PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[Insoluble]

Originally Posted by josef

TL;DR People need jobs.

The takeaway from this particular article is more like, "people need money". Two of the solutions they proposed were housing vouchers and a wage tax rebate for low income families, neither of which has anything to do with increasing employment. The article did not mention anything about actually increasing employment.

[summersm343]

Enterprise hiring 140 in Philadelphia

This will include okay to well paying jobs as well as low paying jobs. Either way, good for the economy and adding more jobs to Philly:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...terprise-hiring-140-in-philadelphia.html

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

Look for an announcement that Forbes is moving it's HQ to Camden CBD next week.

The sale lease back period of their original HQ which they sold in 2010 is up. I hear it will be a build to suite. Not sure how many Forbes employs these days and the jobs aren't in Philly, but I bet most of the younger employees will want to live in Philly.

Are you referring to the renowned magazine???

[Salonica city]

Originally Posted by Jelly Roll

That report spells out nicely what we have been saying on this thread for a long time. Yes, there is a lot of construction going on but there is demand for all the new units.

I read through the "affordable housing" plan and they really should rename it "The $300 million dollar jobs plan". The 500 owner occupant units that will be sold are for people making 80 to 120 percent of the median income. That is around 70k for a family of four. It is a plan to subsidize new housing for middle class families. I have mixed feelings about it since according to the report $200 million will come from the state of PA and the Feds and once wage taxes are factored in the $100 million from the city really is more like $65 million. They allocate $200,000 per unit which does not seem like it is that out of line with private development costs. On the other hand $100 million here and $100 million there does start to add up to real money and it is the tax payers that have to come up with the money.

Couldn't agree with you more jelly and also have a question in how this really works they say they build low income housing and also middle income and they also sell some of these homes at market price. But I have never heard or seen anyone but one of them or even live in one of them have you ? Oh and everytime they develope one of these projects in a neighborhood that's experiencing "gentrification " all it does is send the neighborhood in to a ten year purgatory

[Salonica city]

And for the comment that us Philadelphians take everything so negatively about sports and our media on the growth of our city,compared to Chicago with its onetime largest population of 3.6 saying that people there don't get upset at the idea of Chicago not ever reaching that number again. I want to state as a proud Philadelphian we will be happy when we beat Chicago in population. Because philly once was bigger. Until Chicago pulled a fast one and beat us in population by cheating I think by incorporating huge swaths of land overnight. like gerrymandering I presume on a city level. And it's my opinion that it helped them gain federal and state funds and kept growing after that to the second largest city in the nation.

[EastSideHBG]

With PA's reputation, I am happy that the city/area is growing at all and I don't view sudden, fast growth as a good thing, as too many negatives can result from that. And to be one of the biggest metros in the U.S. already, what's there really to compete over anyway?

[R5Ryder]

Originally Posted by salonica city

and for the comment that us philadelphians take everything so negatively about sports and our media on the growth of our city,compared to chicago with its onetime largest population of 3.6 saying that people there don't get upset at the idea of chicago not ever reaching that number again. I want to state as a proud philadelphian we will be happy when we beat chicago in population. Because philly once was bigger. Until chicago pulled a fast one and beat us in population by cheating i think by incorporating huge swaths of land overnight. Like gerrymandering i presume on a city level. And it's my opinion that it helped them gain federal and state funds and kept growing after that to the second largest city in the nation.

lol wut?

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Are you referring to the renowned magazine???

No, he's referring to the esteemed dentist, Doug Forbes -- who's relocating his whole staff from Columbia, SC to scenic Camden, NJ. Quite a coup for the region.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by Londonee

No, he's referring to the esteemed dentist, Doug Forbes -- who's relocating his whole staff from Columbia, SC to scenic Camden, NJ. Quite a coup for the region.

Literally LOL. Luckily, no liquid in my mouth at the time.

[kilbride102]

Originally Posted by Salonica city

And for the comment that us Philadelphians take everything so negatively about sports and our media on the growth of our city,compared to Chicago with its onetime largest population of 3.6 saying that people there don't get upset at the idea of Chicago not ever reaching that number again. I want to state as a proud Philadelphian we will be happy when we beat Chicago in population. Because philly once was bigger. Until Chicago pulled a fast one and beat us in population by cheating I think by incorporating huge swaths of land overnight. like gerrymandering I presume on a city level. And it's my opinion that it helped them gain federal and state funds and kept growing after that to the second largest city in the nation.

I think we cheated first when philadelphia county was incorporated as philadelphia city in the early 1900s. Germantown, frankford, kensington all now just neighborhoods. I saw a list once where at the time of the civil war, two or three cities in philadelphia county were in the top ten of most populated cities in the us.

(I'm assuming the post was serious and not sarcastic. I couldn't tell)

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by kilbride102

I think we cheated first when philadelphia county was incorporated as philadelphia city in the early 1900s. Germantown, frankford, kensington all now just neighborhoods. I saw a list once where at the time of the civil war, two or three cities in philadelphia county were in the top ten of most populated cities in the us.

(I'm assuming the post was serious and not sarcastic. I couldn't tell)

Philadelphia City and county were consolidated in 1854.

[kilbride102]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

Philadelphia City and county were consolidated in 1854.

Ok dates wrong but point is the same. I, for one, believe philadelphia should annex some of the suburbs. I would argue that they areas bounded by the pa turnpike from river to blue route and from blue route south to delaware river should be incorporated.

[R5Ryder]

One thing I like about Philadelphia (refering to city proper, not the region) is that the 'city' is very urban. Outside of some parts of the northwest and to an extent the northeast, if you have a Philadelphia address, you're in a rowhome, highrise, brownstone, or some other distinctly-urban dwelling.

In a lot of other places, you can live on two acres of land in a big colonial like my parents in Chesco but still be included in the city population.

I realize that in many cases there are legitimate reasons for annexing suburbs into the city, but I would not be in favor of incoporating the suburbs... unless it was straight Putin style, with Mayor Nutter building up a militia and setting them up right outside the Delaware County line. Now that would be something.

[PhiLaw]

Originally Posted by kilbride102

Ok dates wrong but point is the same. I, for one, believe philadelphia should annex some of the suburbs. I would argue that they areas bounded by the pa turnpike from river to blue route and from blue route south to delaware river should be incorporated.

????

[PhiLaw]

New Census numbers/map shows Philadelphia in the top 10 for net international migration

http://www.businessinsider.com/census-2013-immigration-city-map-2014-3#ixzz2xHn7JpDs

[shadowbat2]

Blatstein reportedly buying former S. Phila. casino site

PHILADELPHIA Developer Bart Blatstein is buying for $13 million the site of the derailed Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia, a property he owned 21 years ago, according to people familiar with the deal.

Blatstein declined to comment. Others involved in the transaction say the sale will open up a critical section of the central Delaware River waterfront to the public.

As part of the deal, Blatstein will convey to the Natural Lands Trust, a local land conservation organization, a 100-foot-wide strip of land along the river's edge from Tasker Street to Reed. That will allow the city to continue a waterfront trail across the former Foxwoods site on South Columbus Boulevard, between Tasker and Reed Streets.

The sale of the Foxwoods site also will eliminate a tax bill on the 16-acre property, with the city agreeing to accept $8 million to resolve back taxes. The amount owed in taxes, penalties, and interest was $14 million, but that assessment was based on there being a casino and hotel, which never got built.

"I'm very pleased that this got settled," said Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for economic development.

Greenberger said Blatstein has not shared his plans for the former Foxwoods site. But he added that it would probably be a mix of residential and retail space.

The city has advocated for extending the grid of streets from neighborhoods to the river's edge to make the waterfront more accessible to the public.

"This has huge potential," Greenberger said.

Blatstein has made headlines recently with his bid to open The Provence, a casino and entertainment complex on North Broad and Callowhill Streets. Tower Investments is one of five groups vying for the second gaming license in Philadelphia.

The South Philadelphia land deal, meanwhile, was part of a protracted and complicated effort to work out lingering issues involving the failed Foxwoods project.

The owners of the land - Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (PEDP) - won a license in 2006 to build a Foxwoods Casino on the site.

PEDP was a partnership between the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut and local investors. The Philadelphia partners included Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, and charitable trusts for the families of Philadelphia developer Ron Rubin and the daughter of Lewis Katz. Katz is one of the owners of Interstate General Media, owner of The Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com.

PEDP raised money to buy a slot-machine license from the state for $50 million, as well as to pay for initial costs to develop the project. Citizens Bank lent the group a total of $75 million.

But the recession caused financial problems and costly delays. The state's Gaming Control Board revoked the Foxwoods license in 2010 but did not refund the license fee. When Pennsylvania legalized 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 in 2004, the law made no specific reference on how to handle license fees for failed projects.

The partners sued to get their money back in state court, but lost.

With the sale of the property to Blatstein, the partnership expects to file for Chapter 11 in federal bankruptcy court in an effort to recoup the $50 million licensing fee. The filing could take place in the next week, said Brian Ford, a representative for PEDP, who completed the land sale.

Ford said the court would be asked by creditors to "entertain an action against the state."

Any recovered funds, he added, would be applied exclusively to repaying creditors, not partners. The creditors include Citizens Bank, consultants, architects, and lawyers.

"PEDP believes it has valid claims for a return of this fee and that such claims are valuable assets that will benefit PEDP's creditors," Ford said.

The Foxwoods property in South Philadelphia was once the site of a sugar refinery. As large as a city block, the property was assembled by Blatstein in 1993. At the time, he thought he would develop a big-box shopping center.

The deal fell through, but something better came along: 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵.

In 1993, influential politicians were beginning to advocate for riverboat 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. Blatstein rode a wave of casino speculation. Operators from Las Vegas and Atlantic City were lining up outside Blatstein's door, angling for his land.

A year after spending $8.5 million to assemble the site, Blatstein flipped it for more than $64 million to a company that became Caesars Entertainment.

The profit from that transaction gave Blatstein the financial firepower to become a major developer in the city. His signature development, which Tower Investments started in 2000, was the Piazza at Schmidts rental apartments in Northern Liberties.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20...la__casino_site.html#broaodIiJG0f44Cd.99

[relnahe]

Originally Posted by PhiLaw

New Census numbers/map shows Philadelphia in the top 10 for net international migration

http://www.businessinsider.com/census-2013-immigration-city-map-2014-3#ixzz2xHn7JpDs

I wonder how Philly.com will spin this into a negative.

[Kidphilly]

On population change - A post from a blogger in another forum. It include the % change from 1950-2010 by area. And some other interesting cities.

Thought was interesting as some reference

http://swontariourbanist.blogspot.ca/2014/03/more-1950-to-2010-comparisons.html

On the Blatstein re-purchase - not sure what to think, need to ponder

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by R5Ryder

I realize that in many cases there are legitimate reasons for annexing suburbs into the city, but I would not be in favor of incoporating the suburbs... unless it was straight Putin style, with Mayor Nutter building up a militia and setting them up right outside the Delaware County line. Now that would be something.

That army would be so disorganized and easy to conquer...I mean come on, we see how they run numerous departments, I can't imagine an army being any better.

A good headway into some neighborly news:

Two development plans rattling Radnor residents

"We all moved here to have a suburban lifestyle," said Tish Long, a resident who started the group Friends to Preserve Radnor. Being so close to each other, she said, the proposed projects are "going to create a very urban landscape that many of us don't want."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/...adnor_residents.html#IejuHLh8JBVTKkCV.99

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by PhiLaw

New Census numbers/map shows Philadelphia in the top 10 for net international migration

http://www.businessinsider.com/census-2013-immigration-city-map-2014-3#ixzz2xHn7JpDs

It always annoys me when I see Boston ahead of Philly on a list like this. Really? Boston? I know it's kinda silly, but it's one of my pet peeves.

To me, Boston is Philly's truest rival among East Coast cities (and not NYC or DC) when it comes to employment growth, tourism, conventions, business development, Eds and Meds, etc., and Philly has such a superior geographic location, and other comparable or potentially superior assets (including cultural assets, historic and characterful neighborhoods and housing stock, etc.). Yet Boston seems to get so much better press and media coverage nationally and internationally.

Again, just one of my personal hot buttons.