February 18: Divine Lorraine apartments | West Philly ice palace | Habitat for Humanity embraces prefab

Citing a desire to get the project done faster, EB Realty Management is scrapping the boutique hotel plan for the Divine Lorraine, and the iconic building will instead house 126 apartments, two levels of retail, and a garden veranda. 

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is requesting expressions of interest in developing the Festival Pier site.

Matthew Yglesias explains how Houston dramatically improved bus transit without spending a dime.

The New Castle County chapter of Habitat for Humanity is embracing prefab modular homes as a cheaper alternative to stick-built housing. They say modular housing can save between “$5,000 to $15,000 per home,” allowing them to build more homes for the same money.

Josh Kruger is all over the Vince Hughes for Senate trial balloon beat.

West Philly’s burned-then-frozen “ice palace” home is as dangerous as it is visually mesmerizing. It will be torn down soon, so go check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.

And in more purposeful ice art news, Don Harrison made this crazy ice sculpture in Fairmount Park last night.

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