Weeks ago, we wondered whether a former factory at 8th & Jefferson could represent an opportunity for future redevelopment. Though the site is only a half a dozen blocks away from Temple University, and just a couple of blocks south of the still-under-construction Paseo Verde project, it still has significant limitations in terms of its development potential. For one, it’s right next to elevated Septa tracks. Additionally, hundreds of PHA homes are located immediately to the east of the property. Still, redevelopment could certainly come to this location at some point in the future.

The old factory

Around the corner from this blighted building, we recently spotted a much smaller scale project in the works which could be a sign of things to come. In the last several months, 746 W. Master St. was demolished. Don’t mourn…

In the fall, we told you about 1221 Mount Vernon St., a large parcel on the western side of the “Spring Arts” neighborhood that was on the market for a mere $1.8M. At the time, we wondered whether a developer would step forward and possibly look toward an adaptive reuse for this property which has contained an auto body shop for the last three decades, noting all the development that’s taken place in the neighborhood in recent years.

The building. Looks rough.

According to Hidden City, the property in question is over a hundred years old and was constructed as a power substation for mass transit. The building immediately next door, in fact, still fills that purpose for Septa. Standing in front of the building it’s not immediately clear where the property lines lie, but realtor Lawrence…

Now that City crews have demolished a strip of buildings at the southwest corner of Farragut and Market Streets right near the 46th Street El Station to ostensibly make way for Enterprise Heights, we wonder how much of the initial plans for this stalled-for-a-decade $75M project are part of the present plans.

Demolition, from West Philly Local

Enterprise Heights will be developed by neighborhood good guys at The Enterprise Center (TEC). A spokesperson said it is too early to comment on the project. But director Greg Heller, who is leaving TEC at the end of year, said the demolition is in preparation for the Enterprise Heights development of a four- or five-story office building with ground-floor retail. Heller offered no further comments.

It may look something like this old rendering of the project, from City Paper.

But who knows.…

The University City District (UCD) has been establishing itself as a major player in University City neighborhood relations. From the announcement of its recent plans to renovate the 40th Street Septa Trolley Portal, to their staff in leaf cleaning vehicles that travel the streets of West Philly via bike lanes, it’s hard to go somewhere along Baltimore Avenue and not see something UCD is involved with in some way.

As they have in the past, their efforts are stretching into Powelton Village, where the UCD organized and will soon implement a plan to install improved pedestrian lighting along the 3400 block of Lancaster Avenue.

34th and Lancaster

“I think the lighting plan is just another step to kind of brand Lancaster Avenue as a successful retail corridor,” said Geroge Poulin, past-president and current zoning chair of the Powelton Village Civic

…

The Philadelphia skyline as seen from I-76 East or Kelly Drive could look far different a decade from now. The entire dynamic of the city could change if some sort of connector could be built between the Art Museum area and 30th Street Station.

How such a connector might be envisioned and constructed is an item that will be explored as part of a multi-million dollar feasibility study conducted by Drexel University in conjunction with Amtrak and SEPTA, announced this month.

The huge area in question

On the ground

Drexel’s entrepreneurial president John Fry shared his vision to develop the 96-acre Schuylkill Rail Yards at 30th Street Station during a recent meeting. Fry envisions the development could be the anchor for Philadelphia’s economy for the next hundred years. It would strive to connect West Philadelphia with northwestern…

It seems logical that with a 21 percent increase in the 20- to 34-year-old population over the past dozen years in University City, and more than three dozen new businesses opening their doors in the area in 2011 alone, there is an increased demand on the public transit system that serves the area. The 34 and 13 trolleys are staples of the West Philly experience in the neighborhoods west of the 40th Street Portal.

The portal

University City District recently announced plans to renovate and transform the portal, out of which the 11, 13, 34 and 36 trolleys all head down different westbound routes, into a greened and pedestrian friendly plaza.

Closer look

Plans call for renovations to occur in two phases. The first, which could cost up to $1M, will work to improve pedestrian safety, the…