PHILADELPHIA | The Harper | 272 FT | 24 FLOORS

[summersm343]

11/4/2015

Retail/Chestnut Street side



Residential tower/Sansom Street side

[1487]

Cecil Baker is on the CDR committee so he will have to recuse himself when this comes up for review. Thats pretty interesting because in the hearings Ive attended he typically had a lot to say and was hard to please. I guess his projects will sail through.

[summersm343]

CDR Submission



















http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/pr...CDRpackage.pdf

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by summersm343

CDR Submission



















http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/pr...CDRpackage.pdf

This is one of the more important developments. It will fill the gap between 19th and 20th Streets and continue the line of high-rises going in the N-S axis. I also like the fact that limestone and glass will be used. Good combo!

[1487]

Can you make out the height from the documents? where did the 406' figure come from exactly? It wouldve been nice if the elevation drawing had the height indicated.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by 1487

Can you make out the height from the documents? where did the 406' figure come from exactly? It wouldve been nice if the elevation drawing had the height indicated.

I guess you missed the last few pages. It's 383 to the top of the top floor, but the mechanical penthouse adds extra height.

Thanks to some calculations, the mechanical penthouse is an additional 23 feet on top. So the roof height is 383 but the pinnacle height is 406.

[ILovePhilly]

Cecil Baker + Partners and a representative for Pearl Properties presented their 19th Street tower (Sansom) at a CCRA community meeting last night. Some images can be found here at this curbed link. The tower is now taller on a smaller footprint, 32 stories and just over 400' to the top of parapet (I think they said 405?).

CCRA zoning and CCRA board voted unanimously to non-oppose.

The project will be presented to the design review committee next week. If I can find their submission graphics for that meeting I'll post them.

[summersm343]

Checking in: Plans for the 19th and Chestnut Tower Next to Boyd Theatre

The residential tower on 19th and Chestnut is now turned, tighter, and taller, explained architect Cecil Baker to the Center City Residents Association meeting last night. Baker and developer Pearl Properties were required by law to present their changes to the neighborhood association before the Civic Design Review meeting on November 24. After months of collaboration with concerned community stakeholders, the redesign contains several tweaks to the 250-unit high-rise.

1. The tower is now oriented north-south instead of east-west. This orientation will diminish the disruption of views from adjacent buildings, which include Kate's Place on 20th and Sansom Sts., and 1920 Chestnut St.

2. The tower also also been pulled away from these two buildings. As a result, the building has shrunk somewhat, but increased in height from 27 stories to 32.

Despite questions raised by community members, any talk of the Boyd Theatre was shut down at the meeting. A Pearl Properties representative only reaffirmed that the marquee will be preserved and that the "anticipation is that the lobby will be utilized as a restaurant." And as reported last June, the historic Alexander Building will house a two-story Target.

http://philly.curbed.com/archives/20...yd-theatre.php

[apetrella802]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Checking in: Plans for the 19th and Chestnut Tower Next to Boyd Theatre



http://philly.curbed.com/archives/20...yd-theatre.php

I did prefer the original art deco/art moderne like design but the elevations of the new design remind me of a classic International Style building(not in the same league as the PSFS building of course). Depending of the exterior cladding materials and type of glass this could be a great building.

[1487]

Originally Posted by ILovePhilly

Cecil Baker + Partners and a representative for Pearl Properties presented their 19th Street tower (Sansom) at a CCRA community meeting last night. Some images can be found here at this curbed link. The tower is now taller on a smaller footprint, 32 stories and just over 400' to the top of parapet (I think they said 405?).

CCRA zoning and CCRA board voted unanimously to non-oppose.

The project will be presented to the design review committee next week. If I can find their submission graphics for that meeting I'll post them.

The link to CDR presentation has already been posted.

[McBane]

The footprint is still not clear to me. Specifically, what is happening with this "L" shaped parking lot that has a presence on both 20th and Chestnut Streets.

Here it is along 20th St: https://goo.gl/maps/zA3GgVmQDzB2

And along Chestnut: https://goo.gl/maps/zxFh3UN2gQq

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by McBane

The footprint is still not clear to me. Specifically, what is happening with this "L" shaped parking lot that has a presence on both 20th and Chestnut Streets.

Here it is along 20th St: https://goo.gl/maps/zA3GgVmQDzB2

And along Chestnut: https://goo.gl/maps/zxFh3UN2gQq

That's been puzzling me too. I can tell that the back portion of the T-shaped lot (along Sansom) will be developed, but for a narrow landscaped passage between the new development and Kate's Place. From what I can gather, 20th Street portion will be converted to a driveway and the Chestnut portion will remain as a lot.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by McBane

The footprint is still not clear to me. Specifically, what is happening with this "L" shaped parking lot that has a presence on both 20th and Chestnut Streets.

Here it is along 20th St: https://goo.gl/maps/zA3GgVmQDzB2

And along Chestnut: https://goo.gl/maps/zxFh3UN2gQq

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

That's been puzzling me too. I can tell that the back portion of the T-shaped lot (along Sansom) will be developed, but for a narrow landscaped passage between the new development and Kate's Place. From what I can gather, 20th Street portion will be converted to a driveway and the Chestnut portion will remain as a lot.

The portion facing Sansom will be developed. Half of the parking lot facing 20th street will be developed as the loading dock/parking garage entrance. This will be on the portion closer to Kate's Place. The other half of the 20th street facing portion closer to 1930 Chestnut will remain. The portion of the lot facing Chestnut street will remain.

This site plan does a good job of explaining what portions of the lot will be taken out and what portions will remain:

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Half of the parking lot facing 20th street will be developed as the loading dock/parking garage entrance. This will be on the portion closer to Kate's Place. The other half of the 20th street facing portion closer to 1930 Chestnut will remain. The portion of the lot facing Chestnut street will remain.

This site plan does a good job of explaining what portions of the lot will be taken out and what portions will remain:

Thanks. That particular image makes things clearer. My confusion really centered on what they were doing on the 20th Street side. Maybe I missed/forgot about it, but are there any renders of what it's going to look like with a half lot and driveway combo? That doesn't sound aesthetically promising. I hope they do some landscaping like the Kate's Place passageway on the Sansom side.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Also, it isn't clear to me how the remaining portion of the Boyd auditorium is going to integrate with the new tower. There's still a part of the terraced balcony in there.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by summersm343

The portion facing Sansom will be developed. Half of the parking lot facing 20th street will be developed as the loading dock/parking garage entrance. This will be on the portion closer to Kate's Place. The other half of the 20th street facing portion closer to 1930 Chestnut will remain. The portion of the lot facing Chestnut street will remain.

This site plan does a good job of explaining what portions of the lot will be taken out and what portions will remain:

That image appears to be outdated. More up-to-date materials in the package presented to the Historical Commission as posted to their website:

Boyd Tower Submission:
http://www.phila.gov/historical/Docu...2010.15.15.pdf

and Revised Site Plan:
http://www.phila.gov/historical/Docu...10-22-2015.pdf

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Also, it isn't clear to me how the remaining portion of the Boyd auditorium is going to integrate with the new tower. There's still a part of the terraced balcony in there.

The only part of the Boyd that will remain is the Chestnut Street facade and lobby; the remaining rear portion foyer goes away in the current plan (see revised site plan I linked above).

[slow-v6]

Very nice proposal

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

The only part of the Boyd that will remain is the Chestnut Street facade and lobby; the remaining rear portion foyer goes away in the current plan (see revised site plan I linked above).

Thanks for the clarification. I can't figure out why they wanted to preserve that small piece of the auditorium in the first place. The lobby is the only thing left of value at this point. I thought they were just leaving the back part of the auditorium up for structural reasons until construction began. That's why I was surprised to see it in Summers' site plan.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

That image appears to be outdated. More up-to-date materials in the package presented to the Historical Commission as posted to their website:

Yes, but it much more clearly showed the footprint of the project, which hasn't really changed. How that driveway and pedestrian easement are going to look with part of the 20th Street parking lot still operating is anyone's guess. I didn't see a rendering of that in any of the documents.