Filed under: Appropriation, Are You Kidding?, Displacement, Future Plans, Gentrification, University City Creep, University City District | Tags: creep, Gentrification, university city, war, west philly
Alert! Vandals have repeatedly struck the 4500-5000 blocks of Baltimore Ave in West Philly! Every lamp post on both sides of the street has been tagged UNIVERSITY CITY DISTRICT. Why oh why would merciless thieves and liars called University City District do such a thing??
“The intent is to increase illumination, reduce the perception and reality of crime and encourage private investment.”
Oh, that. But wait, there’s more!
“Lewis Wendell, University City District’s Executive Director noted, “This project demonstrates the results of a new level of collaboration between the major institutions in University City, Penn Dot, the City of Philadelphia Streets Department and PECO.”
We here at the UCD blog love collaboration, especially between private corporations and the government. But seriously folks, the vandalizing soul-sucking demons of the “left of center” University City District should really be reprimanded for their behavior. Replacing perfectly good, working streetlights with boutique, fake vintage gaslight-looking streetlamps for a million bucks so they can hang their crummy gentrification advertising banners… well what can we say, this shit is wack.
Peep the original press release via http://www.ucityphila.org/news/release/402
Super Bonus Edition! UPenn endowment shrinks drastically (not like that!)
It pains me to link to this crappy newspaper, but in the interest of journalistic freedom we will do so. Due to the omnipresent shitty economy, it looks like UPenn is getting hit in the pocketbook.
“Penn’s endowment dropped 19.4 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, falling from $6.2 billion to $5 billion from July to December 2008, according to Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli.”
Cry me a river. While that’s a nice chunk of change to lose, don’t start pulling out your checkbooks for poor old UPenn. Let’s think about this for a second…five billion dollars? Like, woah. I guess they can buy whatever they want. But let’s all hope that their economic policy wonks at Wharton keep messing up this “market based economy” thing. Lately at least one UPenn econ professor has been distracted by having sex with little boys. (“Investigators uncovered child pornography in the Penn office of Wharton professor emeritus Scott Ward yesterday, piling fresh charges on top of allegations that he brought child pornography into the country.”) If only we could make this shit up.
Filed under: 4224 Baltimore Demolition, Displacement, Future Plans, Gentrification, Licenses & Inspection (L&I), Real Estate, Zoning | Tags: eviction, west philly
Pre-Civil War building at 4224 Baltimore Ave destroyed
As anyone who has passed by Clark Park recently knows, developers have destroyed the historic mansion at 4224 Baltimore Ave.
Photos of the demolition:
Flickr gallery from eye-of-thundera
A quick primer article from University City Review here.
Copy of the letter from L&I to nearby residents:
___________________________________________
City of Philadelphia
Department of Licenses & Inspections
January 28, 2009
NOTICE OF PENDING DEMOLITION FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT:
04224 BALTIMORE AVE
Pursuant to the requirements of The Philadelphia Code, Title 4, Subcode “A,”
Section A-303-2, you are being notified by this Informational Bulletin that
the structure located at the subject address is scheduled for demolition to
begin on or after July 3, 2008. (Then, that date is crossed out, and this is
handwritten:) Jan. 28, 2009
In accordance with The Philadelphia Code, this notice is provided as an
informational courtesy only and does “not create any actionable right for any
resident or owner of the subject property or any neighboring property.”
For information concerning the demolition, please contact:
CAMPANELLA JAMES & ASSOC INC
1601 S CHRIS COLUMBUS BLV
PHILADELPHIA,PA 19148-1404
Klehr Harrison Harvey Ronald J. Patterson, Esquire
Perry Cocco (this is handwritten in, above the name below which is crossed
out):
Steve Gallagher, Supervisor
West District
43rd and Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2969
215-685-7680
________________________________________
This is the building on the south side of Baltimore which sits high up on a
hill, back from the street, and has the empty lot next to it which used to be a
community garden. The building formerly housed a women’s shelter. It’s
across Baltimore Ave. from the original Green Line, and across 43rd St. from
Clark Park.
>From the UC Historical Society website:
4224-26 Baltimore Ave
John Neil McGarvey, developer
c.1860
E.A. Wilson, architect for renovations
c.1920
Two, three-story, two-bay, brick with stone facade Second Empire, semi-detached houses. Distinguishing features include stone and iron fence around terraced yard, porch, segmentally arched windows, bracketed cornice, convex mansard roof with pedimented dormers and slate shingles, ground floor bay windows.
________________________________________
The site was purchased from developer James Campanella by Thylan Associates, a developer that has fingers in many, many pies, for a cool 3.5 million dollars. Thylan promptly demolished the residence, and one can only assume he wants to build condos overlooking the park. Thylan also owwns 4508 Chestnut, a building which is now rented out handsomely to the UPenn LIFE senior living center, as well as an abandoned warehouse at 13th and Callowhill which is planned to become luxury lofts. He also owns developments all over New York City and Putnam, Westchester, and Dutchess counties. Oh wait, I forgot, he owns 1111 Locust St and a bevy of properties in Connecticut. Lenard Thylan, the head honcho of the development company, had to go and brag about being a rich, soulless gollum to the New York Times a decade ago. What wonders Mr. Thylan must have worked since then in the lucrative field of gentrification, er real estate development.
It’s clear that to buy a property essentially just for the double lot, and tear down a giant building in livable condition worth at least $600,000 in its standing state, must require a pretty elaborate plan. I mean, how many condos do you have to sell to break even on just the land? A lot. Residents of West Philly should expect big, tall, ugly things from Thylan Associates in months to come. RIP 4224-26 Baltimore.
