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Archive for “New Construction” news
Today in Animals: Giant Union Rat Is Now on Wheels
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/03/2013
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"This has been a helluva week for Philly's animal population. A turkey in West Philly. A celebrity dog with a cleft palate. Rats in Rittenhouse. And now a giant Johnny Doc-backed rat on wheels, fashioned out of a mini-van for $14,000. The Post Brothers' Mike Pestronk, a likely target of Rat 2.0, told the Daily News he wasn't too concerned. "We are used to being threatened with physical violence by guys standing in front of our homes. A new minivan doesn't sound like it will be a big deal." [Daily News]
WATCH: Philly Contractor Moons His Neighbors
By Joel Mathis 4/03/2013
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Honestly: I'm not entirely certain what's going on here in this not-entirely-safe-for-work video...
...except that it sure looks like there's poor relations between this Philly contractor and the people living next to his construction site in the 2300 block of Thompson Street. The Philadelinquency blog has some of the apparent back story and reports of complaints to police about damage done to neighboring properties.
What I can say with certainty: A guy pretending to talk out his ass was funny when Jim Carrey did it. And that's it. The dude in the video? Gross.
Philadelphia Zoo’s KidsZooU Opens This Month
By Tom McGrath 4/02/2013
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This is a big spring for the Zoo—your new parking garage and new children’s zoo and education center, KidsZooU, both open this month. What can we expect at the kids’ zoo?
It’s going to be phenomenal in so many different ways. It will include things that people will find familiar, but it will also have new ways in which they can experience things—seeing heritage-breed animals, or learning about sustainability, or understanding that their actions have an impact on our wildlife.
New Temple Dorm Alarmingly Flammable
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/01/2013
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For the seventh time in the past month-and-a-half, (seventh time) a 27-story high-rise dormitory Morgan Hall has caught on fire. All seven fires have been smallish, and all appear to be arsons. The latest, which was set in a trash can, occurred at the garage level. All the others were set higher up, above the 10th floor. (Rival arsonists?) Luckily for the students, there are no students yet, as the $216 million building is currently under construction.
“It’s another annoying fire that we believe the same individual or individuals are doing,” Woltemate said. “When they do get caught, they’re going to
Have Philadelphia Labor Unions Finally Been Beat?
By Steve Volk 3/13/2013
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One of Philadelphia's most watched civic dramas could be coming to a close and escalating, all at once. Developers Matt and Mike Pestronk are opening the Goldtex apartment building on Wood Street on May 1st, and they will begin taking leasing applications on Friday.
Turns Out City Probably Will Make a Profit Off AVI
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/07/2013
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Profiting off our property tax increases?! Outrageous! Oh wait, that's what we want. When the Nutter administration decided that his AVI plan would be revenue neutral, (executed instead in the name of property tax fairness), many likely had this thought: "You're raising property taxes on 60% of the population and not brining in any new money? What's the point?" Well, according to real estate experts, it seems that based on market forces, the city will indeed make some money from AVI, beginning in 2015. (Next year's assessments won't affect revenue.)
Kevin Gillen, a real-estate expert who worked as a consultant for the
“Lotgate” Czar Ed Covington Reportedly Out at City Hall
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/01/2013
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Ed Covington, who's headed the city's Redevelopment Authority (RDA) since 2010, is reportedly out at City Hall. It's unclear if he stepped down, was fired, or what. You may recall Covington as the man who sparred against Point Breeze developer Ori Feibush during last fall's "lotgate" hubbub. (Feibush cleaned up a city-owned lot, Covington threatened to sue.) For his role in the affair, Covington was targeted by both benign do-gooder petitions and savvy hacktivists. [Daily News]
Get Ready for Another Whole Foods
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 2/15/2013
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There's a Whole Foods coming to Cherry Hill, and it'll probably be built by 2014. Though that's what they said about the Whole Foods slated for 22nd and Pennsylvania, and look how that's turning out. It'll occupy the space of the old Genuardi's supermarket at the Ellisburg Circle Shopping Center. [Inquirer]
Philly’s Cheesecake Factory Monstrosity Officially On Its Way
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 2/15/2013
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Center City, you're one step closer to achieving the sterility plaguing most other metropolitan downtowns. This week, the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a developer's plans to demolish the wraparound 2-story retail space on Walnut and 15th and replace it with a glass box featuring a Cheesecake Factory. And if we're lucky, a Uniqlo. It'll join an Applebee's and Max Brenner (Bald Man) Chocolates on S. 15th's 200 block. Making this little stretch of street "KOP on 15th" as City Paper's Dan Denvir quipped in a tweet. You can get your damn cheesecake in fall 2014, probably. [Philadelphia Real Estate
Photos: The Forum Porn Theater Now Demolished
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 2/14/2013
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The Forum--the last place to catch a good porn in Center City--is now little more than a crumbling brick shell. Though the demolition is not quite complete, the roof and iconic marquee are now gone. The wrecking ball, for the record, appears to have struck sometime today. A guy sitting at the Liberty Bar next door confirmed this detail, though he was pretty drunk and called me a "douchebag" at one point, so take what he said with a grain of salt. Lucidly, however, he added that the internet was to blame for the theater's demise and that the "neighborhood's
