Not even two months ago, we regaled you with tales of a couple of new homes going up on the blocks adjacent to Dickinson Square Park. At the end of the post, we mentioned that a couple of lots on the corner of 4th & Dickinson were under contract, and had not even been on the market for a month. (Note: the pair sold for $155K)

In the past

Just the other day, we passed by and noticed that foundations had appeared at 1500-02 S. 4th St. in what must have been the last couple of weeks. Amazing!

Less greenery now

Two single family homes will soon rise from these foundations, turning yet this pair of formerly vacant lots into new residents of the neighborhood and new customers for nearby Grindcore House.…

A reader checked in the other day, and gave us the heads up about two homes under construction on the 1500 block of S. 4th St., steps away from Dickinson Square Park. You may recall, this park recently underwent a significant renovation which has resulted in the already popular park gaining even more fans, especially in the kiddie community. We stopped by the area and spotted two foundations at 1529-31 S. 4th St.

Foundations

Full frontal

We’ve seen some small-scale development in this area in recent years, with several one-off new construction rentals going up on 4th and 5th Streets. In addition, a shuttered corner space recently came to life in the form of a new corner store, according to the reader who reached out to us. Most important, in our estimation, is the vegan…

Perhaps you’ve been on one of the many house tours through Philly neighborhoods. While others were admiring the details in grand Victorians and nooks and crannies of restored row homes, you were peering through the kitchen window to see if your neighbor’s cherry peppers were plumper than yours. Well then, you might want to check out the second annual South Philly Garden Tour on September 8.

Garden mural

The South Philly Food Co-op is organizing the self-guided tour of 20 home and community gardens. The $20 tickets ($25 on the day of) will support the group’s efforts to establish a cooperative grocery store specializing in local, organic, and whole foods. You can buy tickets at Urban Jungle (sustainable gardening center on East Passyunk near 11th), Ultimo Coffee (cafe in Newbold at 15th and Mifflin), Grind Core House (vegan coffee shop at 4th and…

A reader tipped us off to a new house being built on the corner of Lawrence & Tasker Sts., which we confirmed earlier today. This site was a vacant lot for many years, owned by the city since 2004. For a vacant, city owned lot, it didn’t look so terrible…

In the past

As we’ve mentioned in the past, an online bidding program implemented by the Department of Public Property has resulted in the sale of a few dozen city-owned properties over the past couple of years. The recently sold 1121 Catharine St. is a fine example of this program working successfully. While the program has its flaws (an entirely closed bidding process, for example), it’s definitely a step in the right direction, considering the staggeringly long list of vacant, city owned properties.

This particular lot was…