Alan J. Heavens
The Miami Herald
Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Past articles by Alan:
Your Place: When a new fence fails to impress
Q: I recently had a new fence installed, and I am pretty unhappy about it. The wood quality is terrible, as if they used seconds. The salesman said this is the way the fence should look. I have only paid half the total cost. Should I ask them to repair/replace anything before I pay the balance? → Read More
Your Place: Warming up a chilly crawl space
Q: What is the best way to heat the crawl space under my first floor? → Read More
Your Place: Secrets of the failed stucco, revealed
Joseph Ponessa had some thoughts about stucco that I want to share with you. → Read More
Your Place: Possible sources for that elusive aluminum siding
Thanks to some reliable readers, I believe I have a possible solution for a North Carolina man who has been looking for aluminum siding to match what's already on a house he is renovating. → Read More
Your Place: Tools for success in home maintenance
A couple of months ago, I was taking inventory of my workshop, which some of you have seen thanks to the "Ask Al" video series a few years back. → Read More
Snow, sleet mix blusters into region, threatening drivers
A wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow predicted for parts of the Philadelphia region Sunday afternoon could create problems for commuters in the early hours of Monday during the morning rush. → Read More
Dalian on the Park takes up residence at former hotel site
If you've been in the Art Museum area looking for the Best Western hotel, you're too late. That spot, a few steps northeast of the Rodin Museum in a block bounded by Hamilton, 21st, 22nd, and Spring Garden Streets and Pennsylvania Avenue, is now home to Dalian on the Park, a $160 million mixed-use building with 293 rental apartments and, on much of the first floor, the new 55,000-square-foot… → Read More
Monaco reportedly buys Grace Kelly's East Falls birthplace
Grace Kelly's birthplace at 3901 Henry Ave. in East Falls has been purchased, reportedly by her royal family in Monaco. → Read More
On the House: Housing affordability still makes us feel insecure, a survey shows
In this job, I regularly receive email and telephone calls that qualify as balderdash. → Read More
A little taste of Tinseltown here in Philly's suburbs
Hooray for Hollywood! Hollywood, Pa. 19046, that is - a triangular piece of Abington Township just over the line from Rockledge Borough and near the edge of Philadelphia's Fox Chase neighborhood. → Read More
Alden Park tenants call rent strike over 'substandard' conditions
About 40 tenants at the 764-unit Alden Park Manor are withholding their September rent to protest what they call "substandard" conditions at the Wissahickon Avenue apartment complex, which is undergoing renovations by its new owner, L3C Capital Partners of New York. → Read More
Philadelphia landscape is his canvas
Amit Azoulay is seated in the living room of a condo at 1512-18 Frankford Ave., explaining that, after completing 18 development projects, with four more on the horizon, he still considers himself an artist. → Read More
New entry in Brewerytown's revitalization quickly draws renters
To say the apartments at Fairmount@Brewerytown are going like hotcakes would not be far from wrong. They're going so quickly, Michele DiVeterano said, that she has stopped creating model units. As many as eight to 10 apartments are renting each week. → Read More
Jobs growth fuels an already hot Philly-area apartment market
Steady employment growth over the last several quarters has created a large pool of renters and helped boost the fortunes of the Philadelphia region's apartment market, real estate investment services firm Marcus & Millichap says. → Read More
AKA University City assumes a lofty perch in Cira Centre South
On a July day with temperatures in the mid-90s, the breeze rushing through the unfinished 46th floor of the FMC Tower at Cira Centre South provides little relief. → Read More
An urban energy draws buyers to homes old and new
One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities. → Read More
'Tiny House Lab' shows what you can do in an ultrasmall house
Corbett Lunsford played piano for ballerinas; Grace Lunsford was a singer and dancer. As for Nanette Lunsford, well, she's only 3 months old and spends her days being adorable, though teething has made her just a bit fussy. → Read More
In gentrifying E. Kensington, affordable senior apartments rise
On a typical day, St. Francis Inn, on the 2400 block of Kensington Avenue, serves 350 to 500 meals to people from the neighborhood. → Read More
500 Walnut penthouse sold to undisclosed buyer for Philly-record $17.85M
Developer Tom Scannapieco said Thursday that he had an agreement of sale for the penthouse at his ultra-luxury 500 Walnut tower overlooking Independence Square. The price: a Philadelphia record $17.85 million. → Read More
At Dranoff's One Riverside, the final floor goes on
A year after the groundbreaking for One Riverside, workers Monday poured concrete for the 22nd and final floor of the building hugging the Schuylkill at 25th and Locust Streets. → Read More