1825 Diamond Street

Urban development is a delicate balancing act, and sometimes we must say goodbye to cherished local destinations in order to make way for a plan that is ultimately more beneficial to the community and to the city at large. One of such trade-offs is slated to occur at 7619 Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy, Northwest Philadelphia, where the Trolley Car Diner is set to meet the wrecking ball, to be replaced by a six-story, mixed-use residential development designed by Morrissey Design. Although the charming chrome, neon, mural, and freestanding trolley of the diner will be missed, the proposal at hand makes for more effective use of the site, bringing significant residential density within a two0-block walk of the Mount Airy Station of the SEPTA Regional Rail and replacing the auto-centric restaurant with pedestrian-friendly retail.

Over the course of the past few years, the Live! Casino and Hotel rose to become a welcome addition to the nearby stadiums in the Sports Complex District in South Philadelphia. The structure, located at 900 Packer Avenue, just to the north of Citizens Bank Park, holds over 1.5 million square feet of space, more than the 1.4-million-square-foot Rivers Casino in North Philadelphia. Designed by Bower Lewis Thower Architects and developed by The Cordish Company and Greenwood Racing and Entertainment, the casino stands three stories tall, with the hotel rising 215 feet and 14 stories high.