Transit-oriented development. It’s got a ring to it, and in places like Sweden and Denmark it’s been happening for decades. It’s the kind of urban development that provides mixed-use buildings close to transit stations, and it’s something that we’ve been only marginally successful with in Philadelphia over the years.

At 9th and Norris Streets, near Temple University, a huge lot has been razed and construction trailers and equipment are on site immediately adjacent to the Temple University regional rail station. Here, a 120-unit project called Paseo Verde Transit Village Residencies (1900 N. 9th St.) will soon rise.

The corner

Looking south at the site

In a neighborhood ripe with development, this project, on which developers broke ground in February, is slated for completion in the summer of 2013, and will feature 67 market-rate and…

We recently got an email from a reader asking about the weird vacancy on the corner of 40th and Chestnut Sts., across the street from Distrito.

Thar she blows

For those of you unfamiliar with that corner, the Hub is the prominent building anyone would notice right away. It was constructed almost five years ago on the northeast corner, replacing some low-rise commercial buildings with a ten-story mixed-use building with market-rate apartment rentals and high-end retail tenants like Distrito and Jean Madeline/Aveda Institute. The building was designed by Piatt Associates and probably splits the critics in the architectural community with its unique post-modern design. It was built by Teres Holdings LLC, through a long-term land lease with Penn- similar deals were struck with the Hanover Company, which…