A few days ago, we wondered about the failed Cherry Street West development on 23rd Street, between Race and Cherry. In that post, we shared a photo of the long-closed sales office, in a building just to the south of the surface parking lot that was supposed to be home to nine-hundred-thousand dollar residences. A couple of readers have reached out in the days since, wondering about the building that once contained that sales office, which is completely covered in ivy.

Green building

113-27 N 23rd St. has been owned by Herbert and Esther Samuel since at least 1953. The building (or really the collection of buildings) was part of an iron works facility that was also located across the street, where the Cherry Street West homes were going to be built. According to a couple of land use maps…

Back in January, we updated you on the progress of the renovations at Sister Cities Park, what was previously a somewhat underwhelming green space directly to the east of Logan Square. As we originally told you over a year ago, this renovation included design work from DIGSAU architects, Pennoni Associates and landscape architect Bryan Hanes. In essentially starting from scratch, this team came up with a park that’s extremely kid-friendly, and as a result should see much greater use from now on.

The park reopened a couple of months ago, and word has been slowly tricking out about this great new public space. When we dropped by the other day, there were definitely some people there, but the lack of a crowd on such a hot day indicated that plenty of folks still don’t know about this spot just yet. Check out these photos, and…

Since last May, Sister Cities Park, the easternmost patch of green space that makes up Logan Square, has been under construction. As we told you about back then, this renovation project is part of Mayor Nutter’s Green 2015 initiative as well as a part of a plan to spruce up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Site plan

With a design from DIGSAU architects, Pennoni Engineers and landscape architect Bryan Hanes, this re-imagined, kid-friendly park will include a pavilion with a cafe and community space, new greenery, a boat pond, new lighting, and a new fountain that pays tribute to Philadelphia’s ten sister cities.

Below are some renderings as well as photos of the progress to date. Is it us, or do the renderings for this new space have a similar feel to…