North Broad Street’s Rapid Renaissance, Part 2
A few weeks ago, I commented on the dizzying pace of lower North Broad Street’s transformation from blight-pocked corridor to a destination to for fine dining, art, and even a leisurely evening stroll. Now the Inky has run a similar story, with some additional details.
The Pennsylvania Ballet just broke ground on a headquarters that will include rehearsal space, a dance school, and offices. Meanwhile, Philly developer extraordinaire Bart Blatstein is preparing hundreds of residential units and Temple is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on building and renovation. And the development pipeline seems sure to grow, with already completed projects by Eric Blumenfeld, including luxury condos and spots like Marc Vetri’s Osteria and Joe Volpe’s Vie, already thriving. And the city’s doing its part with the incoming Promenade of Lights and an effort to leverage backtaxes to force the Divine Lorraine’s absentee owners to stop sitting on the landmark edifice. At this rate, the still-young Avenue of the Arts stretch of South Broad may soon have some stiff competition from the north for the affections of tourists and locals alike.
