PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Agree, odd that some people are against more and denser housing and then complain/wonder why prices keep going up (specifically in the burbs).
It appears Philadelphia isn't having the same issues as the PA burbs in terms of housing shortages and increased pricing though.

A large chunk of this is being driven by better quality of life services and schools. What makes the metro attractive can also work against it from a city/suburbs perspective and we need to shrink that gap.

[EastSideHBG]

Toll Brothers Acquire 159 Acres in Malvern, Plan to Build 280 Luxury Townhomes

https://vista.today/2023/08/toll-brothers-malvern-townhomes/

[summersm343]

Burlington wants to be more than just another historic town along the Delaware River

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/business/small-...s-pipe-foundry-development-20230820.html

[summersm343]

Developer lands $114M construction loan for Bucks County industrial project

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2023/08/15/foxfield-loan-industrial-bucks-county.html

[summersm343]

MRA Group secures $63M in loans to advance redevelopment of former DuPont campus in Wilmington

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...ngton-crisp-mra-group-life-sciences.html

[summersm343]

Lab Notes: Almac Group starts work on $65M Montco expansion expected to create 355 jobs

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...-almac-group-nrx-pharma-passage-bio.html

[summersm343]

2 Jersey Shore towns rank among the hottest residential real estate markets in the nation (Margate and Wildwood)

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...te-wildwood-hottest-zip-codes-in-us.html

[EastSideHBG]

Plans Are Underway to Turn Lower Merion’s Bala Plaza into a Live-Work-Play Complex



https://montco.today/2023/08/bala-plaza-...T-GCLkTLuYdELxjPGhZ5eIymMqEofIJXtZf9mwhQ

[Aether]

That plan for Bala Cynwyd, do we think it has a good chance? I know the area has been building up but whats the chance this plan happens as proposed?

[PHLtoNYC]

^ Too much random open space.
I know it's the burbs and parks are good, but if developers and the township want a "live-work-play" environment, they need to introduce a walk-able, convenient and intriguing pedestrian layout.

Maybe they should read The Death and Life of Great American Cities before they start building anything.

[SEFTA]

Looks more like "towers" in a park scenario. Minus the towers.
Great to see so much green space. I fear it's mostly superficially masking masses of surface parking that doesn't seem to be present for those buildings.
IT WILL LOOK NOTHING LIKE THIS!

[UrbanRevival]

For those interested in a good rebuttal to the recent articles with questionable numbers on Philly's office occupancy, here's Paul Levy in the Citizen today:

URBAN DOOM LOOP … REALLY?

BY PAUL R. LEVY

AUG. 30, 2023

A story in the Wall Street Journal last week singled Philly out for having an empty office district. The head of the Center City District wonders: Do facts even matter anymore?

...

So how did Kastle Systems, a national security firm, declare us “one of the emptiest office districts in America” based on card swipes in buildings they serve across three states in our region. Start by asking how many downtown buildings they counted. I did, more than once; they declined to answer. But based on conversations with multiple managers overseeing 42 million square feet of downtown office space, no one knows of more than two major buildings using Kastle solely as their entry system.

Information from peers across the country is similar: In New York City, none of the 10 largest owners of the newest office buildings use Kastle. In downtown Houston, neither of the two largest landlords, controlling half that city’s inventory, use Kastle. In downtown Seattle, Kastle has almost no presence.

I hold no animus against them. As a security firm, they should respect the privacy of clients. But when they try to position themselves as a national office barometer, they need to adhere to standards of transparency.

Managers of Center City’s primary offices, none using Kastle, report average attendance most days at 50 to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Center City District (CCD) uses two independent sources, showing a 57 percent return of office workers in June 2023, 17 points higher than Kastle’s count. Workers of all kinds in education, health care and hospitality are approaching a 70 percent rate of return; restaurants and retail are back at even higher rates.

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/guest-commentary-urban-doom-loop-return-to-office/

[summersm343]

Facts don't matter anymore in the media in this country unfortunately. Philadelphia is faring pretty well post COVID. Doubt it's close to an "urban doom loop" scenario... and while San Francisco's struggles are far worse than Philadelphia, things there are way overblown as well.

Just more American BS. A large majority of this country hates cities and do not wish them well.

[summersm343]

Atlanta developer plans $330M industrial project at Exton's Happy Days Farm

Atlanta developer Portman Holdings bought 169 acres in Exton at the site of Happy Days Farm and is planning to build a massive 1.9 million-square-foot industrial complex.

The site, at 1130 Pottstown Pike, sits between Route 100 and I-476. The purchase price of the land and the expected cost of the planned development is a combined $330 million.

Portman plans to build three warehouse distribution buildings in two phases. Site work on the first phase is already underway. Construction of Phase 1 is set to begin in the fall and will include a 636,120-square-foot building. An estimated completion date is summer 2024, or about 10 months later.

The second phase, planned to begin six months after construction begins on the first phase, calls for a 1.1 million-square-foot building and a 154,440-square-foot building. Portman estimates the full campus will be completed in the first quarter of 2025. Portman is calling the development the I-76 Trade Center.

The buildings are being built speculatively without tenants lined up.

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...-industrial-exton-i-76-trade-center.html

[Aether]

Did we ever get a response from the person who wrote the article in wall street journal? I remember a few of the threads members sent messages/emails but i never saw a follow up

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Atlanta developer plans $330M industrial project at Exton's Happy Days Farm



Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...-industrial-exton-i-76-trade-center.html

I live near this and none of the locals are happy about these farms being ripped up and having large warehouse buildings being plopped on it. It just means Route 100 gets even worse.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Facts don't matter anymore in the media in this country unfortunately. Philadelphia is faring pretty well post COVID. Doubt it's close to an "urban doom loop" scenario... and while San Francisco's struggles are far worse than Philadelphia, things there are way overblown as well.

Just more American BS. A large majority of this country hates cities and do not wish them well.

OT, but I just got back from Vienna, Austria, and it was refreshing to escape the heaviness of America. And Vienna is a stunning, clean, well-maintained city.

Originally Posted by Aether

Did we ever get a response from the person who wrote the article in wall street journal? I remember a few of the threads members sent messages/emails but i never saw a follow up

That was me.

The author told me to email the editor... I emailed the editor questions about WSJ findings, her reply...

Thanks for your email. “Urban core” isn’t synonymous with Center City Philadelphia.

The article said: “More than 317,000 people moved out of Philadelphia's urban core between March 2020 and June 2023, according to Moody's.” And Moody’s defines the urban core as “census tracts that have at least 6,000 residents per square mile and population density that is at least twice that of the metro area."

I followed up with additional comments/questions, but she never replied back...

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

OT, but I just got back from Vienna, Austria, and it was refreshing to escape the heaviness of America. And Vienna is a stunning, clean, well-maintained city.



That was me.

The author told me to email the editor... I emailed the editor questions about WSJ findings, her reply...

Thanks for your email. “Urban core” isn’t synonymous with Center City Philadelphia.

The article said: “More than 317,000 people moved out of Philadelphia's urban core between March 2020 and June 2023, according to Moody's.” And Moody’s defines the urban core as “census tracts that have at least 6,000 residents per square mile and population density that is at least twice that of the metro area."

I followed up with additional comments/questions, but she never replied back...

It took all of the 70's for 300000 people to leave Philadelphia...leaving behind a lot of abandonment.

They really must of been high when they wrote it.

[PhillyRising]

So...the mass timber office building in Newtown Square is finally going up. I must say, I thought it would look like the matchstick apartment buildings but so far the wood looks big and sturdy. So far, it is not what I was imaging it would look like.

[EastSideHBG]

Jenkintown Giant grocery store demolition process is officially underway
https://glensidelocal.com/jenkintown-giant-grocery-store-demolition-process-is-officially-underway/

The redevelopment project has the 50,000 square foot store being built from the ground up at the former site of Glanzmann Subaru and a set of commercial stores bordered by Old York Road, Washington Lane and Wyncote Lane.