Category Archives: Shell Properties

In North and West Philadelphia, two urban renewal plans move forward | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future

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Community organizations in North and West Philadelphia came a step closer this week to turning blocks of mostly vacant or abandoned properties into new housing, a health and wellness center and a mixed-use development.

The Philadelphia Planning Commission Tuesday approved an amendment to the Model Cities Urban Renewal Plan, authorizing the redevelopment authority to acquire 54 properties on the block bounded by 21st and 22nd streets, Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Nicholas Street in North Philadelphia. Project H.O.M.E plans to build a health and wellness center in cooperation with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The commission also approved the acquisition of 2804 West Oakdale Street, which will become part of a Philadelphia Housing Authority residential development project.

via In North and West Philadelphia, two urban renewal plans move forward | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future.

1507 Catharine

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This is an interesting story indeed, folks.
See below for a bit of history on this property:

  • 7/11/2003 – Condemned by the RDA, along with 35 other properties in the area, known as South Central UDA – Condemnation No. 15A.
  • 4/8/2004 – A Memorandum of Redevelopment Agreement, executed 5/27/2003, between the RDA and Universal Real Estate Development Company was recorded.  In the Memorandum, Universal agrees to develop the 36 parcels as agreed with the RDA.
  • 4/8/2004 – A Parcelization Agreement, executed 10/27/2003, between the RDA and Universal Real Estate Development Company was recorded.  In the Parcelization Agreement, Universal and the RDA agree to delete 12 properties from the Memorandum of Redevelopment.
  • 4/8/2004 – A Memorandum of Amended and Restated Development Agreement, executed 3/1/2004,  between the RDA and Universal Real Estate Development Company was recorded.
  • 4/8/2004 – First Amendatory Agreement Between the RDA and Universal, executed 3/1/2004, is recorded.  This Agreement eliminates another property (759 S. 17th Street) from the project and amends the Purchase Price to $1,725,000, with a mortgage from the RDA.
  • 4/8/2004 – Second Amendatory Agreement Between the RDA and Universal, executed 3/1/2004, is recorded.  This Agreement eliminates another property (761 S. 17th Street) from the project and amends the Purchase Price to $1,650,000, with a mortgage from the RDA.
  • 9/13/2010 – A Reverter Deed was filed, transferring the property back to the RDA. This deed was signed on 5/18/2006.

Blight Fight: L&I prepares to hunt down absentee owners. | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future

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We at Abandoned Philadelphia have known for years what the rest of the community is picking up on.  Finally, the City kicks in some resources:

Tens of thousands of abandoned properties and vacant lots stretch across Philadelphia. Counts vary, but recent studies estimate at least 40,000 such properties, 75 percent of which belong to private owners — often delinquent on taxes and bills, often missing in action. In some cases, the owners might be dead or unwitting heirs. But others are slumlords and prospectors, whose game is to sit on these properties for as long as it takes to make a buck on them, while their properties attract crime, accumulate trash and fuel the spread of further blight.

Blight Fight: L&I prepares to hunt down absentee owners. | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future.

What Will Become of The Divine Lorraine?

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The Kingston Lounge, “Guerrilla Preservation and Urban Archaelogy” has posted a moving and informative photo journal of the history and recent dismemberment of this once-grand landmark on North Broad Street. While we strive to grapple with the shells on our blocks and in our neighborhoods, it is sometimes easy to forget that we have architectural treasures that are falling apart in our bustling commercial center as well.  Thanks, Kingston, for reminding us and for the moving pictures. From The Kingston Lounge on the Divine Lorraine Hotel –

It is unacceptable that this building, a national as well as a local landmark, is falling prey to demolition-by-neglect. While the figure of Father Divine and the nature of his movement may be controversial, it is uncontroversial that he was an important precursor to the civil rights struggle, and that the Divine Lorraine had a significant role in this history, both by association and by virtue of its status as the first integrated hotel in Philadelphia. Further, it is a remarkable building, and one of the few Hale commissions still standing. The avarice of a developer who gutted the building, “taking her for all she was worth”, and then walked away, should not be allowed to cause the eventual destruction of this treasure. I would urge all of my readers in Philadelphia to get involved on some level with the preservation of this structure. And I would urge all of my readers outside of Philadelphia to spread the word. If there is enough public outcry over this, if the right people are appropriately shamed, perhaps the Divine Lorraine stands a chance of being a jewel of Philadelphia once again.

We second Kingston.  Read the history and view the pictures of this faded glory on N. Broad Street: The Kingston Lounge: The Divine Lorraine Hotel.

1542 South Street

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Thanks to Kromer for Sheriff for providing this address.

Owner(s): PARK DUNG KUN
Mailing Address:

PARK DUNG KUN
C/O JESSICA PARK 149-53 ASH AVE #B
FLUSHING NY 11355

Year Principal Interest Penalty Other Total Lien#
2001 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2002 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2003 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2004 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2005 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2006 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2007 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
2008 $778.54 $151.82 $54.50 $160.68 $1,145.54 RL00626624
2009 $778.54 $81.75 $54.50 $150.87 $1,065.66 RL00722275
2010 $778.54 $11.68 $7.79 $20.00 $818.01
2011 $744.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $744.00
MISC $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $50.00 $50.00
TOTALS THROUGH 02/09/2011 $3,079.62 $245.25 $116.79 $381.55 $3,823.21

Some Shuttered Schools Experience Rebirth | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future

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Yellow heart pine floors stretch across apartments filled with architectural details like oversized windows, beamed ceilings, and detailed wainscoting. On the roof, a sprawling deck offers perfect views of Center City, while downstairs, a rec room and fitness facility await the condo owner at Hawthorne Lofts, 12th and Fitzwater Streets.

Not long ago, though, this was just another empty building – the Nathaniel Hawthorne School, built in 1909, entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and long since closed – set amidst the ragged debris of a neighborhood in transition.

Read more:  Some shuttered schools experience rebirth | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphias Future.

We Also Have Abandoned Ocean Liners

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Not really abandoned.  But this decrepit ship, once the majesty of the seas, has been rotting on our waterfront for years.  Thank goodness for Gerry Lenfest and his efforst ro preserve it rather than let it be sold for scrap.  Read the story below.

From Plan Philly:

February 1, 2011

By Steven Ujifusa

This afternoon, at a reception at the South Philadelphia IKEA cafe, the ocean liner SS United States became the property of the SS United States Conservancy. According to the terms of the $5.8 million grant from philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, the nonprofit group now has 20 months to raise the funds needed to redevelop the ship as a stationary attraction, most likely either in New York or Philadelphia.

Read complete story: A big step for the Big U | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia’s Future.

The Bright Side of Blight – NYTimes.com

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The Bright Side of Blight

By DIANA LIND

Published: January 24, 2011

Philadelphia

EVEN in Philadelphia, with its 40,000 vacant properties and a quarter of its population living below the poverty line, the Kensington neighborhood still shocks. On a frigid afternoon, a prostitute lingers in the shadow of the elevated train tracks, waiting restlessly for customers. Husks of long-closed factories stand amid thigh-high winter wheat. Streams of garbage flow down the streets, as if both the people and the city government had agreed to forsake the effort of propriety.

via The Bright Side of Blight – NYTimes.com.

Who owns that decrepit block? The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority

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This is one of the primary reasons Philadelphia has to contend with 40,000 vacant properties: the RDA and PHA are often the source of the problem.  Until a comprehensive plan is put into place, these agencies, as well as private owners and their missing heirs will continue to contribute to the blight that pervades Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

via City Howl Help Desk: Who owns that decrepit block? The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority | Philadelphia Daily News | 01/26/2011.