Irwin’s, the new upscale cocktail bar and restaurant at Bok, debuts this evening with an invitation-only open house reception. Passyunk Post got a “sneak peek” yesterday which we agreed to keep under wraps until now. Check out the seriously-cool light fixtures and rustic-industrial decor.
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There’s been a smorgasbord of South Philly restaurant news in the blog-o-sphere. Here are some links to whet your appetite, so to speak…
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Michael Kline broke the news yesterday that something’s (finally!) coming to the retail space at the northwest corner of 12th & Morris streets (1646 S. 12th St.):
Separatist Beer Project, the onetime gypsy brewer from Easton known until recently as Sole Artisan Ales, says it has signed a lease for what it calls “a concept bar and beer experience”
Kline spoke with the owner Joe Fay who said the new bar would serve its beer plus wines and coffee. According to Kline:
He described the look as “modern Scandinavian.” The basement, with 10-foot ceilings, will be a kind of rathskeller, with barrel- and bottle-aging and a large table to be used for special events.
The bar could open “as soon as August.”
The space was originally slated for a restaurant by Chris Scarduzio. He bowed out before the building broke ground. The retail space has sat empty since the building was completed about two years ago. See our previous coverage about the site here and here, and here.
1646 S 12th Street. Photo courtesy of E-Built. www.ebuiltinc.com
Mike’s BBQ, 1703 S. 11th St., received a nice review in the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. Writer Emily Teel sums it up: “Barbecue in South Philly? Mike’s isn’t just blowing smoke.”
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We missed covering a number of stories while we were on hiatus. Here’s the first of several news round-ups in which we play catch-up.
The population of Philadelphia neighborhoods east of Broad Street have grown at a faster pace than neighborhoods west of Broad, including in South Philly, reports Curbed Philadelphia. South Philly’s 19146 zip code (generally Broad to the Schuylkill, Lombard to Tasker) increased by 9.8% from 2000 to 2017. The 19147 zip code (generally Broad to the Delaware River, Lombard to Tasker) increased by 20.6% during that same period. Each zip code boasts around 40,000 people, with 39,917 in 19146 and 40,490 in 19147.
Chart courtesy of JLL Philadelphia via Curbed Philly.
Some of the population growth west of Broad Street has resulted in the displacement of long-term residents. Point Breeze needs “development without replacement,” writes Claudia Sherrod, a Point Breeze resident and South Philadelphia H.O.M.E.S., Inc. director, in an op ed on whyy.org. “Over the past decade, Philadelphia has lost a fifth of its housing units that rent to low-income families. I understand real estate is a business but I believe there is a way to conduct business while respecting people of this community.”
And speaking of growth, over in Pennsport there’s Southwark on Reed. The 95-townhouse project built on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Hospital is “…rapidly approaching the finish line,” reports Naked Philly and “the development is completely sold out.” Demolition at the hospital began in February of 2016.
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We had high hopes for this location, but then we heard the news. And in March, the sign went up. Now, the fast food chain is just hours away from opening its doors.
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Fresh cement at 12th and Morris Streets as part of the East Passyunk Avenue Intersection Improvement Project.
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For a while there it seemed like this was gonna be a bust, but in the last couple of months things have really changed.
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