PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[AbortedWalrus]

Originally Posted by Mappy

Discussed this with other folks on the This Old City site. After melding some different ideas from people here is what I would like to see The City, CCD, PennDOT, etc try to plan for:


Creates a wide pedestrian mall down the center of BF Parkway (enough width for races and concert)
Develop a few new com, res, and civic spots along the sides of the parkway
Cap 676 from 10th to 21st, with a series of trail bridges connecting to the viaduct [thus keeping the rail park out of the city line]
and directs Vince St westbound into Logan Circle, which brings the library into the square.

Needs a cap on at least half of the clover ramps between vine and callowhill too. Part of those ramps are very recessed and capping the southern half shouldn't be too terrible to get done. Ideally they should build a mixed use project over top of it.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by AbortedWalrus

Needs a cap on at least half of the clover ramps between vine and callowhill too. Part of those ramps are very recessed and capping the southern half shouldn't be too terrible to get done. Ideally they should build a mixed use project over top of it.

I'd like to see one of the lanes removed from the south side of Vine Street. Most of the lots between 9th and Broad are too narrow to build anything notable on, and commuter traffic to NJ oddly tends to use Race Street. You could even curb out the north side of Vine Street for permanent street parking and trees. I rarely see that stretch of Vine needing three lanes. The expressway was built to alleviate crosstown traffic. The surface street should have been made narrower to begin with.

[Mappy]

Originally Posted by philatonian

Have you ever seen Jean Claude and Christo's Over the River? Personally I'm not a fan because I love nature too much. But in the city, across something like the Vine Street Expressway it would look really cool. It could kind of simulate a river and muffle the sound of traffic. Maybe even just on the portions that can't be capped. It could even be lit blue at night.

http://christojeanneclaude.net/projects/over-the-river

interesting... maybe would could do the worlds largest Yarn-bombing over 676

[arnaz]

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...ew-hotel-to-rise-in-university-city.html

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Mappy

interesting... maybe would could do the worlds largest Yarn-bombing over 676

That would be awesome! Might get a little gross. Then again, I guess anything like that would be hard to keep clean.

[AbortedWalrus]

Originally Posted by philatonian

I'd like to see one of the lanes removed from the south side of Vine Street. Most of the lots between 9th and Broad are too narrow to build anything notable on, and commuter traffic to NJ oddly tends to use Race Street. You could even curb out the north side of Vine Street for permanent street parking and trees. I rarely see that stretch of Vine needing three lanes. The expressway was built to alleviate crosstown traffic. The surface street should have been made narrower to begin with.

I agree. At the very least make it a dedicated bike lane.

[josef]

"CHOP Renderings, Now With Even More Greenery!"

http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2014/05/02/chop-renderings-now-with-even-more-greenery.php

Originally Posted by AbortedWalrus

I agree. At the very least make it a dedicated bike lane.

Yes please!

[Insoluble]

Originally Posted by arnaz

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...ew-hotel-to-rise-in-university-city.html

Cool, I had not seen the rendering before. It doesn't seem to want to embed properly in a post though Looks nice, about 10 stories. This will really continue the progression of added density along Chestnut Street that's been happening in University City recently.

Originally Posted by josef

"CHOP Renderings, Now With Even More Greenery!"

Sigh, it's like they just don't get it. Well, the tower is nice at lest. Too bad they can't seem to be bothered to make the site plan more urban/pedestrian friendly.

[josef]

Originally Posted by Insoluble

Sigh, it's like they just don't get it. Well, the tower is nice at lest. Too bad they can't seem to be bothered to make the site plan more urban/pedestrian friendly.

Come on, everyone knows that scientists, many of whom understand global warming's impact on the Earth, only drive huge cars even when there's public transit options. lul.

[Aaamazarite]

33rd and Chestnut Hotel



http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...-to-rise-in-university-city.html?ana=twt

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

33rd and Chestnut Hotel

Well, on the bright side it's another hotel and it's not quite as ugly as Home2...

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by tsarstruck

Well, on the bright side it's another hotel and it's not quite as ugly as Home2...

Yeah, at least based on that rendering, I'm kinda disappointed. Especially given that Drexel has recently been doing a decent job of significantly enhancing the overall architecture in that neighborhood (recognizing that this is not, technically, a Drexel building). To me, this harkens back a bit too much to Drexel's institutional brick boxes of the 1960s and 1970s, albeit not orange.

[relnahe]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

33rd and Chestnut Hotel



http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...-to-rise-in-university-city.html?ana=twt

I guess I'm already in the minority on here but I like this design.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Mappy

Discussed this with other folks on the This Old City site. After melding some different ideas from people here is what I would like to see The City, CCD, PennDOT, etc try to plan for:

Creates a wide pedestrian mall down the center of BF Parkway (enough width for races and concert)
Develop a few new com, res, and civic spots along the sides of the parkway
Cap 676 from 10th to 21st, with a series of trail bridges connecting to the viaduct [thus keeping the rail park out of the city line]
and directs Vince St westbound into Logan Circle, which brings the library into the square.

It doesn't even need to be that extravagent. Even something as simple as capping the holes over 676 from 10th Street to 22nd street with green space similar to what was done in Boston:

example here:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Boston...!1s0x89e3652d0d3d311b:0x787cbf240162e8a0

This would more than suffice

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by relnahe

I guess I'm already in the minority on here but I like this design.

I like this too! Huge improvement over what is currently there. Now if they can only develop the two surface parking lots on this block with midrises/highrises

[josef]

Originally Posted by summersm343

It doesn't even need to be that extravagent. Even something as simple as capping the holes over 676 from 10th Street to 22nd street with green space similar to what was done in Boston:

example here:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Boston...!1s0x89e3652d0d3d311b:0x787cbf240162e8a0

This would more than suffice

As long as they do something interesting with the caps. I've walked around there, and the expanse of mostly-empty green still separates the North End from the rest of downtown.

[Pennsgrant]

10 stories? Seriously?


University City is starting to piss me off

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by josef

As long as they do something interesting with the caps. I've walked around there, and the expanse of mostly-empty green still separates the North End from the rest of downtown.

I agree completely. It needs to be more interactive, like a bunch of sister cities parks capping the Vine Street Expressway with little cafes and water features and plenty of Center City District employees to shoo away bums and vagrants

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Pennsgrant

10 stories? Seriously?


University City is starting to piss me off

You're beginning to piss me off lol. Must you complain about the height of everything? There is still PLENTY of developable land in University City for more height.

[shadowbat2]

Hotel has to be at least.....THREE TIMES BIGGER THAN THAT!!!