PHILADELPHIA | 232 Walnut | 175 FT | 15 FLOORS

[mcgrath618]

Will the SH NIMBYs stop this one before it even starts? Or will logic and reason prevail?

Title: 232 Walnut
Project: Hotel
Architect: ???
Developer: Anthony Cerone
Location: 232-236 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Neighborhood: Society Hill
District: Old City
Floors: 15 Floors
Height: 175 FT






Owner of Society Hill mansion wants to replace palatial 20-year-old home with 15-story hotel

The owner of the Society Hill mansion across Walnut Street from the historic Merchants’ Exchange Building wants to replace his palatial 20-year-old home with a 15-story, 117-guest-room hotel tower.
Logistics mogul Anthony Cerone, who owns the property at 232-36 Walnut St., told members of the Philadelphia Historical Commission’s architecture committee Tuesday that the hotel project is what “the city needs” to help it recover from the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

The architecture committee, whose rulings serve as non-binding recommendations to the Historical Commission, voted not to endorse the proposal, with some panelists characterizing it as out-of-scale with the surrounding neighborhood.
Cerone, an owner of the XTL Inc. warehouse and trucking company, built his four-story, 5,400-square-foot home behind high brick walls on land he acquired for $1.1 million in 1999, property records show.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/societ...-20200729.html

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Will the SH NIMBYs stop this one before it even starts? Or will logic and reason prevail?

Title: 232 Walnut
Project: Hotel
Architect: ???
Developer: Anthony Cerone
Location: 232-236 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Neighborhood: Society Hill
District: Old City
Floors: 15 Floors
Height: 175 FT






Owner of Society Hill mansion wants to replace palatial 20-year-old home with 15-story hotel



https://www.inquirer.com/news/societ...-20200729.html

My guess? DOA.

[Nova08]

Regardless, I have a hard time believing a hotel will get financing anytime in the next 3 years, especially after the number of rooms that went on the market in 2019 and planned for 2020.

[summersm343]

I too think this one is DOA unfortunately due to the Society Hill NIBMY Association... I mean... Neighbor association. I hope I’m wrong though and this one gets built. The design is incredible.

[Human Scale]

Originally Posted by summersm343

I too think this one is DOA unfortunately due to the Society Hill NIBMY Association... I mean... Neighbor association. I hope I’m wrong though and this one gets built. The design is incredible.

They will def fuss about it being hotel. But IDK, they might appreciate the stone aesthetic and overall respect to site context. Lol jk.

[SEFTA]

Hmmm
Any of these gonna happen?
I hope all of them!
I doesn't look out of place at all, in fact it is surrounded by towers.

Society Hill 8-1-20 by

[blart]

Interesting... was living in Old City when the mansion was built. Even though it looked like they pumped a lot of money into it, it isn't particularly beautiful or special.

Didn't expect it to be replaced however; the tower looks decent... hope it gets the go- ahead.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by blart

Interesting... was living in Old City when the mansion was built. Even though it looked like they pumped a lot of money into it, it isn't particularly beautiful or special.

Didn't expect it to be replaced however; the tower looks decent... hope it gets the go- ahead.

That mansion is ugly as Hell, I'm shocked they allowed that to be built and if they deny this new 15 story skyscraper to keep this ugly mansion they don't care about the neighborhood, they just care about noise and inconvenience

[Boku]

Plans for 15-story Walnut Street hotel met with overwhelming opposition

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...nst-hotel.html

The National Park Service and the Society Hill Civic Association have come out against a proposed plan to develop a 15-story hotel at 232-36 Walnut St. in Philadelphia.

This compounds an already uphill battle for the project that involves tearing down an existing 5,400-square-foot residence called Thomas Paine Place and replacing it with the new 117-room hotel tower.

At a meeting last month, Philadelphia’s Architectural Committee, which advises the Philadelphia Historical Commission, reviewed the project and recommended that the commission deny the project. As part of its recommendation, the architectural committee said the project’s “massing, scale, proportions, height, and design elements are not compatible with the historic district."

[...]

The Historical Commission was scheduled to review the hotel project at its Aug. 14 meeting but it has been tabled until September. It was postponed at the owner's request, said Rich Villa of Ambit Architecture, which is working with Cerrone.

"There are redesigns happening now," Villa said, declining to elaborate on what would change. "It's too early."

When the Historical Commission does take up the matter, its vote on the project will be binding.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Better than the average box for sure, but, upon closer inspection, it is just a nicely skinned box with a forecourt (reminds me of the Rollins tower on Concord Pike). If they brought the building in line with the street wall, they could probably do something lower with a setback or two. I do think the arguments about scale are a bit over the top, given the proximity of the Customs Building and the Society Hill Towers. Something on the lower end of high-rise would be a nice transition for a block on the edge of the historic district.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Better than the average box for sure, but, upon closer inspection, it is just a nicely skinned box with a forecourt (reminds me of the Rollins tower on Concord Pike). If they brought the building in line with the street wall, they could probably do something lower with a setback or two. I do think the arguments about scale are a bit over the top, given the proximity of the Customs Building and the Society Hill Towers. Something on the lower end of high-rise would be a nice transition for a block on the edge of the historic district.

Funny you mention the Rollins tower, that was Mr.Rollins attempt to bring the city of Wilmington Northward, as you can see his vision failed, for now atleast.

[Jawnadelphia]

John Rollins was quite the character, he literally died in his business suite atop the Rollins Building. Solid obit in the NY Times in 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/24/u...can-party.html

As should be clear, getting a 15-story office building built in the early 1970's in Fairfax... north of Wilmington, a lot of those suburbs were just being built, it was open land, and so residential/suburbia--really shows Rollins great political power in the state, and money to do whatever he wanted (zoning my ass!). Apparently he wanted his building to be taller than the DuPont's HQs downtown ... but in the end settled on 183 feet, outside the city.

Nice little drone footage here:
https://youtu.be/A_WK7rWyRdg

[summersm343]

New rendering:


232 Walnut Street by jackftl, on Flickr

https://www.phila.gov/media/20200903...yzOlw__gKJyfrc

This has been downsized to 7 floors, and no longer qualifies as a high rise. This thread will be closed/moved to "Never Built," and any further updates on the project can be posted in the Lowrise/General Developments Thread here:
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...60247&page=716

[PHLtoNYC]

Sorry to revive. But is this project dead or still a go? I ask because of the new downzoning of Society Hill passed by city council today.
This site is technically Society Hill, even though its on the cusp. Would be a shame if this were derailed because of the new bill.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Sorry to revive. But is this project dead or still a go? I ask because of the new downzoning of Society Hill passed by city council today.
This site is technically Society Hill, even though its on the cusp. Would be a shame if this were derailed because of the new bill.

May as well be dead. It got shortened before this bill was even introduced, which also means this thread should be locked.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

May as well be dead. It got shortened before this bill was even introduced, which also means this thread should be locked.

Note that the third version (revised after the Sept 22 Architectural Committee meeting) was approved by the Historical Commission at their October 9th meeting.

Here are the materials with the October version of the plan: https://www.phila.gov/media/20201002...ut-St-rev2.pdf

The archived Zoom session of the October 9 meeting is now online, weighing in at just under 5 hours: https://dpd-public-meetings.s3.amazo...n_Oct92020.mp4

The 232-36 Walnut St matter begins at the 24.45 mark. Recommendation of denial from the Architectural Committee in September notwithstanding, the Commission approved the latest (3rd) version of the hotel proposal by a vote of 8 to 3.

And the Mayor vetoed the height limit bill, subject to possible override.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Note that the third version (revised after the Sept 22 Architectural Committee meeting) was approved by the Historical Commission at their October 9th meeting.

Here are the materials with the October version of the plan: https://www.phila.gov/media/20201002...ut-St-rev2.pdf

The archived Zoom session of the October 9 meeting is now online, weighing in at just under 5 hours: https://dpd-public-meetings.s3.amazo...n_Oct92020.mp4

The 232-36 Walnut St matter begins at the 24.45 mark. Recommendation of denial from the Architectural Committee in September notwithstanding, the Commission approved the latest (3rd) version of the hotel proposal by a vote of 8 to 3.

And the Mayor vetoed the height limit bill, subject to possible override.

I hath spoken too soon! Thank god I was wrong, this looks awesome!

[iheartphilly]

I like version 3.0. Nice architectural features. At 111 ft, this is fine too. Hopefully this will get built.

[El Duderino]

this might be the best version yet, though there are some discrepancies between the renderings and the elevation drawings - most notably the shape of the first floor windows, which actually matters.

either way, yes please. and bonus for sticking it to SH nimbys.

[Justin7]