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Meet the new neighbor: Starr's El Rey

SUCCESSFUL PHILADELPHIA restaurateur Stephen Starr plans to open a Mexican restaurant late next month on Chestnut Street near 20th, two doors down from the former Mid-City YWCA's annex, which has become a rotting mix of biohazards.

SUCCESSFUL PHILADELPHIA restaurateur Stephen Starr plans to open a Mexican restaurant late next month on Chestnut Street near 20th, two doors down from the former Mid-City YWCA's annex, which has become a rotting mix of biohazards.

A spokeswoman for Starr Restaurants said Starr was not available for comment.

The restaurant, which Starr will name El Rey, will open in the space that had been occupied by the Midtown IV diner, considered a dimly lit greasy spoon. El Rey will be uniquely decorated with whimsical trinkets found in Southern California and Mexico, the spokewoman said.

She said she could not provide more details about Starr's latest eatery or say whether Starr was aware of the abandoned annex, owned by the city's Redevelopment Authority.

Starr has 12 restaurants in Philadelphia, including Buddakan, Continental, Jones, Parc and Pod, and a total of five others in New York, Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale.

-Barbara Laker/Wendy Ruderman