PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[blart]

And U Arts comes hot on the heels of PAFA discontinuing its degree programs. That was another one that completely stunned me. Oldest art school in the US.

[UrbanRevival]

Definitely very sad and unfortunate news for the city and a major cultural institution. The extremely short notice makes it all the more difficult to potentially plan how to keep the campus buildings from turning into blight.

Although clearly the laid off staff and stranded students take priority right now, the City needs to take a proactive role to facitate a "meeting of the minds," particularly in the cultural sector, to see whether other arts non-profits could put UArts' real estate to good use.

Affordable artist housing would actually make a lot of sense and still help to fill an institutional void. No matter what, next steps are going to be critical so that Center City isn't grappling with yet another white elephant for years to come.

[nemesisinphilly]

I don't think a couple of high end residential conversions would be that bad at all? A nice complement to Arthaus and the Broad/Pine Dranoff Building to come.

Just a matter of them being able to sell the parcels quickly and not get bogged down in lawsuits etc which is probably inevitable.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Interesting update: it seems a Starbucks is coming to the corner of 18th and Arch. There’s a logo up in the window above the construction permits. This seems like a good development, and likely a direct result of Comcast’s RTO push.

Also, LSNA unanimously approved the 23rd st bike lane Monday night. Otis is planning a bike lane down to walnut on 23rd as well and an extension of the Market st and walnut st lanes over the river. Feels good to have some good news amidst all the doom and gloom.

[Radio5]

Originally Posted by Gatorade_Jim

Interesting update: it seems a Starbucks is coming to the corner of 18th and Arch. There’s a logo up in the window above the construction permits. This seems like a good development, and likely a direct result of Comcast’s RTO push.

Also, LSNA unanimously approved the 23rd st bike lane Monday night. Otis is planning a bike lane down to walnut on 23rd as well and an extension of the Market st and walnut st lanes over the river. Feels good to have some good news amidst all the doom and gloom.

That is good news. Is it a protected bike lane?

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by Radio5

That is good news. Is it a protected bike lane?

I think that's pretty up in the air right now. LSNA approved the idea of putting a bike lane there and wants otis to work with them on the plan. It seems like at a minimum it'll be buffered with flex posts, but whether it's actually protected is TBD. The design otis presented was a bike lane on the left with flex posts between that and the travel lane, with parking remaining on the right. I was curious whether they could move the parking between the travel lane and the bike lane, so have the travel lane on the right, parking on the left, and the bike lane to the left of that. I forgot to ask but I'm going to follow-up with them.

[blart]

6/1 Across from the Berks el stop

[Dan1]

Originally Posted by Gatorade_Jim

Interesting update: it seems a Starbucks is coming to the corner of 18th and Arch. There’s a logo up in the window above the construction permits. This seems like a good development, and likely a direct result of Comcast’s RTO push.

Also, LSNA unanimously approved the 23rd st bike lane Monday night. Otis is planning a bike lane down to walnut on 23rd as well and an extension of the Market st and walnut st lanes over the river. Feels good to have some good news amidst all the doom and gloom.

Starbucks seems to be trying to have a resurgence recently. They are moving their location at 20th and Callowhill to a larger space on the same block.

The one at 20th and Market is also closed right now, not sure if it's just renovations or permanent.

[blart]

6/1 Former festival pier site. From Spring Garden el platform-

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by bdurk

lol if lights were timed perfectly that would not stop speeding at all, it would probably increase it. this city has a driving issue and the only thing that will curb bad drivers is cops enforcing driving laws and traffic calming measures being put in place.

It definitely plays a factor. People get frustrated by being held back from where they are going and then they start driving faster and taking shortcuts through neighborhoods trying to un their way around the traffic pattern flows. I see it all the time.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by UrbanRevival

Definitely very sad and unfortunate news for the city and a major cultural institution. The extremely short notice makes it all the more difficult to potentially plan how to keep the campus buildings from turning into blight.

Although clearly the laid off staff and stranded students take priority right now, the City needs to take a proactive role to facitate a "meeting of the minds," particularly in the cultural sector, to see whether other arts non-profits could put UArts' real estate to good use.

Affordable artist housing would actually make a lot of sense and still help to fill an institutional void. No matter what, next steps are going to be critical so that Center City isn't grappling with yet another white elephant for years to come.

I just had an idea, would it be crazy for Temple to buy these buildings and put all of there art programs in them, Temple has already positioned it self as Philly's Top University, they might as well claim some land on S Broad, they bring a lot of economical growth anyway, and the BSL would directly connect the two campuses making travel easy, it would also push for more use of the BSL as well as security, upgrades, and naming rights for the S st Station.

[thoughtcriminal]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

I just had an idea, would it be crazy for Temple to buy these buildings and put all of there art programs in them, Temple has already positioned it self as Philly's Top University, they might as well claim some land on S Broad, they bring a lot of economical growth anyway, and the BSL would directly connect the two campuses making travel easy, it would also push for more use of the BSL as well as security, upgrades, and naming rights for the S st Station.

I would say this is unlikely, as good an idea as it may seem. First, Temple is not exactly flush with cash. They rely heavily on student tuition, and with enrollment down, they are tightening their belts on everything, and implemented university-wide budget reductions.
They can't just "claim" some land on S. Broad, like it's frontier land or something. They'd have to buy it at market rates, which I don't see them being able to do.
As for naming rights for the subway station, I doubt septa would sell the rights to the Walnut-Locust station name. Some stations make sense to sell the naming rights to, but not those in center city that are widely connected to a lot of things. There already is a Temple station on the BSL, at main campus of course, so having a second one would be a little redundant and confusing.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by Dan1

Starbucks seems to be trying to have a resurgence recently. They are moving their location at 20th and Callowhill to a larger space on the same block.

The one at 20th and Market is also closed right now, not sure if it's just renovations or permanent.

Wait what? Where are they moving? I go to that location pretty frequently.

[yuryphilly]

New building coming up at 11th and Pine



https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phil...-at-11th-pine/

[blart]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

I just had an idea, would it be crazy for Temple to buy these buildings and put all of there art programs in them, Temple has already positioned it self as Philly's Top University, they might as well claim some land on S Broad, they bring a lot of economical growth anyway, and the BSL would directly connect the two campuses making travel easy, it would also push for more use of the BSL as well as security, upgrades, and naming rights for the S st Station.

Don't remember exactly when it was, but it wasn't all that long ago that Temple DID move the art school (Tyler) from Elkins Park to new buildings on the main campus, between Norris and Diamond Sts.

So a move would be unlikely, although a split campus expansion could be a possibility. Don't know if the equipment and facilities are superior at one location or the other.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

I would say this is unlikely, as good an idea as it may seem. First, Temple is not exactly flush with cash. They rely heavily on student tuition, and with enrollment down, they are tightening their belts on everything, and implemented university-wide budget reductions.
They can't just "claim" some land on S. Broad, like it's frontier land or something. They'd have to buy it at market rates, which I don't see them being able to do.
As for naming rights for the subway station, I doubt septa would sell the rights to the Walnut-Locust station name. Some stations make sense to sell the naming rights to, but not those in center city that are widely connected to a lot of things. There already is a Temple station on the BSL, at main campus of course, so having a second one would be a little redundant and confusing.

Drexel just announced a partnership for U Arts students.
https://drexel.edu/news/archive/2024...hyipjDt17_kScY

While I don't foresee any University gobbling up the UArts real estate in the short-term, I think Drexel is more likely to invest / take advantage of the U Arts situation than Temple.

[PHLJD13]

Originally Posted by Gatorade_Jim

Interesting update: it seems a Starbucks is coming to the corner of 18th and Arch. There’s a logo up in the window above the construction permits. This seems like a good development, and likely a direct result of Comcast’s RTO push.

I saw that signage too. Not sure whether the 20th and Market location is re-located there? Their space was closed and gutted this weekend.

I'd been missing their location in the Comcast building since it closed during Covid, it was my go-to spot. Always clean and friendly. Glad they're re-opening right around the corner.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by blart

Don't remember exactly when it was, but it wasn't all that long ago that Temple DID move the art school (Tyler) from Elkins Park to new buildings on the main campus, between Norris and Diamond Sts.

So a move would be unlikely, although a split campus expansion could be a possibility. Don't know if the equipment and facilities are superior at one location or the other.

I think It would only help temple if they expanded and added more locations, It couldn't hurt to have a location on S Broad. Plus imagine the kudos temple would get for buying a shuttered school and saving all those jobs, plus students from being left stuck in the rain.

It will be interesting to see what happens, but I know something will.