Weekend Five: January 10th, 2026

A day later than usual, but we tackle some recent listings, some recent sales, and an unfortunate closure of a street art venue

As we prepare ourselves for Wild Card Weekend and the inevitable thrashing the Birds should put on the Niners, we wanted to provide a little summary of the goings on this week. To be honest, our mind has been elsewhere (namely in Minnesota), but we are charging forward while reflecting on the sad and scary state of the current moment.

Step Outside Show sees Cease Operations order from the City

The extremely awesome Step Outside Show just recently opened a new spot towards the far eastern end of South Street, showcasing the work of dozens of Philly’s best street and graffiti artists. After having wildly successfully past exhibits in Northern Liberties and Graduate Hospital, this Queen Village spot sadly saw the city slap a Cease Operations sign on the front door, temporarily shutting down what has quickly become one of the most important art institutions in the entire city. It seems like the crew won’t be stopping their good works, however, but if any zoning lawyers or leasing agents can provide some pro bono work for a good cause, this is a great chance to support the city’s creative scene. In the meantime, go check out the SOS Instagram page and support the team and the artists.

Traffic Court building hits the market in Callowhill

The Philadelphia Municipal Court building at 8th & Spring Garden - best known as the Traffic Court building - has just hit the market per the Philadelphia Business Journal. This long, low-rise building and the associated parking lot are being positioned as a redevelopment play, with the CMX-3 zoning allowing for a multitude of uses and some decent density on this ever-evolving stretch. With plenty of other recent residential development in the immediate vicinity, we’d imagine this will be a wildly interesting property for any number of developers, especially with the Spring Garden Greenway plans still (slowly) waiting in the wings.

The Shops at Liberty Place are for sale in Center City

The Shops at Liberty Place are now for sale at the base of the Liberty Place complex, again per the Philadelphia Business Journal. This nearly 150,000 sqft retail space is being sold by owners Metropolis Investment Holdings, who are selling off the mall to return their focus to office. The site is being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle with the concept likely to remain given the nearly 80% occupancy rate here today. Look for a sales price here in the $20 million range.

A new design for East Passyunk church conversion

After reporting on the potential sale of the former St. John’s Baptist Church way back in November 2024, plans for an apartment conversion went to the Historical Commission for a conceptual review late last year. After some feedback, the project returned for another conceptual review just yesterday. We weren’t able to attend the meeting, but these new plans called for an adjusted approach, with skylights and shed dormers taking the place of the choppier dormer approach that was proposed previously from Toner Architects. 28 units are now planned here, with the developers hoping to replace the existing, leaking slate roof tiles for slate-looking asphalt shingles, which could save up to $200,000.

GSK sells purpose-built Navy Yard building to Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters

Per the Inqurier, pharmaceutical company GSK just sold their RAMSA-designed (RIP, Mr. Stern) Navy Yard building to the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters for a tidy $52.5 million. After moving to the FMC Tower a few years back, GSK’s sale to the carpenters’ union will necessitate a move from their current carpentry HQ near 18th & Spring Garden, meaning we could see yet another development domino fall along the Spring Garden St. corridor. We shall, of course, keep you updated on any movement there.

Quite a varied bit of news on this rainy Saturday, if you ask us. It is always interesting to see just how wide a range of issues can pop up in the rapidly changing real estate ecosystem in a wonderful city like ours. From our perspective, it’s important to both be aware of and understand what’s happening, as it helps one be a better citizen of one’s neighborhood and city. And speaking of that, let’s remember to love our neighbors no matter where they’re from or what they look like. Go Birds.