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PHILADELPHIA | Drexel College of Nursing and Health Professions | 185 FT | 12 FLOORS

Another bare minimum skyscraper to kick off uCity Square...

Title: Drexel College of Nursing and Health Professions
Project: University classrooms, offices
Architect: Wexford Science and Technology LLC
Developer: Wexford Science and Technology LLC
Location: 36th and Filbert
District: West Philadelphia
Neighborhood: University City
Floors: 12
Height: 185 feet

https://www.philly.com/resizer/jhjBt...AYSVVIVLL4.jpg
http://johnfryblog.drexel.edu/wp-con...ew-676x425.jpg

Drexel nursing and health school to move from Center City to new tower planned at former University City High site

Quote:

Drexel University will move its school for nurses, nutritionists and other health professionals from Center City into a new tower planned on part of a sprawling former high school property it acquired five years ago from the Philadelphia School District.

The new College of Nursing and Health Professions building will rise beside a public elementary and middle school also planned at the northwest corner of 36th and Filbert Streets, where part of University City High School once stood, Drexel president John Fry wrote in a blog post on the university’s website Tuesday.
The public school and health-professions tower will be designed and built by developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC of Baltimore, with financing provided by Chicago-based real estate trust Ventas Inc. The two also are partners on the University City Science Center’s uCity Square development on a parcel to the immediate west, which also had been part of the University City High property.

The three-acre Drexel-owned development site where the tower and public school are planned has been home to a seasonal Philadelphia Horticultural Society “pop-up” beer garden for the last three years. It will not reopen when its season concludes in September to make way for the site’s always-anticipated development, PHS spokesman Kevin Feeley said.

Fry said in his post that the nursing and health school’s move “will enable the college to consolidate academic and research programs," while facilitating “greater collaboration between the college and Drexel’s other colleges and schools."

Drexel’s health college currently occupies space at the Three Parkway office tower at 1601 Cherry St. and two other Center City office buildings, Fry said.

A spokesperson for Three Parkway’s owner, Washington-based MRP Realty Group, had no immediate information on the school’s departure or whether it would affect the large “Drexel” sign at the top of the 600,000-square-foot office tower.

Drexel has a 174,000-square-foot lease at the building that expires in May 2023, according to market tracker CoStar Group. CoStar’s data did not specify how much of the space was used by the health college.

Fry said the new college building, which appears in architectural renderings to reach 11 stories, is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2022.

Work on the new elementary and middle school, meanwhile, is scheduled to begin this year for completion in time for the 2020-2021 school year, Fry said. The $38 million building will house Powel Elementary School, currently at 36th Street and Powelton Avenue, and the Science Leadership Academy Middle School, now at 3600 Market St., he said.

The health-professions tower and public school “will bring more dynamism to our campus and further connect us with our neighboring community,” Fry said. “The two projects will further our roots as an anchor institution in West Philadelphia focused on both innovation and inclusion.”

https://www.philly.com/real-estate/c...-20190516.html

Looks great. Build it!

These renderings show what looks like another new East-west street north of Filbert. Anyone know anything more?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618 (Post 8579263)

These renderings show what looks like another new East-west street north of Filbert. Anyone know anything more?

There will be a new 3600 and 3700 block of Cuthbert Street through the complex

It looks like they intend to make the parking lot at 36th and Filbert into a sort of park/square, at least judging by the renderings. I think that's a great use of the land, except that a lot of buildings on Filbert there front Market and not Filbert.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618 (Post 8582231)

Maybe temporarily. Drexel plans to build another building on this parking lot in the future.

Seems like this might be about to get started? Tweet here has a video of a tower crane being assembled at UCity Square. But I don't recall this going through CDR, so maybe it's for the school? Anyone know?

https://twitter.com/ucitysquare/stat...654653451?s=21

Quote:

@uCitySquare: The perks of working at @uCitySquare: endless opportunities to watch crane assembly

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat (Post 8684010)

I’ll drive by in a few hours, so I’ll report on it.

Probably for the school. I'm pretty certain that went through CDR already. This tower did not yet though.

Drove by today and there was no crane anywhere.

thats not a tower crane in the video, its a mobile hydraulic crane, looks like they were using it to set units of some sort on a roof.

The project is listed on this page:
https://drexel.edu/facilities/design/currentProjects/

It says it'll be started Spring 2020.

Via the Lowrise thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardeza (Post 8717438)

That is crazy, but consistent with what Ive heard from others who frequent those areas.

In other news, it seems Drexel has been issued zoning permits for the new K-8 school and the nursing school buildings on the UCHS site. I think there was a foundation permit for the 12 story tower as well. Also, brandywine has unity of use zoning permits for the 30th and Arch sites where the two towers are planned.

Does this thing have to go to CDR? Or is it small enough not to?

Site Prep has started

Site prep has started. Posted in the uCity Square thread by Mikieman:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0fc117da_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8da3c9cb_c.jpg

I think the site prep is probably for the lowrise school next to this building, since this goes right up to Warren St

Quote:

Originally Posted by phishtown (Post 8747602)

I think the site prep is probably for the lowrise school next to this building, since this goes right up to Warren St

I'd argue that it's both. It'd make sense to kill two birds with one stone here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618 (Post 8747645)

I'd argue that it's both. It'd make sense to kill two birds with one stone here.

Looks more like the school location than the nursing building to be honest with you.

They've removed the pop-up beer garden and I've seen soil testing rigs on the nursing school side of the site.

The site prep is more likely for the school but could be for both-- from what I understand, there's a big push to get the school done.

CDR submissions for this are up. Looks great! Design changed slightly.

it's quite a busy looking design and the vertical panels with different colors don't look good IMO...not sure about how this one will come together in real life...

Soo busy, the ceramic frit is TBD - but looks pinkish in the rendering. Awful.
I much prefer the original facade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jawnadelphia (Post 8784960)

Soo busy, the ceramic frit is TBD - but looks pinkish in the rendering. Awful.
I much prefer the original facade.

Me too...maybe if they do a mock up of the facade like others do, they will realize it and make improvements or go back to the original.

I think it will look better in reality than in the computer generated photos. Otherwise, it looks like someone threw out and it became a building...

New cladding looks horrific. Looks like they switch to that aluminum panel garbage.

Drexel to occupy all of new uCity Square building

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

Good! This is a go then. Anyone know when construction will start?

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartphilly (Post 8789745)

Drexel to occupy all of new uCity Square building

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

Good! This is a go then. Anyone know when construction will start?

From the article:

Quote:

Wexford Science & Technology will develop the new building at uCity Square and construction will begin this spring with the nursing school moving in first by the 2022-2023 academic year. The other divisions will be moved in phases.

^
Thanks Boku. I could not read it since it was behind the paywall.

36th Street is going to be one parcel short of having a pretty epic streetwall all the way from Lancaster down to Walnut, with this project.

From the uCity thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite (Post 8968740)

Some pics from 6/30/20 showing progress of the new school and excavation for the new apartment building facing Lancaster Ave. The new Drexel building just received a foundation permit.

From uCity Square Twitter: "September 2020 vs December 2019"

https://twitter.com/uCitySquare/stat...171852800?s=20

Looks like we've got some drilling on site! Maybe caisson installation? You can also see in the background that 3700 Lancaster has begun framing out its first floor.

https://i.imgur.com/JlO4hUw.jpg

That's caisson drilling that is. I can see at least 3 installed. Officially under construction! :cheers:

Furthermore, looks like the school is coming along nicely, and the apartment building along Lancaster Ave is under construction too. Nice!

Tower crane up for this bad boy?? Can anyone verify?

I'm still confused as to why they have a grass strip between the sidewalk and the street? What was the idea behind it and how will it not become weeded and cockroach and rat infested? We can't even tidy up the median pavement on Broad Street for crying out loud.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Londonee (Post 9065155)

They're temporary. Take a look:
https://vr.yulio.com/yoRVSCB8cv

Singapore government fund joins $930M venture backing West Philly life-science projects

Quote:

Real estate trust Ventas Inc. has formed a joint venture with a Singapore sovereign wealth fund to finish developing $930 million in research and lab space, including projects on West Philadelphia’s uCity Square complex and with Drexel University, as the life-science sector proves resilient to a downturn in other property types.

The newly formed venture between Ventas and Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd. will own 1.4 million square feet of lab-and-research space across four projects under development in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Phoenix, Ventas said in a release Friday.

The projects in the Ventas-GIC joint venture are part of what Ventas has classified as its “Research and Innovation” portfolio, a bundle of health-science buildings that it has been developing in collaboration with U.S. universities.

Among them are the 400,000-square-foot One uCity Square building that’s part of West Philadelphia’s growing uCity Square complex and the College of Nursing and Health Professions tower on Drexel-owned land at 36th and Filbert Streets.

Tower crane currently being assembled. I will try to upload photos later

Tower crane is up! You can see it from Kelly Drive and the Parkway. Someone snap a pic if they can when they're in the area.

^^Thanks for posting! :cheers:

The building being framed out by steel is the new Drexel College of Nursing Building (this thread).

The smaller building next to it is the new Elementary School.

The building being framed out by wood is the new apartment building on Lancaster Ave.

The hole in the ground where foundation work is being done is One uCity Square.

I was just at one of Penn's building on Market and the construction taking place in this area is crazy. Basically rebuilding multiple city blocks from scratch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nova08 (Post 9197637)

I was just at one of Penn's building on Market and the construction taking place in this area is crazy. Basically rebuilding multiple city blocks from scratch.

Very exciting
even with out major towers that we all love so much.

You can see the tower cranes for this off in the distance on the righthand side

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...383ea8b9_h.jpg
Nice City View by Roman Kruglov, on Flickr