November 17: Boom times for the Parkway | Greenworks emissions report | Unused city wireless equipment

The former Family Court building at 1801 Vine St will be redeveloped as a 199-room hotel, reports Alan Hughes. It will be the first major hotel owned by a black-owned firm in Philly. (Here’s Ashley Hahn’s peek inside from last year.)

That’s far from the only major project on the Parkway these days, says Maria Panaritis. “Two years shy of its 100th anniversary, the Parkway is experiencing a degree of investment and construction unseen in generations.”

Drexel researchers found that under the current Greenworks Philadelphia plan, the city has reduced municipal greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent since 2009, Carolyn Beeler reports. Citywide though, emissions have dropped only 1%.

SEPTA opened their first new train station in 18 years in Lansdale, with officials touting the possibilities for transit-oriented development. U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle even dropped the term “smart growth.” For more details, read Jim Saksa’s story on this from a few months ago. 

The Controller’s office is publicizing some $2 million worth of unused wireless equipment they found in a warehouse, left over from the defunct citywide wireless initiative. They’re calling on the Nutter administration to study whether the technology is current enough to still be useful. 

Taylor Farnsworth says there’s a rumor the Interior Concepts building, on a key corner of E. Passyunk Avenue at 12th and Morris, has been sold for $2.3 million. The lot is zoned CMX 2.5, which would allow a mixed-use building up to 55 feet tall. 

Despite the efforts of outlets like City Journal, Strong Towns, and Market Urbanism to articulate an urban vision that can appeal to right-of-center people, there’s some interesting new sociological research showing that on a gut level, urbanism reads emotionally as a left wing concept.