A reader shot us an email the other day, wondering what’s going on at 1218 N 30th St., a corner property which recently had its facade removed. Because it’s what we do, we made our way to Brewerytown over the weekend to check it out.

In the past

Current view

As you can see from the liquor license application in the first photo, this space was once home to a bar. According to a listing for the property from back in 2005, a bar made its home here for at least a couple of decades. Names that we found doing some perfunctory online searches included the Sultry Lounge and Dwayne’s Lounge. Apparently the second floor was also a dance venue at some point. Has anyone out there visited this place in any of these incarnations?

Anyway, a…

Heading through South Philly the other day, our attention was grabbed by four different projects over a mere three blocks on 17th Street in Point Breeze. All are residential developments, with one that makes an aesthetic statement that really catches the eye.

First, an update on three homes at 17th & Latona that we first told you about back in February. When we last checked in here two months ago, developer Turloque Hart had the homes pretty much framed out. Now, facades are finished and interior work is progressing. According to the listings, the homes will be finished in the middle of next month. They’re listed just shy of $340K, fyi.

Moving fast

Across the street, a hole recently appeared at 1244 S. 17th St., where AGA Developers LLC will be building a single family home. Next to…

Last summer, we brought 1101-03 Frankford Ave. to your attention, noting that the blighted building represented a stalled residential conversion project that was unfortunately tied up with litigation and delinquent taxes. This building was quite a bit of history, having been home to a hosiery mill and an elevator factory at different points over the years.

Last summer

A few weeks ago, a reader checked in and told us that dumpsters had appeared outside this property, and it was apparently being gutted. An interior demolition permit from last month would seem to confirm this diagnosis.

Last week

Apparently, the building got some new owners right before we wrote our post last August, only this wasn’t reflected in public record until several months later. Real Estate 1101 Frankford LLC got a serious deal, purchasing the building at sheriff’s sale…

At 1836 Delancey St., on the corner of one of the most regal blocks of Center City, sits a property that was given to General George Gordon Meade and his wife for his service in the Civil War. He died in the house in 1872.

The home

The current structure is listed as being built in 1885, indicating this likely isn’t the true iteration of the building the General called home. The plain, red-painted brick building stands as an end cap to the picturesque street, with Meade’s name carved above the entryway on South 19th Street. The haphazard and unkempt paint job, its plain red wall with awkwardly spaced windows, and its overall bleak appearance are out of place for the block. The building retains some early-20th century detail in the partially damaged leaded glass windows. It…

Last week, we checked in on several ongoing new construction projects in the Brewerytown neighborhood. Some of these houses were replacing vacant land, while in other cases blighted homes were demolished to make room for the new construction. In either case, these projects represent important progress for an area that still has a stunning number of vacant properties.

Two new homes on 31st Street

But it seems that Steph-Sin, the developers for the homes pictured above at 31st & Baltz, are not just in the new construction business. Just around the corner from these homes, this developer is in the middle of a renovation job on the 3000 block of W. Stiles Street, a block with a ton of vacant homes.

In the past

Current view

According to…

Standing directly across the street from Irish Pub, 2006 Walnut St. is a beautiful building that is currently being gutted for rehab. Signage out front declares funding for luxury apartments to fill the current structure. The building, added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1995, is quite large at over 11K sqft. Seen here in a photo dated November of 1979, the property stands between the Rittenhouse Garage entrance to the east and a line of other grand row homes to the west, many of which are mixed-use properties.

The building

It's gross across the street

Built in 1888 by wine importer and merchant William Cochran for his residence, 2006 Walnut Street was designed by architect Theophilus Parsons Chandler. This limestone building is briefly recognized in a document from the National Register of…