Morning Headlines: King of Jeans Building to Get New Proposal


The former King of Jeans store — best known for its (ironically?) beloved sign — has been flirting with apartment conversion for more than a year now. Max Glass (son of Nancy) was the first developer to pitch an idea to the neighborhood, and in his vision, twentysomething singles would move into the rehabbed-for-residential building, their bikes in tow, bringing more of the vitality and youth East Passyunk Crossing is known for.

Glass’ plans fell through and now a new developer waits in the wings to reveal new plans for 1843-5 E Passyunk Ave. at the next meeting of the EPX Civic Association zoning meeting. All we know so far: the first floor would be commercial space and there would be a total of 16 apartments, half of them one-bedrooms and the other half two-bedrooms.

For those with a stake in the action, there’s more information at Philadelphia Speaks.

• Germantown’s Maplewood Mall may actually start looking like something other than a Helvetica graveyard. It was one of the recipients of a New Urban Mechanics Challenge Grant, announced by Mayor Nutter yesterday.
• 6th District Councilman Bobby Henon wants to do more to rid the world of bandit signs, those hideous placards dotting poor neighborhoods that advertise houses for a dollar or cars for a dollar or working from home or anything else that’s too good to be true.
• Point Breeze Gentrification Mess: Like sands through an hourglass, the days of friction and fracas in Point Breeze go on. Now the head of South Philly Homes INC has stepped down — which she did even before Ryan Briggs’ damning piece came out in the City Paper questioning her real estate deals. Somewhere, Ori Feibush is smiling.
• NeighborhoodScout.com has released its list of Safest Cities and Most Dangerous Cities. Guess where this tristate area makes an appearance? Aren’t you smart.