April 10: Streets detoured after fire | Reviving Delaware River development plans | “The Ben” restoration | Divine Lorraine as art mecca | Mantua artist opens doors to save studio

Good morning, Eyes on the Street. 

The intersection of 3rd and Market streets can’t catch a break. Yesterday, a two-alarm fire broke out at Suit Corner, the shops at the intersection’s southwest corner. The fire was reported just after 9 a.m., and the Inquirer reports the blaze was under control just after 10:30 a.m. The cause of the fire is still unknown, and street closures and bus detours remain in effect. The incident is being called the end of an era for 3rd and Market.

Development company Carl Marks & Co. is looking to revive 2002 plans for a massive residential project on the Delaware River at Columbus Boulevard and Callowhill Street – the intersection that had been discussed as the site of the future Greater Philadelphia World Trade Center. The Carl Marks & Co. project would include 1,342 apartments, 16 townhouses, nearly 70,000 square feet of retail and 653 parking spaces. The Philadelphia Business Journal has more. 

The Business Journal’s Natalie Kostelni took a look inside the Benjamin Franklin House at the renovations brought by Korman Communities. “The Ben” was build in 1925 as a grand hotel. By the late 1980s the building was transformed into a mix of residential apartments and office spaces. A gym was added later, and the lobby become a foul-weather cut through or waiting area. The recent renovation by Korman has brought $13 million to the space in an effort to “bring this back and create something special.”

There are 1,390 Instagram posts tagged #divinelorraine and another 488 tagged #divineloarrainehotel. Philadelphia Weekly reports that a local, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts-trained artist wants to restore the Divine Lorraine property and reinvent it as the “Philadelphia Interactive Museum of Contemporary Art.” 

Across town the Daily News caught up with James Dupree, the artist fighting to save his massive 8,600-square-foot studio. The city has condemned the building under eminent domain to make room for a supermarket that would be built on the site. So far four filmmakers are producing documentaries about Dupree and his battle with the city. Later this month, Dupree will open the doors to his space in an event called “Save Dupree Studios: The Dupree Dream.”

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