UArts buildings sold fast | Real Estate Newsletter
Plus, a Delco attic full of sports history.
It’s hard to believe it was only last summer when University of the Arts abruptly closed.
My colleague Jake Blumgart reports that the last of the nine Center City buildings sold this month — faster than expected given the sluggish commercial real estate market. Find out what the future holds for those buildings and where they are in Jake’s cool map story.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Only in Delco: Enough Veterans Stadium memorabilia to fill an attic.
From mall to small town? A new plan for Exton Square Mall aims to make the land “a walkable community.”
Let in the light: A bright Tudor-style home is this week’s home tour.
Artist inspo: A new exhibit showcases the farm where many Andrew Wyeth paintings are set.
Michaelle will be back next week. It’s been a blast hanging out with you.
— Erica Palan
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Just before it shutdown last June, UArts owned nine properties, spanning nearly 600,000 square feet of downtown Philadelphia real estate.
Over the years, I saw several shows in Arts Bank’s small theater (including many Fringe Festival shows and a really funny storytelling event with Found magazine creator Davy Rothbart). I’m bummed that I won’t see another show there.
It’s hard to imagine Center City without UArts, but now that all the properties have officially sold, it’s time to envision the future. Some will become homes, while others will turn into artist studios and maker spaces.
Jake takes us on a building-by-building tour of how Center City will change now that we know what’s planned for these structures. Take a peek.
I’ve never met a person who is happy to have an attic or garage or basement stuffed to the gills. (Helloooo, downsizers!)
But then I read about Greg Grillone and Debra Bruner.
Bruner says she’s happy to have all the things her husband collected, because it reminds her of the happiest times of their lives — when Grillone was director of Veterans Stadium.
Grillone has tons of memorabilia from his time at the Vet, the hallowed hall where the Phillies and Eagles played for three decades. His treasures include:
💺 Two blue stadium seats
📖 Stadium blueprints
🤕 Incident logs for every Phillies and Eagles game of every year
⚾ Signed baseballs and pennants
🌱 A rolled-up piece of artificial turf
🎫 Concert programs
See more of the only-in-Philly memorabilia in this story by my colleague Alex Coffey.
The latest news to pay attention to
The future of Exton Square Mall is one step closer to reality thanks to plans that were recently submitted.
A new exhibit at the Brandywine Museum explores the bucolic Chadds Farm that inspired many Andrew Wyeth paintings.
Chinatown Stitch, the long-proposed cap over the Vine Expressway, takes another hit. This time, it’s due to Trump’s tax bill.
The latest on the Art Alliance fire: structural reinforcement has begun.
Six years (!) since Hannehman University Hospital went bankrupt, the final property is up for auction.
The trash strike is over, but Center City still has a big dumpster problem, according to a new report.
House of the week: A 19th century historic townhouse in Fitler Square for $735,000
Home tour: A light-filled Tudor
A thing I learned from reading this story: Tudor-style houses are usually light on ... light because they tend to have smaller windows.
That’s what makes this week’s home tour so interesting. The owners totally revamped their 1940s Tudor to maximize brightness by taking down some interior walls and replacing small windows with larger ones.
Now their home is bright and airy. See more photos and learn how they found their designer in this week’s home tour.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows? (One of the stories above holds a tiny hint!)
Snaps to Deborah Simon, one of the readers who correctly guessed that last week’s photo showed the Second Bank of the United States.
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
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📮 The Vet memorabilia story has me thinking about collections. I have 20+ vintage ceramic Christmas trees that take up a wall of my basement for 11 months of the year and brighten my home each holiday season. Do you display any cool collections in your home? Email me — and share pics!
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