PHILADELPHIA | The Development Thread VIII

[Cro Burnham]

Look what used to be at the SE corner of 4th & Walnut (now a gated garden - pretty, but under utilized):



Great details:





Looks like solid masonry walls - must have been pretty hard to take down:



All photos from LOC Historic American Building Survey (thanks, apatrella)

[PHL10]

New York’s old city (New Amsterdam) was decimated by fire and to make way for the burgeoning Manhattan. This is nowhere to be found in NY but it’s a common site in modern Philadelphia:



This didn’t happen in Philadelphia partly due to the center of the city moving west. But a consequence of the office districts steady movement is that it left so many old office and commercial buildings, which were no longer very functional and without demand, in a bad position. The fortunate consequence was that there was no systematic tearing down and replacing of older structures over the course of 150 years. Society Hill and Old City was left to rot but you can repair rot. Obviously a lot was lost and it is very gut wrenching for me to view these photos. Independence Mall was short sighted as well but in the end, the amount of history preserved and the integrity of Old City and Society Hill are impressive despite.

[McBane]

How about some good news?

Okay, maybe from our perspective it's just interesting but it's better than sobbing over all the beautiful buildings we lost. Hey, at least we're not St. Louis.

Apparently Hill Int'l - the same company that wants to build the ACC - just won a $5.25 contract to expand the Panama Canal. http://ir.hillintl.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=487828

What is the impact - if any - on the ACC?

Personally, I think that they will put a lot of their resources into the canal project. But, compared to the Panama Canal, the ACC is a drop in the bucket. It's possible that the money generated from this deal can help get the ACC moving. Maybe? I don't know. Thoughts?

[rricci]

Originally Posted by McBane

Apparently Hill Int'l - the same company that wants to build the ACC - just won a $5.25 contract to expand the Panama Canal. http://ir.hillintl.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=487828

That is fascinating news McBane...the very kind I look to this board for. Thank you. I don't know what it means necessarily, but it gives me fuel for fantasy.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by rricci

That is fascinating news McBane...the very kind I look to this board for. Thank you. I don't know what it means necessarily, but it gives me fuel for fantasy.

I don't think the article said that Hill won the entire $5 billion contract - I think Hill won one of many contracts to work on the project, but I don't think the article said how much their specific contract was worth.

[hammersklavier]

New news on the Cherry Street Plaza (with renderings!): http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainme..._offers_promising_plans_for_a_plaza.html

It does look cool, even though PAfA's north façade is one of the most mosaic examples of a blank wall I can think of, and thus little better than the equally pleasing blank wall at the Hillman site.

[apetrella802]

the north wall of pafa is richly concieved with an exposed iron truss that serves to allow for a column free space directly inside and beneath the slanted glass canope. This space was originally a drawing studio and the north orientation allowed for a diffused light which is more desired. This was a very early use of structural iron in this manner prior to the first structural stell building in Chicago(1885)

The exposed truss is incorporated into the design pattern of the wall. Not something that was done in 1876. All of the design elements are reflective of the structural necessity of the building, i.e., they are for the most part not in any way applied decoration even though the exterior is a complex mosaic of stone, brick, marble and glass. They all relate to some elements of French, English and Venetian Gothic but are fused into a very personal style by Furness.

Both John Ruskin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin and Viollet la duc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Viollet-le-Duc influced Furness

[hammersklavier]

Whatever you say...when you walk by it on Cherry Street it's still a blank wall though.

[apetrella802]

De gustibus non est disputandum

[Cro Burnham]

Hammer, I normally agree with most of what you write, but not this time. Seems like you might be standiing on principle here - but there's no comparison between PAFA and the Hillman building. Part of the issue is that not all "blank walls" are created equal - some contribute to the aesthetics of the streetscape, and some don't. PAFA and, say, the Acropolis, do - the US Mint and the Hillman building don't.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by McBane

Apparently Hill Int'l - the same company that wants to build the ACC - just won a $5.25 contract to expand the Panama Canal. http://ir.hillintl.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=487828

What is the impact - if any - on the ACC?

Personally, I think that they will put a lot of their resources into the canal project. But, compared to the Panama Canal, the ACC is a drop in the bucket. It's possible that the money generated from this deal can help get the ACC moving. Maybe? I don't know. Thoughts?

That's great news!!!!!!!! When are they going to start on the canal???? As for the ACC, the costs for this tower is about $1B, which means that the ACC might get construction started around late this year or early 2011. I'm praying this happens!!!!!!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Hammer, I normally agree with most of what you write, but not this time. Seems like you might be standiing on principle here - but there's no comparison between PAFA and the Hillman building. Part of the issue is that not all "blank walls" are created equal - some contribute to the aesthetics of the streetscape, and some don't. PAFA and, say, the Acropolis, do - the US Mint and the Hillman building don't.

I agree that there are definitely very different types of blank walls. Some, like the PAfA wall or the Millennium Hall pylons, are quite pleasing to pass. Others, like the U.S. Mint or the backside of a big box are just .

It's still a blank wall though.

Viz. Hillman: I do believe the current building is still in use (at least it looked in-use when I passed by it this morning) and I realized that calling the blank section of the façade a blank wall is about as persnickety as calling the north street façade of PAfA a blank wall. Which is to say, not very useful and annoying to boot. Hillman's façade is made up of a beautiful yellowish stone with elegant midcentury features; the main black marks on it are the half-century of grime it hides behind and the underwhelming windows.

On another note, the YWCA on the block before or so is perfect infill. Ideal midcentury modernism, but nobody pays attention to the crumbling thing.

Finally, since ARC's Old City proposal is attracting quite a bit of attention, I'd like to ask, what's happened to their previous proposal? You know, the Boyd Theater building?

[patriotizzy]

No one ever takes update photos here. Doesn't anyone live in or near downtown?

[Wayne Junction]

Originally Posted by McBane

How about some good news?

Okay, maybe from our perspective it's just interesting but it's better than sobbing over all the beautiful buildings we lost. Hey, at least we're not St. Louis.

Apparently Hill Int'l - the same company that wants to build the ACC - just won a $5.25 contract to expand the Panama Canal. http://ir.hillintl.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=487828

What is the impact - if any - on the ACC?

Personally, I think that they will put a lot of their resources into the canal project. But, compared to the Panama Canal, the ACC is a drop in the bucket. It's possible that the money generated from this deal can help get the ACC moving. Maybe? I don't know. Thoughts?

Thought #1: any prospects for a major tenant before we break ground? I'd love to see it happen as well but the build-it-and-they-will-come fantasy is not befitting these times.

[brian.odonnell20]

Originally Posted by Wayne Junction

Thought #1: any prospects for a major tenant before we break ground? I'd love to see it happen as well but the build-it-and-they-will-come fantasy is not befitting these times.

Well construction isn't slated to start until the developers can find an anchor tenant and final city approval. The prospects used to be td bank and glaxo kline smith but neither of them have been viable tenants for over a year now. Philly will now have to attract an outside source to set up in the city if anyone wants this tower to be built within the next five years.
The only place the "Build it and they will come" fantasy is applied to nowadays is special government subsidized projects or the 4 world trade center towers, which are all under construction but only have less than a third of the combined required leasing necessary.

[apetrella802]

we all saw what a 10 year tax abatement did in creating a residential building boom. The business and personal tax climate in a city like
Philadelphia means it will remain very non competitive!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by apetrella802

we all saw what a 10 year tax abatement did in creating a residential building boom. The business and personal tax climate in a city like
Philadelphia means it will remain very non competitive!

But a tax abatement won't solve the city's tax problems, and it would be unwise to even propose it until the budget gets back under control.

[We Got Five]

The tax abatement has done nothing to grow business. Look at the facts - the downtown office environment has remained stagnant for the last 27 years.

The tax abatement moves companies around like puzzle pieces - ala Cira Center.

Cut taxes, show the city as a positive place to do business, and keep you're young talent from the 6 big Universities within arms distance of you.

[EastSideHBG]

From condos to rentals

American Lofts has a checkered past. Court records show judgments by contractors and suppliers against developers that weren’t satisfied.

By Alan J. Heavens
Inquirer Real Estate Writer

Eleven floors above Northern Liberties, Jake Winigrad carefully studied the vast expanse of the Delaware Riverfront, bathed in the hazy sunshine of a mid-July afternoon.

"The windows are like paintings that change throughout the day," said the Parkway Corp. vice president for project management, offering a nonfinancial, but hugely important reason, for why the venerable Philadelphia company chose this glass-steel-concrete mid-rise at North American and Brown Streets as its first rental apartment building.

The building at 212 Brown St. is American Lofts, and it is a property with a checkered past.

About two weeks ago, Parkway closed on the 45,825-square-foot, 40-unit building, bought for $10.7 million from Abington Bancorp Inc., which provided financing.

Best known for its primary business - parking - Parkway is also a major commercial developer: Walnut Towers/Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Lockwood Place in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and Festival Hall in Toronto are just three.

In 2006, Parkway partnered with Pan American Realty owner Julie Wong on The Pearl Condominiums at Arch and Ninth Streets, its first residential project.

The 90 one- and two-bedroom units ranging in price from $220,000 to $440,000 and 10 commercial suites sold out three years after construction began and amid a real estate downturn.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/homepage/20100719_From_condos_to_rentals.html

[volguus zildrohar]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

No one ever takes update photos here. Doesn't anyone live in or near downtown?

Outside of a handful of projects, there isn't anything happening right now. A couple of us do take update photos when there's enough progress to capture.