>4080 Olive 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.

The stretch of North Broad Street just north of the Vine Street Expressway is poised for an incoming development surge. One of the projects slated for the area is Broad and Noble, a 231-foot-tall, 19-story residential high-rise at 427-43 North Broad Street (or, alternatively, at 1327-31 Noble Street) in Callowhill, half a block northeast of the Inquirer Building and half a block west of the entrance to the elevated Rail Park. Toll Brothers is the developer and Barton Partners is the architect.