Less than a week ago, we told you about the sudden end for the Forum Theater and Les Gals, two vestiges of a bygone era of when people actually used to leave their homes for their smut. At the time, we wondered whether these shutdowns near 22nd & Market were merely temporary or a more permanent end to their seedy presence.

The Forum

Les Gals

According to a post last night on Philly.com, the porn appears to be gone forever at these locations. Anthony Trombetta, who operated both of the businesses, was evicted over $29K in unpaid rent by landlords STB Investments. It’s amazing to consider the dramatic shift that’s occurred in a very short time, as it was less than three years ago that it seemed likely that the Forum would

It appears we could be seeing redevelopment at the old West Philadelphia High School very soon.

The school

A bid from New York-based Strong Place Partners (SPP) to purchase and renovate the building at 4700 Walnut St. into a mixed-use development featuring studio apartments and lofts aimed at graduate and junior faculty at nearby universities will have to be voted on by its School Reform Commission (SRC) before any further action can occur.

The school district is working towards including the item on its December 20 Action Committee meeting, according to spokesperson Dierdre Darragh.

According to the West Philly Local, SPP president Andrew Bank, a native of the Philadelphia suburbs whose grandmother attended the school, presented a plan that seeks to restore as much of the building’s character and infrastructure as possible, including one of the…

Plans seem to be moving ahead for 1441 Chestnut St., once slated to be a $420M Waldorf-Astoria before national and local real estate markets collapsed in 2008, fainting like depleted runners low on nutrients and water. New developers appeared before the Center City Residents Association at its August 28 zoning meeting, and members of the committee voted not to oppose the project. And according to a report in yesterday’s Inquirer, the project has all necessary approvals to move forward.

The lot

Updated plans include two major changes to the former 2008 Waldorf plans, according to CCRA president Jeff Braff. The first is all parking will be below-grade, instead of the proposed seven-level above-grade plan associated with the Waldorf. And instead of 59 stories of both hotel and residential units, plans now call for a 52 story hotel with…

As we were walking over to Quick Fixx the other night for some quick but delicious dinner, we noticed some new signage at 1609 South St., most recently home of Pumpkin Market. You may recall, this business moved across the street to 1610 South St. a couple of years ago, consolidating with another Pumpkin enterprise, resulting into a combo market/cafe. Since then, the space has sat vacant. But not for long.

From the west

Closer look

Your eyes don’t deceive you. Pure Fare, the casual take-out place at 21st & Walnut, is opening a second location on South Street West. This new location will obviously be smaller than their first place, with room for up to fifteen people inside. There will be some seating, and…

Last summer, we attended a Toll Bros. presentation, highlighting their plans for the long vacant Stamper Square/New Market site, in Society Hill. While that session was for information only, and no vote was taken at the time, we got the sense that the community generally supported this project, in contrast to the reactions of near neighbors to the last proposal for this site, a fifteen-story boutique hotel plus condos.

View from above

New site plan

Last week, Toll Bros. came to the community again, this time with more concrete plans for 410 S. Front St., along with some sparkly renderings. Toll intends to build a four story condo building, with a huge green roof and a large roof deck. Some private courtyards and one public courtyard are also included in the proposal.…

A reader gave us the heads up about 2050 and 2052 Ellsworth Street, two properties currently under construction in Point Breeze. One home is being rehabbed, while the other is new construction. Let’s see what these homes looked like a couple of years ago:

In the past

Current view

As if the unfortunate new facade wasn’t an indication, 2050 Ellsworth St. is apparently being redeveloped by an individual, not a developer. If we’re not mistaken, this particular property has been under construction for quite some time, and sported a bare cinderblock facade for several months. The current owner bought the property in 2004 for $16,600, and we’re guessing he’s intending to sell it once the rehab is complete.

2052 Ellsworth St., on the other hand, was torn down by developer Gold Coast Contractors after they purchased it…