Among its many claims to fame, Philadelphia is known as the “Mural Capital of the World.” Beginning in earnest with an anti-graffiti program in the 1980s (incidentally, Philadelphia also registers as one of the originators of the contemporary graffiti culture), Philadelphia has amassed an enormous volume of murals, with some estimates ranging upwards of a total count of 6,000. Much of this street artwork was produced via the Mural Arts Philadelphia program, although many more were were wrought thanks to the efforts of local, civic-minded artists working independently. In great part, the mural-painting endeavor was an organic response to the city’s predominance of blank walls that became exposed after the lamentable postwar advent of disinvestment, depopulation, and mass demolitions.
As the city’s population is finally reviving, having seen an increase of more than five percent in its population over the past decade (the largest growth percentage in 70 years), Philly YIMBY has its work cut out in coverage of ample new development rising upon numerous long-neglected properties. Naturally, multiple murals have cropped up in YIMBY’s coverage of new development. We make an effort to note such artworks whenever they surface on our radar, particularly when they are in peril of being demolished to make way for new development or obstructed by new buildings (which is an unfortunate yet often necessary price to pay for the city’s revival). In today’s installment of our upcoming multi-part series, we take a look back at some of the murals that we have come across over the many years of our coverage of Philadelphia’s construction and development.
Note: listed addresses generally refer to development as previously covered by YIMBY, rather than to physical locations of the murals themselves, unless specified otherwise.
Development: Mural West
Location: Callowhill, North Philadelphia
Original Coverage by YIMBY: September 2020
Status: Existing
Mural West. Credit: Atkin Olshin Scade Architects
Mural West site looking east. Photo by Thomas Koloski
Mural West rendering via Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
Mural West. Credit: Atkin Olshin Scade Architects
We open our rundown with the only project in the category that literally has “mural” in its name. Mural West was a 363-foot-tall mixed-use building planned for a parking lot at 523 North Broad Street, on the border of the Callowhill and Poplar neighborhoods of Lower North Philadelphia. The building was proposed as an encore to the adjacent Mural Lofts, a rental property converted from a prewar Romanesque Revival building that formerly housed the Thaddeus Stevens School of Practice. The school’s western wall sports a dramatic, block-wide-60-foot-high trompe l’oeil mural that celebrates North Philadelphia’s artistic culture.
The proposal would have relegated the mural to a rather narrow public space between the original building and the new high-rise, although it also would have grafted a signature centerpiece portion of the artwork onto the tower’s pinnacle. However, since the development did not pan out as originally planned, the mural currently remains in full view from North Broad Street.
523 North Broad Street. December 2021. Photo by Jamie Meller
Development: 709 Chestnut Street
Location: Market East, Center City
Original Coverage by YIMBY: September 2020
Status: Existing
709 Chestnut Street (aka 709-13 Chestnut Street). Credit: Edry McHenry Architects
709 Chestnut Street in its urban context. Credit: Parkway Commercial Properties and Erdy McHenry Architecture
Current site of 709 Chestnut Street. Credit: Parkway Commercial Properties and Erdy McHenry Architecture
Just over five years ago, YIMBY was excited to report that a 27-story, 327-foot-tall residential building was slated to rise at 709 Chestnut Street in Center City, a block west of Independence Hall. The high-rise would have replaced a parking lot owned by the Parkway Corporation, a parking lot operator that doubles as a real estate developer that offers vehicle storage across the city until opportunities arise to redevelop the properties. The 278-unit development would have added much-needed density to a centrally located yet greatly underutilized site at the expense of blocking an expansive, colorful mural.
However, the proposed tower never materialized, and the parking lot remains listed at Parkway Corporation’s website as an active development opportunity (the company tends to partner with third-party developers for some of their projects). We hope that any next iteration of the proposal would combine a high-rise building with a public walkway that would preserve the mural in view, as was proposed at the above-covered Mural West tower.
709 Chestnut Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. April 2025
Development: 1321-25 North Front Street
Location: Fishtown
Original Coverage by YIMBY: November 2020
Status: Existing
Fishtown Bikes N Beans at 1321-25 North Front Street. Mural by Busta. Poto credit: streetsdept.com
1321 North Front Street. Building elevation. Credit: NORR via the City of Philadelphia
In 2020, a seven-story, 36-unit residential building was proposed for a parking lot site at 1321-25 North Front Street in Fishtown. The lot looks upon a sporty mural that celebrates Fishtown’s bicycle-friendly culture, painted upon a blank wall of a retailer appropriately called Fishtown Bikes N Beans (the shop closed in July, when the owner moved out of the city to open a similar shop in Rutland, Vermont). The new building was slated to span 31,167 square feet and offer 2,545 square feet of retail; an open through-block arcade would have ran past the location of the mural. Five-plus years later, no development has occurred at the site, which is unfortunate news for density-ripe neighborhood yet a relief for aficionados of murals depicting bicycles and elevated train trestles.
1321-25 North Front Street via Google Maps
Development: 1350 North Front Street
Location: Fishtown
Original Coverage by YIMBY: August 2020
Status: Demolished
1350 North Front Street. Looking north. Credit: Google
This rather overtly patriotic mural once graced the wall of a three-story rowhouse, which met the wrecking ball around 2021 as it made way for a mid-rise multi-family development.
Although the density upgrade is a welcome improvement for the transit-adjacent property (the Market-Frankford el runs in front of the site), the dramatic bald eagle set upon a star-spangled background with Americana-themed text is missed by pedestrians traversing the Front Street commercial corridor.
1350 North Front Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2025
Development: 539 West Berks Street
Location: North Philadelphia East
Original Coverage by YIMBY: August 2020
Status: Existing
539 West Berks Street. Looking northeast. September 2009. Credit: Google Maps
Unlike the in-your-face, eagle-sporting, politically-tinged, and now-demolished mural at Front Street, the artwork at 535 West Berks Street is serene and relaxing. Serving as an extension of an adjacent green space, the mural splayed across the prewar rowhouse offers a painted oasis in the form of three bubbling streams (or are they waterfalls?) running across an idyllic landscape of rolling plains, which recede into gentle hills. The blue sky beyond offers a glimpse of celestial clarity even on the cloudiest of days (unlike our hometown’s quintessential television show leads us to believe, it is indeed not always sunny in Philadelphia).
Although a three-story single-family rowhouse was constructed two properties to the west at 539 West Berks Street several years ago, the soothing mural remains blissfully unobstructed at the moment of this writing, even if partially obscured from view by the new structure.
539 West Berks Street via the development team
Stay tuned for the next installment in the series.
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Love the murals, hate the graffiti!!
Great write up Vitali. Looking forward to part 2.
Thanks Craig!
I have been waiting for this level of reporting by a concerned media group. Thank you. I have always been concerned abt the demolition of murals which long gave a neighborhood part of its identity. Development should complement art not replace it. Community advocacy is why 2key murals in West Philly remain: The boy w/raised fist (40th/Powelton) and the MLK mural at 40th/Lancaster.
We’re covering the MLK mural in a later installment. We’ve got good news for you here: not only did they preserve it even as development recently rose nearby, but, in a way, they’ve also expanded it!
Check out Flora Alley Gallery in Brewerytown. Very unique and strange