You may recall, we told you last month that the Royal Theater, the historic but long-vacant theater on South Street West, was for sale. Recently, we heard rumblings that the property is under contract for more than we would have expected. It seems like a pretty penny for about 11,000 sqft of vacant land plus a huge old theater that will be nearly impossible to redevelop, but what do we know?

Image from Wikipedia

What plans do the party that’s planning to purchase the Royal have for the old girl?

The bulk of the value here comes from the vacant lots, where high-end homes (and condos) can be built. As we mentioned above, the theater is the trickiest part of the parcel, as its size, historical designation, and poor condition make it a really tough building to redevelop profitably. We confess, we have…

According to a zoning application that went before the ZBA yesterday, three duplexes should soon be on the way for 1834-38 Poplar St., in Francisville. These three lots, which have been vacant for some time, were acquired by developer Mark Adams (not to be confused with Adams Mark) over the past couple of years.

Not this

But this

The application states that these will be four stories and quite tall (44′ to be exact), and will have roof decks. With that kind of height, we imagine that these will be condos, rather than rentals. And what a location to build! This could very well be the epicenter of development in Francisville at the moment.

As we’ve told you in the past, TMB Group is in the process of building five duplexes, right on the other…

A major historic building in South Philly is long overdue for redevelopment, but will it happen anytime soon?

Mt. Sinai Hospital, on the 400 block of Reed Street, was once one of the biggest and busiest hospitals in Philadelphia, towering 146 feet above the Pennsport neighborhood. Completed in 1930, the tower was constructed to end overcrowding at the hospital’s smaller and older buildings on the same site.

Former entrance

From a distance

During the last quarter of the century, the hospital declined. It was sold to Graduate Health System, which was later taken over by Allegheny Health System. Allegheny closed down the hospital less than a year after it fell under its control.

Since it was shut down in 1997, this grand art deco building has sat vacant. The building is currently owned by Mt. Sinai Partners LP, a group of local private investors…

We were in the neighborhood yesterday picking up some cheese and noticed a zoning notice at 837 Montrose St., the former Fante-Leone swimming pool.

The pool

We love this building. Well, the facade on Montrose St., at least. We wrote a post about it last year, detailing some of its history and wondering when the building would eventually sell. At the time, it was listed for $477,500 and had been on the market for a couple of years.

Let Brotherly Love Continue

When we first spied the zoning notice, we were jazzed to see the orange sign and hopeful that the developer would redevelop the site and reuse the existing facade in some creative way. Upon closer examination, this doesn’t appear to be what’s going to happen. According to the zoning notice, the developer intends…

The other day, we gave you information about the ongoing demolition and upcoming construction at 2116 Chestnut St., which will ultimately result in ground-floor retail, and 309 rental apartments. Today, we have the scoop on 2017-23 Chestnut St., the blighted former YWCA Annex building just a block away. It’s been vacant since 1991 (!).

Building looks rough

This despite its prime location

The property was acquired by the RDA in 1993, and is finally getting sold in the next few months. The buyer and developer is Aquinas Realty Partners, and they will be purchasing the property for $800K. Aquinas has some development experience in Philadelphia, having developed the Dockside Condominiums, on Delaware Ave.

According to the RDA Board Agenda for December, the developer intends to add…

Where else in Philly could you have seen The Jackson 5, The Supremes, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, BB King, and Stevie Wonder? The Uptown Theater, of course. Located at 2240 N. Broad Street, just north of Temple University, the Uptown Theater is a beautiful art deco building, built in 1929. Uptown is a 50K sqft building on the National Register of Historic Places that spans six stories- two stories of theater and balcony space, and four stories of offices.

The Uptown

And again

For many years, local and well-known music acts, jazz artists, and bands performed under Uptown’s roof. In the 1970′s, the theater’s acts began to dwindle as artists found larger venues, and the North Philly neighborhood took a distinct turn for the worse. With drugs and violence in the area,…