August 27: Property assessment data release | L&I demo trouble | 4224 Baltimore timeline | One Water getting retail | Pricy Philly | EAT Cafe

Here’s what we’re reading today:

Property assessment data is now up on Open Data Philly.  It will be updated twice weekly. Sadly this is only OPA data, not Revenue Department data which would allow the public and city agencies to track property taxes balances in real time – aka, the scuttled API, which prompted former Chief Data Officer Mark Headd to quit.

From the Department of Perpetual Disappointment: An investigation by the City Controller’s Office determined that the Department of Licenses and Inspections awarded 12 demolition contracts to a firm even after it learned the contractors had performed illegal demolitions. The firm is also tax-delinquent.

The debated 4224 Baltimore Avenue project is not expected to begin construction until late summer 2016, West Philly Local reports.

At One Water Street, the PMC site under construction just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, plans have shifted to include ground-floor retail. Kudos to PMC for revisiting their plans and considering the waterfront’s increased pedestrian traffic.

Compared to other metros living in Philly is expensive. Holly Otterbein unpacks the findings via a tool from the Economic Policy Institute.

A new restaurant in West Philly will be a pay-what-you-wish venture. Flying Kite profiles EAT (Everyone at the Table) Café, a joint venture of Drexel Center for Hunger-Free Communities, the Drexel Center for Hospitality and Sports Management, and the Vetri Foundation.

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