PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[bdurk]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I should copy/paste this statement next time I see a troll on FB or insta complain about all the empty buildings and high vacancy rates.

I love all the conversions, I wish some prominent new construction projects would also get started, particularly, the Jeweler's Row tower and the Wendy's lot on Walnut. At least 115 S. 19th Street is officially U/C.

I wish every person who posts comments about "well who is living in these luxury housing buildings?? we need affordable housing!!!!!" could see this. I'm not trying to say we don't need affordable housing too, but the luxury housing comments drive me insane. Nobody understands real estate but everyone has a loud opinion on it.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Ok Boomer.

Hey, watch it with the Boomer slurs! Not all of us are anti-urbnanism or anti-transit-oriented development. Just as all Millennials and Gen Z'ers (or even most) aren't self-absorbed navel-gazing social media addicts with short attention spans (or whatever other stereotypes you can think of). Seriously, though, ageism and stereotyping can be just as pernicious as other kinds of bigotry.

[el don]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Ok Boomer.

You know housing near Regional Rail stations is more valuable than housing not near transit?

There are already plenty of $800k houses in Bensalem.

Shouldn't you be on some suburban message board somewhere? Fighting for parking and against density.

Remind me if I'm in the right place.

This parcel is in Philadelphia, not Bensalem. My point still stands about the price. Some form of mixed use makes sense, I can't see 800k as a price point however.

Also, do me a favor fuckface, map out the walk from the mall to Cornwell heights. I live one Mile away from here. Once again, I know the area I'm speaking about. Meanwhile you seem to be zooming in and out of Google maps.

[mcgrath618]

Both of you should consider phrasing messages like adults, rather than hurling insults like children.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by el don

This parcel is in Philadelphia, not Bensalem. My point still stands about the price. Some form of mixed use makes sense, I can't see 800k as a price point however.

Also, do me a favor fuckface, map out the walk from the mall to Cornwell heights. I live one Mile away from here. Once again, I know the area I'm speaking about. Meanwhile you seem to be zooming in and out of Google maps.

I take the train from Cornwell Heights twice a week. I know exactly where it is. It's a massively underappreciated asset.

A good development at Franklin Mills would connect to the side of Poquessing Creek that separates it from State Road.

Lubert Adler has billions of dollars. Surely they could find a way to do it.

Use your imagination.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by el don

This parcel is in Philadelphia, not Bensalem. My point still stands about the price. Some form of mixed use makes sense, I can't see 800k as a price point however.

Also, do me a favor fuckface, map out the walk from the mall to Cornwell heights. I live one Mile away from here. Once again, I know the area I'm speaking about. Meanwhile you seem to be zooming in and out of Google maps.

Seems like a lot of the roads around there lack sidewalks, even in the areas directly next to the train station. Not sure why anyone would be walking from the Franklin Malls site to Cornwell Heights unless there's plans to properly pedestrianize the surrounding areas and add multiple bridges over Poquessing Creek. Otherwise you have to use a massive circular route to avoid walking on multiple highways (63 and 95).

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by el don

TI live one Mile away from here. .

This explains why you have no appreciation for how truly transformational something imaginative here could be. Typical NE Philly slash Lower Bucks County low ambition low expectations.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Seems like a lot of the roads around there lack sidewalks, even in the areas directly next to the train station. Not sure why anyone would be walking from the Franklin Malls site to Cornwell Heights unless there's plans to properly pedestrianize the surrounding areas and add multiple bridges over Poquessing Creek. Otherwise you have to use a massive circular route to avoid walking on multiple highways (63 and 95).

Yes. Lubert Adler can do that and the town should expect them to. We're literally talking about one of the richest private equity real estate firms in the country.

I don't know why on a board full of supposed urbanists everyone is rallying for a strip mall in one of the last developable large parcels in Philadelphia County.

It's actually mind blowing.

[PHLtoNYC]

State of Center City 2026 Report came out today. Overall, very good trends for Greater Center City.

Clickable report... https://centercityphila.org/research-reports/state-of-center-city-2026

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Yes. Lubert Adler can do that and the town should expect them to. We're literally talking about one of the richest private equity real estate firms in the country.

I don't know why on a board full of supposed urbanists everyone is rallying for a strip mall in one of the last developable large parcels in Philadelphia County.

It's actually mind blowing.

I grew up in a similar community nearby, have many coworkers from the area, and I know that people would rather have a water park than overly fancy or dense housing. As someone else pointed out, it's close to the train station if youre a bird, and presumably they dont control the land in-between. You can hate it, I dont love it, and probably none of them do either. But I know thats what the community will want. Plus, this can be redeveloped again in the future. Hes basically not touching the mall structure for now and planning to put shit in it. This is a step in the right direction.

Family fun centers have rapidly closed in the region as land has gotten more expensive, which leaves an opening here for a destination. Young parents need things to do with their kids, and active recreation is the best for that. Thr Northeast has the largest concentration of families with children as evidenced by the schools being overfilled. Frankly, the project does nothing for me either way, so have your rage I guess as long as that makes you happy. The world is full of people who want different things. Sorry Lubert personally wronged you by shitting in your cereal apparently. I hope this gives you the attention you are looking for

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PurpleWhiteOut

I grew up in a similar community nearby, have many coworkers from the area, and I know that people would rather have a water park than overly fancy or dense housing. As someone else pointed out, it's close to the train station if youre a bird, and presumably they dont control the land in-between. You can hate it, I dont love it, and probably none of them do either. But I know thats what the community will want. Plus, this can be redeveloped again in the future. Hes basically not touching the mall structure for now and planning to put shit in it. This is a step in the right direction.

Family fun centers have rapidly closed in the region as land has gotten more expensive, which leaves an opening here for a destination. Young parents need things to do with their kids, and active recreation is the best for that. Thr Northeast has the largest concentration of families with children as evidenced by the schools being overfilled. Frankly, the project does nothing for me either way, so have your rage I guess as long as that makes you happy. The world is full of people who want different things. Sorry Lubert personally wronged you by shitting in your cereal apparently. I hope this gives you the attention you are looking for

At least this is thoughtfully and elegantly stated. Even convincing.

That being said, I do have to remind myself that this particular forum (the Philadelphia corner of Skyscraperpage) is actually not about urbanism or development and is actually just a message board about the lights on the skyscrapers and the people who have hard ons for such things (i.e. suburbanites that actually don't have interest in cities or even live in them but for some reason have very strong opinions about all of it). And especially love the intensity and colors of lights on the side of skyscrapers that don't impact the quality of life in said cities at all. Brighter please! More intense! Orange, yay! Red, yay!

Once I'm reminded of that, which happens frequently, I'm able to manage my expectations about any elevated thought or outside the box thinking.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hopefully the lights are ORANGE this weekend. Go Gritty.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

is actually just a message board about the lights on the skyscrapers and the people who have hard ons for such things (i.e. suburbanites that actually don't have interest in cities or even live in them but for some reason have very strong opinions about all of it).

You and I are in agreement here

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

At least this is thoughtfully and elegantly stated. Even convincing.

That being said, I do have to remind myself that this particular forum (the Philadelphia corner of Skyscraperpage) is actually not about urbanism or development and is actually just a message board about the lights on the skyscrapers and the people who have hard ons for such things (i.e. suburbanites that actually don't have interest in cities or even live in them but for some reason have very strong opinions about all of it). And especially love the intensity and colors of lights on the side of skyscrapers that don't impact the quality of life in said cities at all. Brighter please! More intense! Orange, yay! Red, yay!

Once I'm reminded of that, which happens frequently, I'm able to manage my expectations about any elevated thought or outside the box thinking.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hopefully the lights are ORANGE this weekend. Go Gritty.

For what it's worth, I agree with the bulk of your message (and the bulk of your posts), even if I disagree with how it was presented.

For what it's also worth, I do think that the Franklin Mills site is juuuuust barely too far away from the existing/future Cornwells Heights station to be walkable. A LOT more would have to change about the surrounding area besides just the mall itself before I'd consider the walk advisable. I don't even just mean pedestrian infrastructure. The walk needs to be pleasant as well as safe.

I DO think there's a there there. The only way we're going to get better communities is to build them, not argue about building them.

[38 Geary]

Do private developers have the ability to take over public space and develop infrastructure over creeks and build sidewalks on people's properties? I would think there would have to be some sort of joint master development plan in collaboration with the city planners to truly transform this site into an actual urban village that interacts with its surroundings rather than just an isolated one (a medium-high density pseudo gated community).

I don't think the idea of building an urban village on a defunct former mall site is a bad one, but I don't see how transformative it really is if it's a full mile away from a train station that seems to have physical barriers preventing convenient urbanized access to it. I don't think these are unreasonable things to consider when evaluating whether a development is transformative or not. If an urban village was being built over the park and ride lots (actual TOD) at the Cornwell Heights that would be another story, although that would have its own issues (ie nothing in the immediate vicinity of interest to be activated by a high density mixed use development).

[bdurk]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

At least this is thoughtfully and elegantly stated. Even convincing.

That being said, I do have to remind myself that this particular forum (the Philadelphia corner of Skyscraperpage) is actually not about urbanism or development and is actually just a message board about the lights on the skyscrapers and the people who have hard ons for such things (i.e. suburbanites that actually don't have interest in cities or even live in them but for some reason have very strong opinions about all of it). And especially love the intensity and colors of lights on the side of skyscrapers that don't impact the quality of life in said cities at all. Brighter please! More intense! Orange, yay! Red, yay!

Once I'm reminded of that, which happens frequently, I'm able to manage my expectations about any elevated thought or outside the box thinking.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hopefully the lights are ORANGE this weekend. Go Gritty.

Very pretentious response to an issue that really has no significance whatsoever. For what it's worth I am someone who lives in the city, is an urbanist, and also enjoys skyscraper lighting at night. There's nothing wrong with any of that. You can disagree with people on an online forum without calling them names as well. We are all here because we enjoy development, I cannot imagine being so miserable that I would call anyone on this site any sort of derogatory name because I disagree with them. There's no need for this sort of rhetoric here.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by bdurk

We are all here because we enjoy development, I cannot imagine being so miserable that I would call anyone on this site any sort of derogatory name because I disagree with them.

Then again, this is the same forum that literally wished death upon a very young TK2001 in 2020 for going on a walk along the Delaware River in NJ to take pictures.

[PHLtoNYC]

Hopefully this is a big step in making the Philadelphia area more economically competitive.

New regional partnership targets 'more competitive economy' in Greater Philadelphia
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...ladelphia-growth-partnership-launch.html

Local business leaders have formed the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership, aiming at addressing sluggish job growth and declining economic mobility in the region.

[Aether]

Whats going on with the Mt airy project that replaced that trolley diner? It was moving along slowly but i havent seen any progress made in months at this point..
Something go wrong? I thought it wouldve been mostly finished by now, at least on the exterior

[Easiered]

Does anyone know the exact address of the new isotope facility that just broke ground?

[Holt]

Originally Posted by Easiered

Does anyone know the exact address of the new isotope facility that just broke ground?

You can find more info here: https://www.thebellwetherdistrict.com/innovation/

Looks like it's right off Maiden Lane, off 76.