Just about anyone who’s walked around Philadelphia for a day would agree that we live in a city of murals. Whether they’re sprucing up blank walls downtown or serving as placeholders until vacant land can be developed, these works of public art make our city more vibrant, more interesting, and more cultured. In addition, the Mural Arts Program has impacted the lives of thousands of kids over the years, working both as an educational institution and as a community service program for juvenile delinquents.

Winter: Crystal Snowscape in Bella Vista

We mostly find ourselves reporting on murals being covered up by new development, like “Autumn,” once located two blocks away from the mural pictured above, or the Noam Chomsky mural now covered on Fairmount Avenue. So it brings us special pleasure to take the opposite approach today and tell…

In Logan Square, there are relatively few development opportunities to be found. Having been so well-established for decades, the neighborhood has few vacant properties and even less vacant land. So it should come as no surprise that a couple of developers looking to construct multi-unit developments find themselves having to demolish a couple of older buildings in order to accomplish the task at hand.

First, we look at the northwest corner of 21st & Race, where a former School District building is nearly gone. This structure had been a part of the Please Touch Museum, which moved to Memorial Hall a few years ago, but has sat vacant since the move. Last September, we told you about plans from Matzi Builder and Developers to build eight new ultra-high-end homes here, with list prices exceeding $1M. We don’t know what the homes will look like,…

We were zipping around Francisville, snapping photos of all the development in the neighborhood, and were surprised to see a newly framed home at 1743 Cambridge St.

From a distance

Closer look

Doing a little research, we discovered that Concord Business Management LLC is building a duplex here, with a parking space in the rear. It’s unclear whether these units will be condos or rentals, but there’s no question that this building is an important addition to this block. The reason it’s so important? There’s basically nothing else here.

Looking east from the new home

Four homes can be found on the eastern end of this block, and then there are twelve (!) vacant lots in a row before you get to this new construction. We always figured that this block was…

It’s true that Francisville has seen a tremendous amount of new construction in recent years. Many blighted properties have been replaced by new homes, and plenty of vacant lots have been filled in. Despite all of this, there is still plenty of blight and vacancy that remains in the neighborhood, especially on several blocks close to Ridge Avenue. Take, for example, the 1600 block of Ogden Street.

Last month, north side

Last month, south side

Over the past six weeks, however, this block has experienced some positive changes, with hopefully more to come. Citi Properties LLC owns three parcels on the north side of this block, and has broken ground on two duplexes so far. 1619 Ogden St. has already been framed out, and foundations have been poured at 1611 Ogden St. for another duplex. 1607 is…

In Francisville, the development seems to keep on coming. From four quadplexes at 16th and Poplar, to the major 55-unit Project H.O.M.E. development at Fairmount & Ridge, to a 35-unit development around 19th and Poplar, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. And as we were checking out the progress of some of these larger developments, we spotted a row of fluorescent orange ZBA apps posted at a vacant lot at 19th & Brown.

The lot

The project seeks to create four new triplexes, each one with its own roof deck and pilot house. The lots are owned by the Loonstyns, the developers responsible for the 35 aforementioned units and various other local projects, like the one developed last year at Fairmount and Uber Streets, where Mughsots now occupies a ground-floor retail location. Loonstyn Development acquired the four properties for $440K last July, according to public…

We stumbled upon some new construction the other day, on a block we’ve visited several times in the last couple of years. Back in 2009, the 1200 block of Mount Vernon Street looked like this:

Empty space

After three projects filled in some of the vacant space on this block, the largest remaining gap is now being filled at 1205-07 Mount Vernon St. with a double-wide, extra-deep building with five units and parking in the front. Check it out.

Looking west

Full frontal

Developers DSB Holding Co LLC purchased the lot earlier this year for a surprising $385K, leading us to believe that these units will be sold as condos, like Camac Court just down the street. Looking over the permits, only three of the units will apparently have parking.…