The new location will have the…

Over the past year or so, a new thirty-three unit apartment building has been going up at 15th & Fairmount, replacing an old seafood warehouse and a former nuisance bar. We’ve brought some updates to you over that time, most recently in an incidental fashion when we checked in last month on the Project H.O.M.E. development that’s progressing across the street.

In the background

When the new project was originally presented, it didn’t include the vacant corner parcel, and had no retail elements. A few months after groundbreaking, the interesting building that formerly housed Princes Fairmount 1500 was demolished and three more apartments and a commercial space were added to the project. The construction isn’t finished just yet, but the retail space is currently being listed by Precision Realty Group.

From the corner