PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[1487]

Originally Posted by McBane

The recent decision by City Council to halt the sale of PGW - not mentioned on this board before - is further evidence of the city's anti-business culture. Not to sound cold, but it seems as though the city's leaders are most concerned about the poor and the unions because of course, those are the folks that vote and keep the imbeciles, I mean incumbents in power.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: so long as the city's electorate is dominated by unions and welfare leeches, it will be next to impossible to generate true change. That's the sad truth. Because most pro-growth/pro-business policies (i.e., tax cuts, corporate welfare, etc.) hurt the unions and the poor in the short term as there is only so much money to go around. High taxes doesn't stir up the citizenry because either people are exempt from taxes or they move to the suburbs. But propose closing a library and all hell breaks loose.

most union members live outside of philly. If you own a home, buy any product other than food or clothing or have a job in philadelphia you pay taxes. Anyone know knows much about the "reforms" of the 90s to the system known as welfare knows it barely exists anymore. PGW should be sold, but let's not get out of hand here.

[cafeguy]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

In my opinion, the biggest hurdle for Philadelphia is job growth and attracting companies. We are in good shape as far as residential development and retail now. People actually want to be here now. People need to work, though...Philadelphia's anti-business reputation, and some questionable policies, hurt us. This is improving but more needs to happen.

Totally agree.

I know this might sound crazy, but, if Philly's next mayor was a stark pro-business republican, it might do us well... as long as the democrats get the position back after his/her term.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by 1487

most union members live outside of philly. If you own a home, buy any product other than food or clothing or have a job in philadelphia you pay taxes. Anyone know knows much about the "reforms" of the 90s to the system known as welfare knows it barely exists anymore. PGW should be sold, but let's not get out of hand here.

The fact that the Council would not even hold a hearing so that a case for the sale could be presented or schedule a vote is disgusting. Bunch of chumps. It should not be permissible to kill such significant proposals by inaction.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

Totally agree.

I know this might sound crazy, but, if Philly's next mayor was a stark pro-business republican, it might do us well... as long as the democrats get the position back after his/her term.

I don't think it would necessarily need to be a republican. I think Nutter has been a good mayor and pro-development and good for the City. He appreciates that business initiatives and a pro-business climate will help the city thrive. The City Council does not and is a big problem.

[1487]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

I don't think it would necessarily need to be a republican. I think Nutter has been a good mayor and pro-development and good for the City. He appreciates that business initiatives and a pro-business climate will help the city thrive. The City Council does not and is a big problem.

Glad that was said, you have people here talking as if Philadelphia is capital starved when there are billions being invested as we speak- hence the number of active threads on this site. Things could always be better but to come here and preach that business doesn't want to be here because of the anti business attitude is a bit of an oversimplification. I just read something about a part of an office park in Chester county being demolished for residential development. The owners see no immediate long term prospects for growth in the office market out there and more contractions are coming from Shire and others. As the article about Conshohocken states, the suburban markets with the most value are the ones with direct transit access to the city. Philly is holding its own vs the suburbs in spite of the tax burden.

[josef]

Originally Posted by summersm343

1000 More Jobs to Camden

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/real-estate/2014/12/new-jersey-invests-camden.html

Completely unfair. I've been checking the EDA agenda page for a few days now seeing if they were going to put up a new one for December. Reporters!

Well, that's awesome. 1,000 is a fair number of jobs. If it isn't Subaru, I'd be shocked. Maybe that sweet Gateway project'll get built.

[josef]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

Totally agree.

I know this might sound crazy, but, if Philly's next mayor was a stark pro-business republican, it might do us well... as long as the democrats get the position back after his/her term.

That might not happen, but you might wanna keep an eye on Doug Oliver - http://www.do2015.com/. I watched a video he posted on his Facebook page about his vision for the city and it was the most interesting thing I've heard come out of a candidate's mouth in a long time. That said, he worked for Nutter til recently, so he's basically an insider, etc etc. But so far he's the most interesting candidate I've seen, and the real race is really only what, 5 months away?

[ILovePhilly]

Selling a public utility for a short term back stop on budget problems is not smart. Once done it can't be undone and it also lets politicians continue to make bad budget decisions and avoid tough issues because there is always a loophole. Just because we didn't sell a public utility to a private company does not make us business unfriendly.

Chicago should serve as a warning to cities across the country and cities looking to sell utilities need to be very, very, very careful. There is a reason that we have the government to provide services that are public goods. I think that selling PGW is a bad idea.

[1487]

Originally Posted by ILovePhilly

Selling a public utility for a short term back stop on budget problems is not smart. Once done it can't be undone and it also lets politicians continue to make bad budget decisions and avoid tough issues because there is always a loophole. Just because we didn't sell a public utility to a private company does not make us business unfriendly.

Chicago should serve as a warning to cities across the country and cities looking to sell utilities need to be very, very, very careful. There is a reason that we have the government to provide services that are public goods. I think that selling PGW is a bad idea.

I think there are pros and cons to both of course. One thing is for sure, this idea that no business will look to locate here because council wont sell PGW is a bit of a stretch. I dont think businesses make major decisions based around unrelated incidents.

[PhillyPantsAC]

Thought you guys might enjoy this brief article on the HR tactics Comcast is using to build a technology competency center in Philadelphia:

Bill Strahan, Comcast’s executive vice president for HR, gave a presentation about the company's plan at Wharton this month. It rests on a bet that there are enough talented information-technology experts who are tired of the Silicon Valley model to make this project a success. Instead of the Google “live at your office” model, the Cisco “work any 80 hours a week you want” mantra and the high risk of working for a start-up, Comcast is going to offer a traditional job. That’s right, regular hours in a real office with vacations and a bunch of other “life” things you can’t get in Silicon Valley, such as the ability to walk to work, own a house, and be part of an affordable, urban community.

Full article: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534358074

[josef]

Originally Posted by PhillyPantsAC

Thought you guys might enjoy this brief article on the HR tactics Comcast is using to build a technology competency center in Philadelphia:

Full article: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534358074

As a tech-industry worker, I agree with this.

[josef]

More conventions.

American Heart Association chooses Philadelphia for its 2019 convention

The American Heart Association has selected Philadelphia as the host city for its 2019 annual meeting, which would be one of the largest citywide conventions the city has booked.

Citing the new work rules put in place earlier this year, the association has selected the Pennsylvania Convention Center to holds its convention that will take place on Nov. 16-20, 2019, which is expected to fill more than 51,000 hotel room nights and generate more than $67 million in economic impact for the region. It is the first time the association has held a convention in the city.

Full: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...rt-association-chooses-philadelphia.html

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by McBane

The recent decision by City Council to halt the sale of PGW - not mentioned on this board before - is further evidence of the city's anti-business culture. Not to sound cold, but it seems as though the city's leaders are most concerned about the poor and the unions because of course, those are the folks that vote and keep the imbeciles, I mean incumbents in power.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: so long as the city's electorate is dominated by unions and welfare leeches, it will be next to impossible to generate true change. That's the sad truth. Because most pro-growth/pro-business policies (i.e., tax cuts, corporate welfare, etc.) hurt the unions and the poor in the short term as there is only so much money to go around. High taxes doesn't stir up the citizenry because either people are exempt from taxes or they move to the suburbs. But propose closing a library and all hell breaks loose.

Wow great points. If only Philly closed a bunch of libraries and gave the savings to companies in the form of tax breaks Philly would be a much better city!

I know this is a forum for skyscraper enthusiasts but there is more to a great city than tall buildings.

[hammersklavier]

There is always a delicate balance to be found and right now Philadelphia's politics are dangerously out of balance. This is a primary contributor to our extremely anti-business culture: the companies that locate here locate here in spite of our politics, not because of them. This is similar to New York and Chicago, but in their cases, they're alpha cities and so actually are in a position to make those kinds of demands. We're a beta city, we're not; we need to make ourselves friendlier to business.

But at the same time we have to realize that the so-called "business-friendly" climate today is actually bribery on a grand scale, depleting public coffers for returns that are, at best, questionable...

All we really need is the kind of environment that inculcates the creation of new businesses: low taxes and a stable (and non-hostile) political environment. Unfortunately until we rid City Hall of the current machine we're unlikely to see either happen.

[Parkway]

Libraries and PGW are not even close to being analogous. Libraries are like parks and roads in that they are public goods. They are owned and operated by the government so that everyone has equal access to them because it benefits society as a whole. This is already not the case with PGW, at least in theory if you stop paying your bill they will shut off your gas and put a lien on your house. While utilities benefit the public they are not a public good.

The idea behind the sale is that a private company that owns operations in many different cities is able to leverage a greater amount of capital in order to make improvements and repairs that PGW is unable to make as a public entity. On top of that the city could use the proceeds from the sale to shore up the pension fund which is threatening to become a black hole in the city's budget.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

All we really need is the kind of environment that inculcates the creation of new businesses: low taxes and a stable (and non-hostile) political environment. Unfortunately until we rid City Hall of the current machine we're unlikely to see either happen.

I think this is right on the money. By getting rid of red tape and revamping the tax structure Philadelphia can be a place where people found businesses and watch them grow instead of moving from the incubators at Penn to a suburban office park.

Chasing corporations with one time tax breaks is a losing proposition for any municipality that takes part in it. Just look at what is going on with AMR right now in Texas.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by 1487

I think there are pros and cons to both of course. One thing is for sure, this idea that no business will look to locate here because council wont sell PGW is a bit of a stretch. I dont think businesses make major decisions based around unrelated incidents.

I don't think anyone is saying that. Aside from the buyer at issue, this specific [in]action will have little to no impact on businesses locating/relocating here or starting here from the ground up. It is simply emblematic of a city whose policies are not particularly friendly towards established institutions or startups. Nutter has done pretty good work on both fronts, especially the startup front. But he fights strong headwinds.

[Kidphilly]

Originally Posted by PhillyPantsAC

Thought you guys might enjoy this brief article on the HR tactics Comcast is using to build a technology competency center in Philadelphia:



Full article: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534358074

my only comment is that am not sure this attracts the best and brightest per-se hopefully is a conduit to even more tech attraction though in the city

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by 1487

As the article about Conshohocken states, the suburban markets with the most value are the ones with direct transit access to the city. Philly is holding its own vs the suburbs in spite of the tax burden.

It's really not. At least it's not where it could be. I am close with a number of executives at Suburban companies, some of them C-suite. They want to be near the city. Not in the city. And that has more to do with taxes and other real or perceived anti-business policies than the geographic makeup of the workforce or employee preferences.

The Conshohocken article, to the extent you want to look to that as an authority, does not say otherwise. It simply posits that companies want to be in suburb, either for tax burden or commuter patterns. Maybe. Without really digging in or reaching any type of conclusion. That's not the focus or purpose of the article.

[iheartphilly]

The best and brightest will go to start-ups backed by the internet giants hoping to be the next big thing-this is still Silicon Valley. They are looking for stock options and hopes of being a multi-millionaire when the company is bought out or taken public.

Reading between the lines of the articles, Comcast will provide a good salary, 401k, health and dental benefits, and job stability. If there are start-ups inside the new CITC building that will employ a few of the best and brightest, then it will depend on the technology developed and who the venture capitalists are and if they are getting the interest of the tech heavyweights.