the end of the magic garden?
Philadelphia sculpture garden in danger [ap, via seattle post-intelligencer – philly papers are subscription-based]More than a decade ago, Isaiah Zagar began transforming a vacant lot next to his art studio from a trash-strewn residence for rats and vagrants into a sculpture garden.
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At a meeting Tuesday with attorneys for Zagar and the property’s Boston-based owner, someone offered $250,000 to buy the property and leave it as is. The offer, made by a benefactor who wants to remain anonymous, was rejected, Zagar said.
The landowner, Gaston Serge Realty Trust, wants $300,000 for the lot, which it purchased in 1988 for $130,000, according to city records.
[links are mine]
but that’s not the whole story… the same space was threatened in 1999, too, only back then, the asking price for the property was only $165,000…
Sidewalk Sale [philadelphia city paper]Although the double lot has been on the market for many years, the prospect of Fresh Fields opening a store across the street has renewed the interest of speculators who predict this currently sleepy block of South Street will wake up.
(The property is listed for $165,000, says real estate broker Louis Orocofsky. It was sold to an entity called Gaston Serge Realty Trust back in June 1988, according to the property deed at City Hall.)
the city is rallying around the lot, this is going to be an interesting battle of wills…