PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[relnahe]

Originally Posted by McBane

Still clinging to our boring Quaker roots, aye? Even with a complete redesign, the tower will still sit back from the Lit Bros (Commission supported that), which to me is such a strange concept. I would have much rather had something like the Hurst building in NY, something that's not afraid to say, HERE I AM!!!!!!!!!!!

Seems like half the time, any building over 4 stories either has a red brick base or some other design element intended to make it "blend in", "disappear", or "minimize its impact." And it's sad when a developer brings this attitude to the table (as they did here) because it's expected - that anything slightly controversial, sexy, modern, sleek, or boisterous will be met with contempt and horror.

Because the LIT building is gorgeous! Why put something that is going to take away from it. I liked the initial proposal because it was going to add a ton of density without making it visible. Yes the tower component was a dated, bland addition but something closer to the street and sleeker would take away from the building. We aren't talking some new structure that is attempting to replicate an older structure on the base like that new high-rise apartment building that was built around 20th+Chestnut.

Now there will likely be a shorter or distracting addition put in its place. Ugh.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by relnahe

Now there will likely be a shorter or distracting addition put in its place. Ugh.

Not sure why you'd come to that conclusion:

Committee members praised the location, noting that to the casual viewer, the building would appear not to be even sharing the same block as the Lit building. They were less taken with the unremarkable design, which they said did not live up to the standards set by the Lit building.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20...osal_too_boring.html#RxXvEkDLwsSMiPM3.99

There's no indication that the tower will be either shorter or more distracting, since it will remain in the currently proposed location set back significantly from the Lit Brothers facade. The Historic Commission committee--and the Preservation Alliance--just suggested that the tower's design should be less bland precisely because its location will NOT distract or detract from the Lit Brothers facade.

[mja]

I don't understand the notion that a beautiful building is somehow well-served by having an ugly building next to it.

[PhiLaw]

Originally Posted by mja

I don't understand the notion that a beautiful building is somehow well-served by having an ugly building next to it.

By that logic we should have a lot more empty lots in this city.

[PhiLaw]

Comcast tower approvals on the fast-track. Sweeps through hearings, save for Wilson Mugabe Goode's antics.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/

[Outta here]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Not sure why you'd come to that conclusion:



http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20...osal_too_boring.html#RxXvEkDLwsSMiPM3.99

There's no indication that the tower will be either shorter or more distracting, since it will remain in the currently proposed location set back significantly from the Lit Brothers facade. The Historic Commission committee--and the Preservation Alliance--just suggested that the tower's design should be less bland precisely because its location will NOT distract or detract from the Lit Brothers facade.

So then , if that is the concern , why not have " any " tower take on the facade
of the Lit Brothers building ..... ??

[McBane]

Originally Posted by relnahe

Because the LIT building is gorgeous! Why put something that is going to take away from it.

So in other words, there isn't an architect out there that can create a tower that will enhance the Lit Bros Building? I don't know the science behind architecture but I know that they are always coming up with ways to work with their surroundings. In this case, the architects decided to go bland and hide away in dark corner. But just as well, the architects could be been more bold and create a tower that stands proud while also visually enhancing the Lit Bros Building. I don't think it's an either/or scenario. How can that be possible? I'm not architect but I'm sure it could be done if the city's architectural culture wasn't so conservative. But maybe it's not that simple. Maybe my idea is possible only with big bucks for design (starchitect) and implementation (high quality materials)?

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by Outta here

So then , if that is the concern , why not have " any " tower take on the facade
of the Lit Brothers building ..... ??

Because the tower's location is far back enough from the street and facade of the Lit Brothers building, that it wouldn't look like it's even part of that building. That's the bottom line here: both the Historic Commission committee AND the Preservation Alliance believe that this plan has so successfully separated the tower visually from the Lit Brothers facade, that the developer and architect do not have to worry about detracting or distracting from the historic design and fabric of the Lit Brothers facade. The developer was basically given the go-ahead to let loose with a more exciting tower design.

And to answer your question more specifically, a tower that took on the facade of the Lit Brothers building, and was visually connected to the building from the street view, WOULD significantly alter the historic appearance and fabric of the building. For example, imagine if we built a tower that was visually connected to Independence Hall, but that maintained the flemish bond brickwork and Georgian details of the original--it still would drastically alter the historic appearance, scale, and fabric of Independence Hall. Better to have the tower visually disconnected from the original building, especially from the street view.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by McBane

So in other words, there isn't an architect out there that can create a tower that will enhance the Lit Bros Building? I don't know the science behind architecture but I know that they are always coming up with ways to work with their surroundings. In this case, the architects decided to go bland and hide away in dark corner. But just as well, the architects could be been more bold and create a tower that stands proud while also visually enhancing the Lit Bros Building. I don't think it's an either/or scenario. How can that be possible? I'm not architect but I'm sure it could be done if the city's architectural culture wasn't so conservative. But maybe it's not that simple. Maybe my idea is possible only with big bucks for design (starchitect) and implementation (high quality materials)?

See my answer to Outta here, immediately above. And again, we're talking about a historically certified structure, and not just a charming old building--it's on the National Register of Historic Places. We can't just visually add to such structures--even with beautiful design--and preserve their historic appearance and significance. If we start doing that, Philly loses one of its biggest trump cards as a city, in my opinion.

[mja]

Originally Posted by PhiLaw

By that logic we should have a lot more empty lots in this city.

The choice isn't between having an ugly building and an empty lot. The choice is between having an ugly building and a handsome one. Give me a good design that can enhance the natural beauty of the Lit bros. building.

[Outta here]

Originally Posted by mja

The choice isn't between having an ugly building and an empty lot. The choice is between having an ugly building and a handsome one. Give me a good design that can enhance the natural beauty of the Lit bros. building.

THANK YOU . Absolutely my point . The design I saw lacked caricature , sort of
like trying to match a pair of hip waders to a tuxedo jacket . Maybe I'm confusing practicality with aesthetics , but If that is the best
design the firm could come up with , than maybe the best tower should be
no tower at all .

[DIESELPOLO]

Yes. The building is ugly and the proposed design was not a placeholder as I desperately had wished earlier.

"...Committee member John Cluver suggested that Brickstone come back with something "more bold." Connors' team [the developer] signaled it would." - from Philly.com article

So we'll have to wait for Lit Bros. Tower v2...

[theSisko]

Joseph N. DiStefano
Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 11:35 AM Real estate people say a major supermarket chain has lately been scouting sites for new Center City stores. Possible locations include the Gallery at Market East, where Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust boss Joe Coradino said last week he's looking for "food-related" tenants; the Girard Block redevelopment proposed for 11th-12th, Market-Chestnut, which may unveil a plan in March; Bart Blatstein's Broad and Washington retail site (Bart has done supermarkets before, as has PREIT); and others.

Of course, the Gallery has been pitched as the site of a casino, a high-end department store, a Target, various big restaurant concepts. The Gallery and Girard Block renovation projects have several factors in common: they have been delayed for years; they will partly depend on government money; they will look a lot different if the neighborhood Market8 casino project is approved and built, vs. one of the rival locations, or none.

Which supermarket chain? Acme has been closing, not building. We haven't seen Shop-Rite asking for its usual urban handouts downtown. Fresh Grocer has its hands full up at LaSalle and Temple. Wegman's doesn't seem to do urban. Giant (of Carlisle) has a big store in Northeast Philadelphia, but (like Wegmans) it's non-union. If one of the non-union chains tries to move in downtown, "with labor laws as they are, it's hard to stop them," Wendell Young IV, president of United Food and Commerical Workers Local 1776, told me. "But if they try to come here, they will get some pushback," he promised.


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-p...for-Center-City.html#28hetA1l3uGjROoQ.99

[Liam]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Did they explain how they determined their version of "middle class" - b/c the $123k is household income, not per capita, and that's ridiculously low. So, a married couple earning $65k each is considered "upper class" according to this study? That's a joke.

I don't know what their methodology was, but it doesn't seem outrageous. A range of $46K to $123K in household income roughly corresponds to the 45th through 85th percentiles nationally. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

[theSisko]

Kristen Graham Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 3:35 PM The Philadelphia School District is close to four deals for closed school buildings, it announced today.

The district said it is negotiating deals on these properties:

Anna Shaw Middle School, 5400 Warrington Ave. (Southwest Philadelphia). Buyer: Mastery Charter. Proposed use: educational.

Alexander Wilson Elementary School, 1300 S. 46th Street. (Southwest Philadelphia). Buyer: Orens Brothers Real Estate Inc. Proposed use: retail and residential.

Stephen Douglas High School, 2700 E. Huntingdon Street. (Port Richmond). Buyer: Maritime Academy Charter School. Proposed use: educational.

University City High School, Charles Drew Elementary, and The Walnut Center, 3601 Filbert Street. (University City). Buyer: Drexel University Development, LLC. Proposed use: residential, retail, lab/office, educational.
The sales would net the district about $25 million, officials estimate.

Once negotiations are complete, the deals would have to be signed off on by the School Reform Commission. The SRC could consider a resolution on March 20.

Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said he was pleased that deals were close.

"Once approved, the sale of these facilities will generate one-time funds for the school district and provide the city with opportunities for redevelopment," Hite said in a release. "We will continue to pursue property repurposing under the district's Adaptive Sale and Reuse policy."


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/schoo...ools-identified.html#xpkLEd8dPPq6o2Ap.99

[theSisko]

Joseph N. DiStefano
Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 2:27 PM Officials at Drexel University, Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust and other city and West Philly institutions have been sitting down with developers in recent days to review proposals to build over the tracks at 30th Street Station and link the grandiose proposed Drexel Innovation Neighborhood and its high-rise, Rockefeller Center-like "Superblock" at 33rd and Market -- whose 6.5 milllion sq ft, by itself, would be more than four times larger than the proposed new Comcast office tower -- and other new Drexel-area construction to Center City, highways, the airport, Penn, and, you know, the rest of the world.

“We are in the process of determining and selecting a winning bid. My understanding is we should have that process wrapped up in the next several weeks,” Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz told me. Amtrak and the other big neighborhood and public institutions asked for developer proposals last fall.

Drexel President John Fry hopes to boost the university's enrollment by nearly one-third in the next seven years, to 34,000, and invite both corporate employers and emerging firms to share the campus. Other private area colleges like St. Joseph's and Villanova are also trying to expand under threat of the declining college-age population in Pennsylvania, whose economy is growing more slowly than the rest of the U.S. Drexel's proposals are extra ambitious.

Brandywine has a big stake: The Radnor-based firm controls five of the 10 largest Center City buildings and is the main class-A office landlord in West Philadelphia, with its current and proposed Cira towers, including the 47-story FMC building scheduled to begin work this year. Brandywine also plans to start work on a "retail-office-residential tower" in a joint venture at 1919 Market St., boss Jerry Sweeney told investors in his quarterly conference call earlier this month.Retail will likely be an important part of the expanded Drexel neighborhood, says Michael Salove, founder of retail property broker MSC, which worked on the neighboring University of Pennsylvania's past master plan.

"This is Step One of a very long process," said broker CBRE's Brandon Famous. He hopes Drexel will create "the fifth square of Philadelphia," joining Rittenhouse and the other historic parkland hubs in Center City.




Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-p...y-redevelopment.html#r1zv3XfuWhxJcIcb.99

[iheartphilly]

Is this picking up momentum??? Article has links to Drexel's master plan.


Drexel, Amtrak, Brandywine weigh giant development plans

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-p...y-redevelopment.html#uS1AjdGu9uPKtK79.99

[Jelly Roll]

Originally Posted by theSisko

Joseph N. DiStefano
Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 2:27 PM Officials at Drexel University, Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust and other city and West Philly institutions have been sitting down with developers in recent days to review proposals to build over the tracks at 30th Street Station and link the grandiose proposed Drexel Innovation Neighborhood and its high-rise, Rockefeller Center-like "Superblock" at 33rd and Market -- whose 6.5 milllion sq ft, by itself, would be more than four times larger than the proposed new Comcast office tower -- and other new Drexel-area construction to Center City, highways, the airport, Penn, and, you know, the rest of the world.

6.5 million square feet would completely change Mantua. There is no way a neighborhood can be located that close to that much Class A space and not dramatically rise in value. Lots of new tax revenue if they actually manage to pull it off.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Jelly Roll

6.5 million square feet would completely change Mantua. There is no way a neighborhood can be located that close to that much Class A space and not dramatically rise in value. Lots of new tax revenue if they actually manage to pull it off.

Mantua is the federally designated "promise zone."

[relnahe]

Originally Posted by theSisko

Brandywine has a big stake: The Radnor-based firm controls five of the 10 largest Center City buildings and is the main class-A office landlord in West Philadelphia, with its current and proposed Cira towers, including the 47-story FMC building scheduled to begin work this year. Brandywine also plans to start work on a "retail-office-residential tower" in a joint venture at 1919 Market St., boss Jerry Sweeney told investors in his quarterly conference call earlier this month.Retail will likely be an important part of the expanded Drexel neighborhood, says Michael Salove, founder of retail property broker MSC, which worked on the neighboring University of Pennsylvania's past master plan.

Hopefully Drexel goes bold instead of doing the typical urban campus stuff.