PHILADELPHIA | The Development Thread VIII

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by apetrella802

The Merchant's Exchange(William Strickland) is wedded to the difficult triangular lot on which it stands better than almost any building in America. The semi-circular Corinthian portico acknowledges and is shaped by the apex of the triangle of land on which it stands in a dramatic fashion.

Yup - in the 18th century, Philly architects could be dramatic! Up until 1932 or so, in fact. The PSFS building must have scared the crap out of all but a few (Giurgola, Kahn (not much good Kahn in Philly, however) . . . . but anyone else?).

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

What year do you think this one is from? BFB is still grey, everything's still coal-stained, no gallery, INHP land partially cleared.

Some time in the 40s?

[bucks native]

July 12, 2010, 5:13am EDT

source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...t_market_bouncing_back.html?ana=e_du_pub

Phila.-area apartment market bouncing back
by Natalie Kostelni Staff Writer
Philadelphia Business Journal
12 JUL 2010

The apartment market throughout the region appears to have stabilized and is showing signs of strength, according to a midyear report.

This means the local economy continues to gain strength as people gain employment and no longer need to temporarily live with family or double up roommates to make ends meet, and landlords are beginning to gain the upper hand again, drawing to a close a market in which renters got free rent and other lucrative terms.

While the national apartment vacancy rate came in at 7.8 percent, the overall vacancy rate for the Philadelphia metropolitan area stood at 4.2 percent, down from 6.9 percent at the midpoint last year, according to Delta Associates, an Arlington, Va., real estate research firm.

The best showing was in Center City, where the vacancy rate dropped to 1.9 percent from 7.6 percent at the same point last year, and rents zoomed upward by 7.4 percent to an average of $1,918, or $1.88 a square foot.

[rricci]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

I recently heard something on Philadelphiaspeaks.com about the so-called "Kid Agua" building being cleaned out recently. Does anybody have any information on who the owners of this building (which is, I believe, in the 300 block of 12th Street) are and why they chose now to disabuse the detritus of dereliction?

Oh dear lord please say that it is going to be converted into apartments, lofts, or offices. That bombed out shell of a building is a fine howdy-do when coming into CC from Jersey. Makes my friends want to turn around and go back home.

[bucks native]

Originally Posted by rricci

Oh dear lord please say that it is going to be converted into apartments, lofts, or offices. That bombed out shell of a building is a fine howdy-do when coming into CC from Jersey. Makes my friends want to turn around and go back home.

Lots of new restaurants are planned for that area....I'll try to do some research on the location. I don't know the building...but it's on South 12th, yes?

Meanwhile....Starr wants to be in Fishtown and there's some opposition.

source: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/turf_wars_neighbors_gone_wild062110/

Turf Wars: Neighbors Gone Wild

For Stephen Starr and other Philly entrepreneurs, the biggest hurdle in launching a new project isn’t necessarily city bureaucracy. It’s powerful (and unelected) neighborhood groups out to get as much as they can

In this case, what Starr’s up to is pretty sweet: He intends to renovate a dilapidated eyesore of a building near the corner of Girard and Frankford, prune the trees that are growing inside it, and remold it according to the protocols of Starr über-cool — building the slick city version of a traditional German beer garden. We know what happens next. Property values, already climbing in Fishtown, will rise even more. And other businesses will open in Starr’s wake.

[Muji]

Actually I think the building being referred to is the 10-story industrial building at 12th and Pearl Sts, a block north of the Vine Street Expressway. I sure as hell hope it gets rehabbed into something useful as opposed to demolished.

[bucks native]

Originally Posted by Muji

Actually I think the building being referred to is the 10-story industrial building at 12th and Pearl Sts, a block north of the Vine Street Expressway. I sure as hell hope it gets rehabbed into something useful as opposed to demolished.

Ohhhh! North 12th. Never mind!


This is BIG:

source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnist...le_to_sponsor_conference_at_Wharton.html

Tue, Jul. 13, 2010

PhillyDeals: Comcast, Google to sponsor conference at Wharton

By Joseph N. DiStefano
Inquirer

Comcast Corp. and Google Inc. are rivals in one of the big Washington lobby fights of our day: Google favors a flat per-customer fee for Internet access; Comcast wants to sell Internet access at whatever price the market will bear.

But Comcast and Google have many other interests in common. And they are joining as sponsors of Supernova Forum 2010, the ninth annual business-college-government telecom and tech conference run by Federal Communications Commission staffer turned Wharton legal studies professor Kevin Werbach. The event will be held at Wharton on July 29-30.

"I'd like to think that Comcast, Google, and our other sponsors appreciate the value of bringing together different perspectives," Werbach told me. "It's not an advocacy forum; it's an event to promote insights and better understanding of important topics."

This is the first time in the event's nine-year history that it will not be held in the San Francisco Bay area.

Werbach is hoping for heavier attendance from Northeast and Mid-Atlantic start-up companies, as well as FCC officials and congressional aides.

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Some time in the 40s?

That's what I was thinking, though I rarely find color pictures of the city from that time period. Always gets me how the city was so dark and dirty then. You can see it in other pics as well. I'm not sure if its from coal, car exhaust, grit, or all of the above. I vaguely remember cities looking like this when I was a little kid-- no wonder so many people were escaping to suburbs.

Some dirty skylines:






Look how dirty City Hall was right when Penn Center was still new:


Here's what happens when you build right next to the chinese wall:

[Phil_North]

Great find on the pics Aaamazarite! Looking at the picture of Center City from above, one can really appreciate the number of buildings, although much shorter, that once graced the skyline.

I had no idea how dirty the buildings once were. Is that last picture Suburban Station? Just filthy!

[scalziand]

Wasn't a decent amount of coal still being used for heating back then?

[CentralGrad258]

Originally Posted by bucks native

Meanwhile....Starr wants to be in Fishtown and there's some opposition.

source: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/turf_wars_neighbors_gone_wild062110/

Turf Wars: Neighbors Gone Wild

For Stephen Starr and other Philly entrepreneurs, the biggest hurdle in launching a new project isn’t necessarily city bureaucracy. It’s powerful (and unelected) neighborhood groups out to get as much as they can

For fuck's sake, the vote was like 156 in favor and 18 opposed(if you're talking about the Beer Garden). This is a severely slanted and uninformed article that lump's everyone together. There are some neighborhood groups that are a pain in the ass, there are some who just want some basic input and ask legit questions. Some of the people at the meeting were annoying, but there was overwhelming support for the development as there is for most new businesses. Makes me wonder what other details they got wrong or misrepresented.

[pwp]

Originally Posted by CentralGrad258

For fuck's sake, the vote was like 156 in favor and 18 opposed(if you're talking about the Beer Garden). This is a severely slanted and uninformed article that lump's everyone together. There are some neighborhood groups that are a pain in the ass, there are some who just want some basic input and ask legit questions. Some of the people at the meeting were annoying, but there was overwhelming support for the development as there is for most new businesses. Makes me wonder what other details they got wrong or misrepresented.

I completely agree. I was at the meeting and although, at times, many of those who opposed the development out-voiced those who agreed, the vast majority supported the Beer Garden. The writer of this article does a poor job reflecting this and, if anything, is only further promoting an environment which frightens developers. The author's opinion on the impact of neighborhood groups in the planning process is fairly negative. I don't think they realize the value of these groups as a control against unwanted neighborhood development.

[230 North Maple]

Originally Posted by scalziand

Wasn't a decent amount of coal still being used for heating back then?

Yep ! not just for home heating but a lot of industry still used coal .
I know the PRR had a crap load of coal fired steam engines back in
the mid 50's , just to name a few .

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Phil_North

one can really appreciate the number of buildings, although much shorter, that once graced the skyline.

The overwhelming majority of those buildings in those aerials are still standing. Or did you mean that they just aren't as visible anymore?

[apetrella802]

I was in 11th grade in 1962 and would take the bus from NJ to go to the Library on Logan circle and sometimes walk down to Rittenhouse SQ. At that time Rittenhouse Sq was very "edgy" meaning it was a little threatening. There was a feeling that the public spaces and streets of the city were not secure. And yes the grime form a 100 years of industrialization was very evident. The hotels all had a sense of faded glory. No really outstanding restaurants with serious chefs and food. And yet you could see that the architecture reflected a city that had participated in the forefront of history of the 18th, 19th and early 20th c.

Since 1988 I have as a volunteer given architectural tours and lecture with the Foundation for Architecture and now the AIA Center for Architecture and over that time have been able to gage the reaction from architects and the general public from all over the world to Philadelphia's architectural legacy. The overwhelming reaction is extremely positive, often describing the kaleidoscopic array of periods, styles and building types.

Because of Philadelphia's history of a extremely diverse economy( unlike say Detroit's single industry economy) it seems to have made the transition to a post-industrial age since the decline in old industry was slow and gradual.

In any event I am still happy and amazed at the city today and always proud to introduce people to its architectural heritage over over three centuries.

[Aaamazarite]

Just found an archive of all the areas demolished for the INHP:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?col...iladelphia,%20PA&displayType=1&maxCols=4

Some of it is already cleared and made into a rudimentary version of the park but some buildings that are now gone remain.

[apetrella802]

if you look at this pic

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa1300/pa1316/photos&topImages=140515pr.jpg&topLinks=140515pv.jpg,140515pu.tif&title=13.%20%20VIEW%20LOOKING%20EAST%20BETWEEN%20THIRD%20(lower%20horizontal%20line)%20AND%20SECOND%20(upper%20horizontal%20line)%20STS.,%20SHOWING%20MERCHANTS'%20EXCHANGE%20%3cbr%3eHABS%20PA,51-PHILA,6D-13&displayProfile=0

and go to the top of the pic and move from left to right about 2 inch you see a multistory brown stone building on what is now the site of Welcome Park and the original site of W. Penn's house fromthe late 17th c.

This brown stone was the headquarters of the Yoh Comp. and was being renovated when it became structuraly weak and collapsed. It was in a style similar to the Bourse and would have been a great piece of late 19th c commercial architecture in INHP.

[apetrella802]

easier yet, its picture #13 in the set of pics provided by Aaamazarite

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by apetrella802

if you look at this pic

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa1300/pa1316/photos&topImages=140515pr.jpg&topLinks=140515pv.jpg,140515pu.tif&title=13.%20%20VIEW%20LOOKING%20EAST%20BETWEEN%20THIRD%20(lower%20horizontal%20line)%20AND%20SECOND%20(upper%20horizontal%20line)%20STS.,%20SHOWING%20MERCHANTS'%20EXCHANGE%20%3cbr%3eHABS%20PA,51-PHILA,6D-13&displayProfile=0

and go to the top of the pic and move from left to right about 2 inch you see a multistory brown stone building on what is now the site of Welcome Park and the original site of W. Penn's house fromthe late 17th c.

This brown stone was the headquarters of the Yoh Comp. and was being renovated when it became structuraly weak and collapsed. It was in a style similar to the Bourse and would have been a great piece of late 19th c commercial architecture in INHP.

That's pretty cool. I always wondered what replaced the Slate Roof House.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by apetrella802

if you look at this pic

Taken from the top of the sadly departed art deco Irwin Building!