PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by chimpskibot

23rd and Cherry? I think it’s very premium looking for a lowrise building. It’s quite utilitarian, but I think there is worse cladding and material throughout the city.

The design is awesome. No qualms at all with their architecture and design team. The fit and finishing is absolute dogshit. It's horrible. I'm not sure if you're ever walked by it, but just look at it next time you do. It's really, really bad.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by PHLJD13

I toured several PMC buildings earlier this summer. This building (23rd and Cherry) was wild. It doesn't provide any front desk staff, has an unsecured package room with no doors, and its unit finishes are trash (mis-matched flooring, light switches that don't power anything, cheap appliances). Despite being done and open for well over a year, the entire property somehow looks like its waiting for contractors to come back to apply interior and exterior finishes.

That's exactly what I figured it would be. They really phoned it in on this one.

[PHLtoNYC]

I predict a ~20-story proposal in the coming year. Predictions?

Rittenhouse Square property under contract to sell to local developer

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

A Rittenhouse Square property previously home to cookware store Kitchen Kapers is under agreement to sell to a local developer and could join a growing list of real estate projects nearby.

Philadelphia-based Astoban Investments is in a deal to purchase the property at 213-215 S. 17th St. The deal is still in the early stages of due diligence and Astoban doesn't yet have a plan for the property, Astoban Managing Director Tim Shaaban said in an email. Shaaban said was attracted to the property by its location.

The site is zoned for CMX-5, Philadelphia’s least restrictive zone.

Astoban already owns 1810 Chestnut St., the former Freeman’s auction house headquarters, where it plans to develop 19 stories above the existing six stories of the historic building.

Nearby, Astoban also developed a 10-story condominium tower at 2110 Walnut St. that incorporated a historically designated Frank Furness structure into the design. At 223-225 S. 6th St. across from Washington Square, Astoban is developing 10 condominium units while incorporating the historic Dilworth House.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I predict a ~20-story proposal in the coming year. Predictions?

Rittenhouse Square property under contract to sell to local developer

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

A Rittenhouse Square property previously home to cookware store Kitchen Kapers is under agreement to sell to a local developer and could join a growing list of real estate projects nearby.

Philadelphia-based Astoban Investments is in a deal to purchase the property at 213-215 S. 17th St. The deal is still in the early stages of due diligence and Astoban doesn't yet have a plan for the property, Astoban Managing Director Tim Shaaban said in an email. Shaaban said was attracted to the property by its location.

The site is zoned for CMX-5, Philadelphia’s least restrictive zone.

Astoban already owns 1810 Chestnut St., the former Freeman’s auction house headquarters, where it plans to develop 19 stories above the existing six stories of the historic building.

Nearby, Astoban also developed a 10-story condominium tower at 2110 Walnut St. that incorporated a historically designated Frank Furness structure into the design. At 223-225 S. 6th St. across from Washington Square, Astoban is developing 10 condominium units while incorporating the historic Dilworth House.

I'm wondering how tall they can feasibly build here, the lots are really shallow, so it's not that big even with the 2 properties. From the map, they only look about 50 ft deep while the Dilworth house lot is ~200 ft deep for example.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by PurpleWhiteOut

I'm wondering how tall they can feasibly build here, the lots are really shallow, so it's not that big even with the 2 properties. From the map, they only look about 50 ft deep while the Dilworth house lot is ~200 ft deep for example.

Yea it is a small site, so maybe more like ~10 stories.

Something similar to this may work...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9478...5410&entry=ttu

[Broadcastthatboom]

Are there any plans or rumors for the old Sweat Fitness building at 24th and Walnut? The entire parcel's Walnut-facing side is empty, and the rest of the building is just a parking garage. It seems like the perfect location for a One Riverside/Riverwalk-type apartment development, it's a prime River Trail location between UCity and Center City (as long as they could keep the existing Phillies mural).

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I predict a ~20-story proposal in the coming year. Predictions?

Rittenhouse Square property under contract to sell to local developer

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

A Rittenhouse Square property previously home to cookware store Kitchen Kapers is under agreement to sell to a local developer and could join a growing list of real estate projects nearby.

Philadelphia-based Astoban Investments is in a deal to purchase the property at 213-215 S. 17th St. The deal is still in the early stages of due diligence and Astoban doesn't yet have a plan for the property, Astoban Managing Director Tim Shaaban said in an email. Shaaban said was attracted to the property by its location.

The site is zoned for CMX-5, Philadelphia’s least restrictive zone.

Astoban already owns 1810 Chestnut St., the former Freeman’s auction house headquarters, where it plans to develop 19 stories above the existing six stories of the historic building.

Nearby, Astoban also developed a 10-story condominium tower at 2110 Walnut St. that incorporated a historically designated Frank Furness structure into the design. At 223-225 S. 6th St. across from Washington Square, Astoban is developing 10 condominium units while incorporating the historic Dilworth House.

While Astoban has executed very high quality projects, it hasn't really done any high rises per se, no? I see this being very modest in scale, though I think it would be a super lux product. That's a great location compared to their other projects which have been farther west on Walnut and Chestnut.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

While Astoban has executed very high quality projects, it hasn't really done any high rises per se, no? I see this being very modest in scale, though I think it would be a super lux product. That's a great location compared to their other projects which have been farther west on Walnut and Chestnut.

Astoban is behind the Freeman's Auction House high-rise proposal. That would be their tallest project, if completed.
https://astoban.com/freeman

[Jerryiz]

I have driven down Chestnut Street from 48th street or so (West Philly) for years. I was raised not too far away at 54th street .I have driven down there to hop on the Schuylkill, hundreds if not THOUSANDS of times but yesterday something really jumped out at me. I never realized the amount of NEW DEVELOPEMENT from high rises 10+ stories and low rise 5+ story structures that have appeared .I guess I never paid attention ! Don't get me wrong, the 2 lane traffic really sucks and people double parking and the lane shifts are really weird but the activity and the development is really amazing.I wish I could have grabbed a video of the drive. It almost made me forget that I was in Philadelphia . It just shows that Philly is really "Growing up" !

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Jerryiz

I have driven down Chestnut Street from 48th street or so (West Philly) for years. I was raised not too far away at 54th street .I have driven down there to hop on the Schuylkill, hundreds if not THOUSANDS of times but yesterday something really jumped out at me. I never realized the amount of NEW DEVELOPEMENT from high rises 10+ stories and low rise 5+ story structures that have appeared .I guess I never paid attention ! Don't get me wrong, the 2 lane traffic really sucks and people double parking and the lane shifts are really weird but the activity and the development is really amazing.I wish I could have grabbed a video of the drive. It almost made me forget that I was in Philadelphia . It just shows that Philly is really "Growing up" !

It happens so incrementally, sort of one building at a time, that you don't really notice all the development at first. But when you compare certain areas of the city to how it was 10 years ago, it can be really mind boggling.

I mean, I remember when developers broke ground on DWELL, which is this big multi building complex in South Kensington. I thought, who's gonna live there (It's one block north of Girard Avenue).

Joke's on me. The development in South Kensington is stretching nearly to Lehigh Avenue.

[summersm343]

With rates coming down, hopefully we’ll start to see some movement on some stalled projects.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

With rates coming down, hopefully we’ll start to see some movement on some stalled projects.

I guess The Harper tower will be the first to get going soon?
I doubt Pearl would demo the site and then let it sit (like Toll Brothers).

10 development projects to watch around Rittenhouse Square
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ladelphia.html

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I guess The Harper tower will be the first to get going soon?
I doubt Pearl would demo the site and then let it sit (like Toll Brothers).

10 development projects to watch around Rittenhouse Square
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ladelphia.html

I know there's an Inquirer article talking about rent concession jumpers, but I was walking around Northern Liberties yesterday and the new buildings are filling up. There's a mid-size building at the SW corner of 2nd&Poplar that just finished and to my naked eye, it looked like every single apartment was already occupied. There was definitely furniture and boxes etc in every apartment I could see with window shades that were not drawn.

Anyways. There was def a huge glut coming on at the same time but there is also nothing in the pipeline...at least not anything substantial. I think it bodes well for when we come out of this interest rate slump.

[bdurk]

Maybe I'm speaking from a renter mind and not a landlord mind because obviously I'm a renter, but I think a glut is a good thing for a city. Austin kind of has one now and I think the more people that can afford to rent in the city, the better. People in their 20s like me are starting to look towards affordable cities like Philly instead of NYC which I think is great for the city. They realize they can have a similar lifestyle for a fraction of the cost. Also, I don't have too much sympathy for landlords not being able to rent out their 2k/month apartments lol. Drop the price a little bit and it'll be rented in a heartbeat.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by bdurk

Maybe I'm speaking from a renter mind and not a landlord mind because obviously I'm a renter, but I think a glut is a good thing for a city. Austin kind of has one now and I think the more people that can afford to rent in the city, the better. People in their 20s like me are starting to look towards affordable cities like Philly instead of NYC which I think is great for the city. They realize they can have a similar lifestyle for a fraction of the cost. Also, I don't have too much sympathy for landlords not being able to rent out their 2k/month apartments lol. Drop the price a little bit and it'll be rented in a heartbeat.

Anecdotally, my daughter and her group of friends come from NYC to Philly regularly to hang out with mom and pops. Out of 10-12 of them, half are actively looking in Philly because of 1. how cool Philly is and 2. How much cheaper it is to live here.

[bdurk]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Anecdotally, my daughter and her group of friends come from NYC to Philly regularly to hang out with mom and pops. Out of 10-12 of them, half are actively looking in Philly because of 1. how cool Philly is and 2. How much cheaper it is to live here.

Sounds about right! I actually was planning on moving to NYC myself but after visiting my friend in LES a decent amount I realized that I actually love Philly and how comfortable my apartment is here for the price I pay. NYC is an incredible city full of tons of fun but I don't want to live in a shoebox for $2k/month with no AC. Plus, it's so easy to visit that I can go once a month for fun and still enjoy it from Philly.

[summersm343]

We all knew there would be a year or two of growing pains as all these units come on the market and work to lease up. Truthfully the interest rate hikes and slowdown in starts on new projects couldn’t have come at a better time. It seems the general consensus is most people expect things to be getting back to normal in 2025 or 2026, which means we’ll need more units by that time. Any new projects starting this year won’t be ready until 2026. Starting next year won’t be ready until 2027.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by bdurk

Sounds about right! I actually was planning on moving to NYC myself but after visiting my friend in LES a decent amount I realized that I actually love Philly and how comfortable my apartment is here for the price I pay. NYC is an incredible city full of tons of fun but I don't want to live in a shoebox for $2k/month with no AC. Plus, it's so easy to visit that I can go once a month for fun and still enjoy it from Philly.

That's with a roomate.

NYers would kill to pay $2k/mo for a shoebox with no AC.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Redddog

That's with a roomate.

NYers would kill to pay $2k/mo for a shoebox with no AC.

I don't disagree that rents are absurd in New York City but I pay about $2400 per month for a 600 - 650 square foot apartment in New Rochelle with central air and a view of the Long Island Sound. The building is only about a 10 minute walk from the Amtrak/Metro North station (35 minute ride to Grand Central). The building is about 1 1/2 years old and has beautiful amenities and a very nice roof deck (with views of both Manhattan and the Long Island Sound). We all wish rents were less but this seems very reasonable to me, about the same or less than I would pay for something similar in DC.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

I don't disagree that rents are absurd in New York City but I pay about $2400 per month for a 600 - 650 square foot apartment in New Rochelle with central air and a view of the Long Island Sound. The building is only about a 10 minute walk from the Amtrak/Metro North station (35 minute ride to Grand Central). The building is about 1 1/2 years old and has beautiful amenities and a very nice roof deck (with views of both Manhattan and the Long Island Sound). We all wish rents were less but this seems very reasonable to me, about the same or less than I would pay for something similar in DC.

That's a good deal for that region but you're in New Rochelle, with all of the pluses and minuses that come with not being on rapid transit slash an uber ride away. Most younger people just starting out don't want to be in the collar counties. They want to be in the middle of the action.