This year, summer came and went in Ocean City without a thrilling and nostalgic staple: the amusement park at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier.
The park closed last year, and the big question has been what comes next.
A familiar South Jersey name is among those looking to redevelop the property. And his proposed plan includes building luxury townhouses at the site.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Up billions: Find out why the Philly region ranked as a top U.S. market for home value growth and see just how much value the housing market has gained.
Award-winning reimagining: See which redeveloped property just won a national preservation award that’s never been given before to a Philadelphia project.
“Philly maximalism”: Peek inside this Center City apartment that has a “showstopper” in the foyer.
Market update: Scroll to see what the region’s housing market was up to in August.
— Michaelle Bond
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A few weeks ago, officials in Ocean City rejected a plan to build a high-rise hotel at the former site of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier. The proposal had divided the community.
The developer behind that plan now says he’s weighing offers to buy the property from him.
One of those propositions comes from Philip Norcross, who’s offered $25 million to buy the site. The lawyer and Parker McCay CEO is the brother of George E. Norcross III, the South Jersey Democratic power broker.
Philip Norcross wants to build luxury townhouses on the property.
Keep reading to learn more about what’s been happening at the site and challenges Norcross would face if he buys it.
📮What would you like to see happen at the former amusement park? Share your suggestions.
It’s no secret that homes have skyrocketed in value over the last few years. But what may surprise you is how the Philly area compares to other places across the country.
From June 2024 to June 2025, the total value of homes across the Philadelphia metropolitan area grew by an estimated $41.5 billion. The Philly region ranked third in the country for its growth in total housing market value.
That’s according to a new analysis by Zillow.
As of this June, homes in the Philly metro were worth $932 billion in total.
Keep reading to learn why the Philly area saw so much home value growth in one year and how home appreciation compares in Philly, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.
The latest news to pay attention to
The transformation of a long-closed PECO plant into apartments and more has won an award that a national historic preservation group gives to “the best of the best” projects.
A Philly landlord’s scheme to terrorize his tenants into moving out left two people dead.
St. Joseph’s University said it’s selling former University of the Sciences buildings to an owner of student housing.
Security guards who worked at Philadelphia Housing Authority properties and the Navy Yard say a contractor owes them thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
Architecture critic Inga Saffron calls the new Calder Gardens building a “strikingly subversive design” on the Parkway.
House of the week: For $674,900 in rural Media, a home and matching artist’s studio.
Luxe listing: Coming soon for $4.5 million, a penthouse overlooking Washington Square.
There’s a feature in Jessica Maiuro’s Center City apartment that she calls “the showstopper” and “Philly maximalism.” It’s the wallpaper in the foyer.
It’s filled with images of Benjamin Franklin blowing a pink bubble gum bubble in a frame surrounded by flowers and topped with a tiger. Bet you’ve never seen that before.
Maiuro says the wallpaper sets the tone for the rest of her two-bedroom apartment.
Art in the home includes works by Maiuro and her husband, John; pieces by local artists; and family antiques. She’s drawn to “anything vintage.”
“I like to joke that my favorite place to shop is my parents’ and grandmom’s houses,” she said.
She has a mirror in the dining area that her grandmom and grandpop bought during their honeymoon in Italy. A Sears record player console from the ‘60s belonged to her other grandmother and now sits under the Benjamin Franklin wallpaper.
Peek inside Maiuro’s apartment and see the details that drew her to the home.
📊 The market
The region’s housing market has been slowing, and you can see that in the market stats for August. Both buyers and sellers are being cautious.
Closed and pending home sales were down and so were new home listings, according to the multiple listing service Bright MLS.
In the Philadelphia metro area:
🔻 The 6,000 closed home sales in August represented an almost 2% drop from last August.
🔻 The number of new pending home sales was down by about 1% in August from the same time last year.
🔻 The number of new listings in August was down 9% from last August.
🔺 The median sales price in August was $405,000, up 2.5% from last August. But that’s the smallest annual price increase since May 2023.
Affordability continues to be a challenge for buyers, although mortgage interest rates have been trending down. And economic uncertainty is holding back both prospective buyers and sellers.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the fountain outside the Barnes at 20th Street and the Parkway.
Shout-out to Merrily T. and Andrea C. for being among the readers who got that right. Andrea says, “I have fond memories of sitting near there to eat lunch when I worked for KieranTimberlake architecture firm, which was then located on 24th Street. What a magnificent structure!”
I agree. It’s one of my favorite fountains in the city, so it was a treat to feature it.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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