4233 Chestnut 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 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is in the process of a $3.4 billion expansion in West and South Philadelphia. The latest proposed structure is the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research Phase 3, a 350-foot-tall tower planned at 730 Schuylkill Avenue in the western section of South Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital neighborhood, which is also known as Schuylkill Grays Ferry and Devil’s Pocket. The new structure will stand as a fraternal twin to the first phase of Roberts Center, a 375-foot-tall building completed in 2017. Project information remains sparse, but the design will likely be led by the office of Pelli Clarke Pelli, which designed the first phase.