The 100 block of North Mole Street is a special place.
It’s a cluster of two-story brick houses in an area of Center City where high-rises and parking lots reign. Neighbors are close with each other. For decades, they held the Molestice Festival in the block’s pocket park.
And the street’s renters, which include a mix of artists and students, have been paying well under $2,000 for four-bedroom homes just two blocks from City Hall.
But now the pocket park is gone, and many of the houses are being redeveloped. Soon, this piece of Center City will lose its affordable homes.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
- Pricey entry-level homes: Learn about the trend of million-dollar starter homes.
- A piecemeal approach: Which neighborhoods will benefit from an expanded Philly law meant to boost development around transit?
- Saving their savings: These first-time homebuyers bought a $975,000 Fairmount home with no money down.
- Pet friendly abodes: Peek inside these local homes that feature furry residents.
📮Last week, we looked at some of the beautiful murals on Philadelphians’ homes.
Do you have a favorite mural? Maybe it’s one you pass all the time or one you stumbled upon. Send me a photo and tell me why you like it.
— Michaelle Bond
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A sinking island of affordability
A historic preservation advocate called the 100 block of North Mole Street “magical” and said it’s an “extremely important remnant of Old Philadelphia in Center City.”
Some of the houses there are almost 200 years old. Until recently, a family trust belonging to descendants of a U.S. founding father owned 25 of the block’s 30 homes. The trust kept rents low.
But last year, a developer bought some of the homes with plans to buy more. Renters have learned their leases won’t be renewed.
Given how much money the developer will spend buying and redeveloping the homes, Mole Street can say goodbye to its low rents.
Keep reading to learn more about this Center City block and the developer’s plans for the street.
$1 million ‘starter’ homes
For most of us, the words “starter home” and “million dollars” don’t go together.
And paying a million dollars for an entry-level home is rare. But it’s happening more than ever across the country.
Just before the pandemic, the U.S. had 80 communities where starter homes — defined by Zillow as the bottom third of the market — were worth an average of $1 million or more. In April, that number tripled to a record 242.
We have one of these communities in the Philly region: Villanova.
It’s the only one in Pennsylvania. New Jersey has 26, mostly in North Jersey and at the Shore.
Keep reading to learn more about the trend of million-dollar starter homes.
The latest news to pay attention to
- A 100-unit apartment building with a rooftop pool is the latest new development slated for North Broad Street.
- These first-time buyers bought a $975,000 Fairmount home with no money down.
- Philly strengthened a law that encourages denser and taller development around transit. Which neighborhoods will benefit?
- Once targeted for ballfields, this 13-acre Villanova estate will now be preserved.
- One of Philly’s most famous murals is on the wall of this Point Breeze rowhouse for rent.
- These four Philly properties just got historic protection.
- A Chester County judge has denied legal challenges to a 1.5 million-square-foot data center project.
- House of the week: For $475,000 in Delaware County, a 19th-century five-bedroom farmhouse that borders Darby Creek.
- Luxe listing: For $2 million in Society Hill, a historic townhouse on a double lot that’s designed for indoor-outdoor living.
Home tour: Pet friendly abodes
Every week, we take you inside a local home that residents want to show off. And pretty often, there’s a furry member of the household who enjoys the home just as much. Maybe even more.
So this week, my colleague Lizzy McLellan Ravitch took a look back at some of the pets featured in past home tours.
Pets such as Olive, the kitty in the dress above, who lives in a Bella Vista apartment. I remember her for her outfit and the cat door in one of her human’s bedroom doors.
Frankie the cat’s bed is on the windowsill of her Fairmount apartment, so she can lounge in the sun.
Dipplin the dog likes people- and dog-watching from two balconies at his Fishtown-area home.
Read on for more tales of local pets and some pictures to brighten your day.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back.
I stumped you with last week’s quiz. That photo of a guy lounging was captured at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney and Ethal Lubert Plaza between 10th and 11th Streets and Locust and Walnut Streets.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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