Back in the fall of 2011, we first told you about plans for the Olive Townhomes at 808 Carpenter St., half a block from the Italian Market. To refresh your memory, this project includes four large new homes facing a private courtyard, each with impressive green features. At the time, the prices being bandied about were in the high-$600K range. But aside from a sign posted in the lot, there has been no movement on this project in over a year.

Exterior view

Slightly confusing site plan

But today we bring good news!  A reader gave us the heads up that there has been some action at the site at last. Some heavy machinery is there, and it looks like it’s been doing some digging. Or else it brought all the debris…

Months ago, we wondered about 734 S. 9th St., a corner commercial space that was home to the wonderful Sarcone’s before the sandwich shop moved to larger digs next door. At the time, a ‘For Rent’ sign had just come down and there was paper covering the windows.

End of October

We passed by the corner the other day, and saw that a new business has indeed opened up. As a commenter predicted so many months ago, a barbershop has taken over the space. So nice to see this corner space remain commercial and not turn into a well-located but teensy apartment.

A little blurry but you get the idea.

Anyone hear anything about the new addition to the neighborhood?

942-44 Carpenter St. is a fairly desirable parcel. The 32′x70′ (though maybe not exactly those dimensions, according to an old listing) would seem like the ideal location for a couple of new construction homes, even though the coffee shop immediately next door seems to open and go out of business every six months. However, two garages have been here for decades.

The property

Signs advertising its availability have been present on this building for a couple of years, and in 2010, GR Properties Management LLC purchased the building for $184K. There’s still a sign there, but this one is promoting the space for lease, at a rate of $1,500/month. Maybe if they want to find a tenant they’ll bother putting doors on the second garage, no? As far as we can tell, the terrible looking building has been vacant for at least a…

Like any good Philadelphian, we love Sarcone’s. We love the tomato pie, the cookies, and the seeded rolls at the bakery. And we love the enormous and delicious hoagies offered at the deli that’s just a few doors to the north of the bakery.

You may recall, a few years ago, the deli (very slowly) expanded from their corner location at 734 S. 9th St. into the commercial space next door. And then for awhile, the deli counter moved to the new space and the old deli space remained as a seating area.

A few years back

After some time, the seating area closed and the vacant space became available for rent. Recently, a reader noticed new paper up in the windows of the old space, and that a ‘For Rent’ sign had been removed.

Back in April, we told you about the likely demolition of the old Fante-Leone pool on the 800 block of Montrose Street. The pool, which has an interesting history, had been unused for years, and had plants and trees of various species growing out of it. The wonderful facade, however, remained largely intact.

The facade

A peek inside

Over the years the property was on the market, we’d hoped that a developer would step in, purchase the property, and reuse the facade for whatever redevelopment activity would take place. Regrettably, developer Benjamin Marks, who apparently purchased the property for under $150K (!), has torn down the old facade and a new building has appeared on this site.

Same view as above

Looking up Darien St.,

…

A couple of weeks ago, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported on a proposed retail project for the southeast corner of 9th & Washington, a mostly vacant lot that formerly contained a warehouse structure for the American Ice Company. Part of this warehouse was torn down years ago and replaced by a building that currently contains Anastasi Seafood. The rest of the building remained until its demolition in 2008. For more information about the building and what went on inside, click here or here.

In 1915

In 2007. Photo credit Ghost Sign Project.

The warehouse spent its final days as a blighted hulk, weighing down the southern end of the Italian Market. For years we saw this building as a key factor in the underdevelopment of 9th…