Queen's Walk: a New Townhouse Development at 5th and Montrose

nakedphilly.com

Naked Philly has pictures of a new 16 unit development in the works on the edge of Queen Village and Bella Vista.  Apparently the plans are for 2200 to 2600 square foot 3 bedrooms.  Too bad these aren't in the Meredith Catchment!

Subway to Navy Yard

navyyard.org

Philadelphia's 2035 plan apparently calls for the subway to run to the Navy Yard.  Even though the plan is 25 years off, According to Plan Philly, the SEPTA director says it is not going to happen unless there is residential development.  Apparently the 1.5 mile extension would cost between 500 and 800 million.  If money isn't an issue, I would really like to focus on a subway line outside of the current frustrating perpendicular model.

Northern Liberties Grocery Store Drama

photo: philly.com

A beautiful new building has been built on the border of popular Northern Liberties and Fishtown now it just needs businesses to fill it.  This prime real estate shouldn't be difficult to fill but the parent company of the building's flagship occupant is in bankruptcy and now the much anticipated grocery space is sitting empty.  Developer Bart Blatstein has moved to force Path Mark to act on or turn down the lease.  Rumors are about that Blatstein already has plans with a popular grocer to open a location in the space this summer.  According to today's Philadelphia Inquirer article, Blatstein has been unable to lease the other spaces in the development without the main space being occupied.  I know many area residents are anxiously anticipating the resolution of this issue and hopefully they are one step closer to getting their grocer.

Paris Street Fair on Broad

On April 30th the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts is turning Broad Street (between Chestnut and Lombard) into a Parisian Street Fair complete with ferris wheel and a park (with grass!).  The celebration concludes the International Arts Festival which began April 7th.  The Fair will begin at 11 A.M. on April 30th and will conclude at 8:00.  Some bloggers have received the street fair negatively, but I can't help but be excited about it.  Details at PIFA.org

Arch Street United Methodist Church to Get New Neighbor

Photo: PlanPhilly

According to Plan Philly, a developer has gotten City Council's approval to build a parking garage/retail space next to the Arch Street United Methodist Church at Juniper and Arch.  The next hurdle for the developers is to get the building permit which is contingent on approval of their plans for the building.  Apparently there was concern that a huge parking garage wasn't the best use of that much prominent city land, but plans to develop the nearby Liberty Title Building seemed to sweeten the deal enough for City Council.

Philadelphia Weekly publishes Philly's Top 50 Bars

photo:beeradvocate.com

Apparently Philadelphia Weekly has done the thankless job of trying out dozens of Philly's bars in order to compile its list of the best 50.  The job didn't fall on only one liver.  A team of contributers worked on the story.  The result is a fairly comprehensive list of a variety of establishments.  The only real diversity that seems to be lacking is location.  Eighty percent of the bars on the list come from the conventional N. liberties, Center City, South Philly corrider.  Below are the list's top ten:

1. Grace Tavern, 2229 Grays Ferry Avenue
2. N. Third, 801 N. Third Street
3. Good Dog Bar, 224 S. 15th
4. Sugar Mom's 225 Church Street
5. McMenamin's Taver, 7170 Germantown Avenue
6. Standard Tap, 901 N. 2nd
7. Royal Tavern, 937 East Passyunk Ave
8. For Pete's Sake, 900 S. Front Street
9. Oscar's Tavern, 1524 Sansom
10. Raven Lounge, 1718 Sansom

Spring Window Box Inspiration

My window boxes have been sitting neglected since the fall and I am eagerly anticipating a Spring update.  From my limited research I have learned our last frost typically comes around mid April, so we are getting pretty close to safe planting time.  Below are some of my favorite web pictures of Spring Window boxes.

Seatle-daily-photo.blogspot.com

mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com

hookandlattice.com

flosvintage.blogspot.com