Status: Vacant TAKE OUT

It may not have an official name, but this concrete tower is one of the most recognizable structures at the corner of Grays Ferry and 35th Street. Its prominent location—right across the street from Pennovation—makes it even more intriguing. The site has had a history of heavy industrial use as a foundry, an animal feed supplement factory, and a propane distributor, according to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), which has been working to remediate the hazardous property. For now, it remains vacant.

Status: Being redeveloped - NOTES

This factory has loomed over Washington Avenue in Graduate Hospital since the late 1880s, when it started the business of making chocolate rabbits and other sugary treats. In 2007, plans to turn the shuttered factory into a Vietnamese-themed mixed-use development fell through, and in 2015 a group of buyers purchased the property for $7.8 million. There were talks of moving forward with a mixed-use development for the site, but there hasn’t been any noticeable movement at the factory since.

Status: Soon to be occupied NOTES

The former headquarters for the Philadelphia Inquirer has sat vacant for years, though not without the efforts of local developers and the city. When the 340-foot-tall building was built in 1924 and designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Rankin, Kellogg & Crane, it was the tallest building north of City Hall. After the newspaper moved out in 2011-12, developer Bart Blatstein said he planned to turn it into a hotel. But there are rumors that the city has been eyeing the building for the police’s future headquarters.

Status: Vacant, but undergoing restoration

The Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House stands as a hulking white box on North Broad, but during its heyday the theater was once the the largest of its kind in the world. It dates back to 1908 and was built by Oscar Hammerstein I, the grandfather of Oscar Hammerstein II. Designed by architect William H. McElfatrick, it sat some 4,000 people. Over the years, it’s served a number of roles, from a theater to a circus venue to a movie theater to a church. In the coming months, it will be brought back to life as a concert venue.

Status: Vacant

This deteriorating steam plant has sat abandoned at the corner of 9th and Willow streets for nearly three decades. It was built in 1927 to generate steam heat to industrial users along the Reading Rail line, but today is a beacon of blight to the Callowhill neighborhood. Late last years, news emerged that a conservator had taken over the property and has plans to remediate the industrial site, which is chockfull of asbestos.

Status: Vacant, but undergoing restoration

This Art Deco building towers over North Broad and has been abandoned for decades, after originally serving as the National Bank of North Philadelphia since the 1920s. The 14-story building is currently undergoing a $33 million renovation that will bring seven floors of senior affordable housing and four floors of non-profit office space to the site.

Status: Vacant

Not too much is known about this industrial warehouse, except that it was originally built as a warehouse for Strawbridge & Clothier in 1918. Later, it became a facility for Quaker Storage Company. Today, it is owned by Philadelphia Suburban Development Corporation, who in recent years has worked to replace some of the building’s many windows. It’s currently listed for lease.

Status: Closed

The PECO Delaware Station, formerly known as the Delaware River Generating Station, sits right on the river and is a landmark in Fishtown. The massive 223,000-square-foot concrete behemoth was designed by architect John T. Windrim and built by Stone and Webster. It operated as a major electrical power plant until 2004, and has sat unused ever since, although there have been talks of turning it into an events space. Last year, it was added to national and local registers of historic places.

Status: Abandoned

On any given day, this places draws families, urban explorers, and graffiti artists to its 500-foot-long pier on the Delaware River. Since Conrail decommissioned and abandoned the pier in 1991, it has been tagged over, and over, and over, and it’s now one of the most colorful and worst-kept secrets in the city. Like all of the other places on this list, this is technically private property, but many cases have been made to turn it into an official public park given its popularity.