PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[josef]

Originally Posted by UrbanRevival

There are no doubt some fundamental differences in terms of both cities' historic economic structure, and much of that is because of the fact that Philadelphia incorporated more of its surrounding "industrial suburbs," as opposed to Boston, which remained independent from surrounding industrial cities like Chelsea, Quincy, and Somerville. Boston has historically working-class neighborhoods, too, such as Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and South Boston--all of which have blue collar roots, even if they were not manufacturing hubs themselves.

Boston's annexation history may not be as extensive as Philadelphia's, but it's still interesting:

In the 1868-73 period five communities---Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown, Brighton, and West Roxbury---opted to merge with the city, thereby increasing Boston’s area fivefold and adding some 108,000 new residents to its population.

Notably, Brookline fought annexation and won. It's an interesting story, if geopolitical annexation is your thing. http://www.bahistory.org/HistoryAnnexBrookline.html

Suffolk County is almost all Boston, with the exception of Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.

Montreal (a slightly more peer city to Philadelphia than Boston, in my mind, honestly) has had a history of annexation and consolidation, even as recently as a decade ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9306_municipal_reorganization_of_Montreal

[Frontst17]

Originally Posted by josef

This is so key, in my opinion. Harrisburg can hate Philadelphia from afar, but lawmakers in Massachusetts are intimately involved with the reality of Boston every single day.

I think this is all that really needs to be said when comparing the two cities. you can also throw in who the majority of New England identifies with. Boston is as much the Capitol of New England as it is Mass.

[josef]

Originally Posted by Frontst17

I think this is all that really needs to be said when comparing the two cities. you can also throw in who the majority of New England identifies with. Boston is as much the Capitol of New England as it is Mass.

^ Very true. Boston is the capital of a mini-country, basically, whereas here we jostle for recognition, talent, money, and everything else with tons of other well-recognized, populated places. The most competition Boston has is Providence, maybe, and I mean, it doesn't really compete.

[Frontst17]

I also agree with josef the Montreal is a more comparable city with Philly. I've frequently thought that

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by josef

^ Very true. Boston is the capital of a mini-country, basically, whereas here we jostle for recognition, talent, money, and everything else with tons of other well-recognized, populated places. The most competition Boston has is Providence, maybe, and I mean, it doesn't really compete.

Don't forget Worcester, Portsmouth, and Portland.

[josef]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Don't forget Worcester, Portsmouth, and Portland.

Ha, Portsmouth. I actually really like that town. I never heard much out of Portland or Worcester. Nothing like either of them were encroaching on Boston's territory, that's for sure.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by josef

Ha, Portsmouth. I actually really like that town. I never heard much out of Portland or Worcester. Nothing like either of them were encroaching on Boston's territory, that's for sure.

I've always liked Portsmouth, also. AND Portland. Not so much Worcester.

Boston definitely is THE city in New England, which makes it a strong regional capital. And as pointed out, Philly is in close proximity to several other major urban centers (to put it mildly). However, as I indicated above, I think Boston's national significance--other than in higher education and technology, of course--gets significantly overblown when compared to Philly's (historically AND in the present), while Philly's is generally underestimated when compared to Boston.

But at least YOU had the sense to move from there to here, so it's all good.

[DUPio]

Hey Philly crew! I know this isn't necessarily the best forum to post so I apologize in advance.

I am strongly considering moving to the Center City area from Denver for grad school. I would greatly appreciate it if one of you enthusiasts (especially if any have lived in the Intermountain region) could PM me as I have questions about specific things in the city since I only had a transient stressful 1 day experience there. I really liked the vibe I was getting, but its hard to tell from one day. Thanks!

[josef]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

I've always liked Portsmouth, also. AND Portland. Not so much Worcester.

Boston definitely is THE city in New England, which makes it a strong regional capital. And as pointed out, Philly is in close proximity to several other major urban centers (to put it mildly). However, as I indicated above, I think Boston's national significance--other than in higher education and technology, of course--gets significantly overblown when compared to Philly's (historically AND in the present), while Philly's is generally underestimated when compared to Boston.

But at least YOU had the sense to move from there to here, so it's all good.

Back to here. Philly couldn't keep me away. This city's oddly addictive.

[Plokoon11]

I'll tell ya after CITC, new medical center, hotels, ect are built and becoming active, Philadelphia will be a city with a new vision. Sort of like what San Fran is becoming with what they are doing and the fact that they already had a lot of tech businesses. I am not worried about Philadelphia, just optimistic.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by 1487

She is very careful to pick only certain cities when comparing Philadelphia. NYC is not comparable more many reasons and yet she often tries the "you would never see a parking garage in Manhattan" argument. She ignores the the fact that real estate prices are by and large the driving force behind some of the trends that she loves in NYC. Its not simply about higher standards or a city government that decides every aspect of design. When office rents and condo prices are higher, the developers budget is higher and it allows them to incorporate more pricey features (like sub-grade garages or hi tech facilities with small footprints like 1706 Rittenhouse) but she will not acknowledge that. The reality is that 95% of US cities have above grade parking facilities as part of commercial or institutional development projects, even if those projects are near the core of the city. Its not necessarily a good thing, but in some cases the numbers wont work if you have to bury 300 cars underground as a part of a project. That is especially the case in areas that dont have NYC's land value or stratospheric property prices.

I don't totally agree with this.

After all, there was a time not that long ago that almost 100% of developers in this city would have proclaimed that parking HAD to be in a podium above ground because of costs. Now it's probably closer to 50-50 or at least 30-70 at a minimum (30 below, 70 above).

Do you think that incremental progress happened because developers are philanthropists and they just decided they were going to take the more expensive route or do you think it was nudged along by dialog of the likes of people like Inga who refused that that always had to be the case?

Maybe a few developers took those critiques to heart and pushed parking underground and now other developers are doing it because they think it makes for a better building? Maybe they realize they can get retail rents at that level that far exceed what parking generates so the cost differential is worth it? Maybe they get those retail rents because the city is more vibrant and pedestrian friendly because people like Inga demanded a more sensible street front usage than parking garages and curb cuts...

In reality, it's probably a little bit of all of the above. Frankly, I think many on here underestimate the value that voices like Inga's add to the revitalization of this city. She has helped to sprout an entire cottage industry of dialog around development and planning in this region that frankly, other regions are trying to emulate. Prior to the existence of Naked Philly, Hidden City, This Old City, SkyscraperPage, etc, Inga's regular Friday column (I recall that being the day) was probably the most anticipated column of any journalist at The Inquirer (I mean, who didn't want to know what she was going to write about next?).

Today, we're in a place where the three topics that generate the most buzz/interest in local media are probably Food, Development, and Sports. Ten years ago Sports would have been alone in that category. That there are so many people who so ravenously consume writing on the first two topics today speaks to the level of engagement that the regular person has with their city. It is also a good sign for what's to come in the future with civic engagement and good governance (I think we're at the very beginning, in the case of Philadelphia).

I might be giving her too much credit, but frankly, Inga was/is one of those people who got the public engaged with development long before is was cool...and it is as such one of the reasons why we're so far ahead of the curve with respect to urbanism today. Sure, high costs might be what drives urbanist decisions in other places, but it's not costs alone that dictate why actual decisions are made in the end. So it might be the case that we can point to a good urbanist choice that was made elsewhere because of costs and expect it here simply because it's the better outcome for the city. Yes, sometimes it won't be feasible...but other times it will. You will never get the better outcome if you always set your sights on the lower rung.

[Kidphilly]

I am not sure the value in comparing to Boston. If anything look for aspects to learn from and embrace what Philly is doing and implement aspects that work other places and are portable.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by josef

Back to here. Philly couldn't keep me away. This city's oddly addictive.

Were you at the big H? Or the big M(IT)? I think you said at one point that you spent four years in Cambridge.

[GarCastle]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Surely not. But with Foster on-board, there seems to be an intent to build something that's not just utilitarian. On the other hand, they did start the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine with Rafael Vinoly as the starchitect (not that he's necessarily comparable to Foster), and look how that's ended up.

One thing to remember is that Penn does like to see what its "Peers" do and then learn from that and try (at least) to do better. Then I remembered that Johns Hopkins just rolled out a couple new "hospitals" AKA buildings which also I believe included their Intensive Care Units which is coincidentally HUP's first phase of whatever they build. (when ICUs are full, really sick patients from the ER cannot get the care they need and everything starts to get backed up and HUP's ICUs are usually full or close to it)

So a quick google later, I found this about Hopkins' recent construction which might give us an idea of the scale and if Penn truly plans to take back the current HUP buildings or lot, then Penn's new building(s) will be larger than any "addition".
-----------------------
It’s open! The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new $1.1-billion building welcomes first patients

Facility opens to all patients May 1 following move of inpatients on April 29 and 30.
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Years of planning, construction and designing every detail of a magnificent, 1.6-million-square-foot hospital building finally came to fruition on May 1 when The Johns Hopkins Hospital officially opened the new facility. A carefully choreographed move of several hundred patients from the original Johns Hopkins Hospital into The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center and the Sheikh Zayed Tower took place on April 29 and 30, right before the official opening.

“This is a transformative milestone in the history of Johns Hopkins Medicine,” says Edward D. Miller, M.D., dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. “We are so pleased that this day has finally arrived and we can deliver the highest levels of care that Johns Hopkins is known for in this beautiful new facility.”

The new building, one of the largest hospital construction projects in U.S. history, is erected on five acres and includes two 12-story patient towers, 560 all-private patient rooms, 33 state-of-the-art, spacious operating rooms, and expansive new adult and pediatric emergency departments. The facility has the most sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment, such as an intraoperative MRI scanner for neurosurgery cases and high-speed, low-dose CT scanners, as well as the latest technology for surgical and minimally invasive procedures.

With healing gardens, soaring lobbies, a hand-picked collection of more than 500 works of art and cheerful, light-filled patient rooms, the new building is designed to provide a welcoming and caring environment to advance the healing process.

Patient rooms have sleeping accommodations for family members. Sound-absorbing features in patient care corridors, ranging from acoustical ceiling tiles to a quiet nurse-call system, promote a tranquil environment. There are also expanded food options and food delivery times to meet the nutritional needs of patients.

“We are fortunate that generous visionaries from across many communities helped us to achieve our vision for a new environment of care for the 21st century,” says Ronald R. Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine, noting that philanthropic contributions provided one-third of the funding for the project. The state of Maryland contributed $100 million.

“We are grateful for the hard work of so many of our very dedicated staff and faculty members who have made it possible for us to have clinical facilities that match the excellence of our medical care and the needs of our patients,” says Peterson.

The Bloomberg Children’s Center is named in honor of the late mother of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The facility has 10 surgical suites designated exclusively for pediatric patients and 205 all-private patient rooms, including a 45-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a 40-bed pediatric intensive care unit.

“Every detail of our children’s hospital is designed to enhance the care and comfort of our young patients and make it convenient for parents to stay at their child’s bedside,” says George Dover, M.D., director of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “We have sleeping accommodations for parents in all of the patient rooms, as well as kitchen and laundry facilities on pediatric floors. Our goal is to make it easier and more comfortable for parents to be involved in their children’s care,” adds Dover.

A two-story playroom with a basketball hoop, an interactive TV system, in-room gaming as well as a TV studio for child-life activities are among the amenities included to make the hospital stay more pleasant for children.

The Zayed Tower is named in honor of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His son, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the current UAE president, wanted to pay tribute to his father in this way.

The Zayed Tower is the new home of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute, offering a full range of cardiovascular services. The tower also houses advanced neurological and neurosurgical services as well as transplant surgery, trauma care, orthopedics, general surgery, and labor and delivery. It has a total of 355 private patient rooms, including 224 for acute care, 96 for intensive care and 35 for labor and delivery. The rooftop of the Sheikh Zayed Tower has a helistop for patients who arrive by helicopter.

The hospital’s new landscaped main entrance, at 1800 Orleans Street, provides ample space for vehicles to drop off and pick up patients. All entrances to the hospital, including the adult and pediatric emergency departments, are located in this area for convenient patient access.

Patients and visitors have convenient parking in the Orleans Street Garage across the street from the new building, with easy access to the hospital along two glass walkway bridges above Orleans Street. A separate ambulance entrance away from the main entrance provides privacy to patients.

The main floor of the building has a food market/garden bistro, a gift shop, a conference center, an interfaith chapel and a guest services office.

Construction of the new building provided more than 4,700 jobs, 1,000 of which were filled by Baltimore City residents, 280 of whom live in East Baltimore neighborhoods surrounding The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

-------------

So mind you that when I heard some details long ago about this in a department meeting where the VP of Real Estate was a guest speaker, he said the words "1200 beds" so it still seems that the 700 is an initial spending/building spree. Though if we think about it, why would they build a whole new facility and end up with even less capacity? So that's why I'm thinking they will leave space to add another mammoth set of add-ons or plug-ins. Remember this HAS TO last the next 100 years and it's hard to guess what will come.

Some photos on the construction company's page:
http://www.clarkconstruction.com/our-work/projects/johns-hopkins-hospital-new-clinical-building

One photo from it:


Cheers,
G.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by GarCastle

One thing to remember is that Penn does like to see what its "Peers" do and then learn from that and try (at least) to do better. Then I remembered that Johns Hopkins just rolled out a couple new "hospitals" AKA buildings which also I believe included their Intensive Care Units which is coincidentally HUP's first phase of whatever they build. (when ICUs are full, really sick patients from the ER cannot get the care they need and everything starts to get backed up and HUP's ICUs are usually full or close to it)

So a quick google later, I found this about Hopkins' recent construction which might give us an idea of the scale and if Penn truly plans to take back the current HUP buildings or lot, then Penn's new building(s) will be larger than any "addition".
-----------------------
It’s open! The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new $1.1-billion building welcomes first patients

Facility opens to all patients May 1 following move of inpatients on April 29 and 30.
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Years of planning, construction and designing every detail of a magnificent, 1.6-million-square-foot hospital building finally came to fruition on May 1 when The Johns Hopkins Hospital officially opened the new facility. A carefully choreographed move of several hundred patients from the original Johns Hopkins Hospital into The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center and the Sheikh Zayed Tower took place on April 29 and 30, right before the official opening.

“This is a transformative milestone in the history of Johns Hopkins Medicine,” says Edward D. Miller, M.D., dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. “We are so pleased that this day has finally arrived and we can deliver the highest levels of care that Johns Hopkins is known for in this beautiful new facility.”

The new building, one of the largest hospital construction projects in U.S. history, is erected on five acres and includes two 12-story patient towers, 560 all-private patient rooms, 33 state-of-the-art, spacious operating rooms, and expansive new adult and pediatric emergency departments. The facility has the most sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment, such as an intraoperative MRI scanner for neurosurgery cases and high-speed, low-dose CT scanners, as well as the latest technology for surgical and minimally invasive procedures.

With healing gardens, soaring lobbies, a hand-picked collection of more than 500 works of art and cheerful, light-filled patient rooms, the new building is designed to provide a welcoming and caring environment to advance the healing process.

Patient rooms have sleeping accommodations for family members. Sound-absorbing features in patient care corridors, ranging from acoustical ceiling tiles to a quiet nurse-call system, promote a tranquil environment. There are also expanded food options and food delivery times to meet the nutritional needs of patients.

“We are fortunate that generous visionaries from across many communities helped us to achieve our vision for a new environment of care for the 21st century,” says Ronald R. Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine, noting that philanthropic contributions provided one-third of the funding for the project. The state of Maryland contributed $100 million.

“We are grateful for the hard work of so many of our very dedicated staff and faculty members who have made it possible for us to have clinical facilities that match the excellence of our medical care and the needs of our patients,” says Peterson.

The Bloomberg Children’s Center is named in honor of the late mother of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The facility has 10 surgical suites designated exclusively for pediatric patients and 205 all-private patient rooms, including a 45-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a 40-bed pediatric intensive care unit.

“Every detail of our children’s hospital is designed to enhance the care and comfort of our young patients and make it convenient for parents to stay at their child’s bedside,” says George Dover, M.D., director of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “We have sleeping accommodations for parents in all of the patient rooms, as well as kitchen and laundry facilities on pediatric floors. Our goal is to make it easier and more comfortable for parents to be involved in their children’s care,” adds Dover.

A two-story playroom with a basketball hoop, an interactive TV system, in-room gaming as well as a TV studio for child-life activities are among the amenities included to make the hospital stay more pleasant for children.

The Zayed Tower is named in honor of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His son, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the current UAE president, wanted to pay tribute to his father in this way.

The Zayed Tower is the new home of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute, offering a full range of cardiovascular services. The tower also houses advanced neurological and neurosurgical services as well as transplant surgery, trauma care, orthopedics, general surgery, and labor and delivery. It has a total of 355 private patient rooms, including 224 for acute care, 96 for intensive care and 35 for labor and delivery. The rooftop of the Sheikh Zayed Tower has a helistop for patients who arrive by helicopter.

The hospital’s new landscaped main entrance, at 1800 Orleans Street, provides ample space for vehicles to drop off and pick up patients. All entrances to the hospital, including the adult and pediatric emergency departments, are located in this area for convenient patient access.

Patients and visitors have convenient parking in the Orleans Street Garage across the street from the new building, with easy access to the hospital along two glass walkway bridges above Orleans Street. A separate ambulance entrance away from the main entrance provides privacy to patients.

The main floor of the building has a food market/garden bistro, a gift shop, a conference center, an interfaith chapel and a guest services office.

Construction of the new building provided more than 4,700 jobs, 1,000 of which were filled by Baltimore City residents, 280 of whom live in East Baltimore neighborhoods surrounding The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

-------------

So mind you that when I heard some details long ago about this in a department meeting where the VP of Real Estate was a guest speaker, he said the words "1200 beds" so it still seems that the 700 is an initial spending/building spree. Though if we think about it, why would they build a whole new facility and end up with even less capacity? So that's why I'm thinking they will leave space to add another mammoth set of add-ons or plug-ins. Remember this HAS TO last the next 100 years and it's hard to guess what will come.

Some photos on the construction company's page:
http://www.clarkconstruction.com/our-work/projects/johns-hopkins-hospital-new-clinical-building

One photo from it:


Cheers,
G.

Based on the article above, Johns Hopkins worked with 5 acres of building the new hospital. How many acres will plan have to construct its new hospital? Thanks!

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Kidphilly

I am not sure the value in comparing to Boston. If anything look for aspects to learn from and embrace what Philly is doing and implement aspects that work other places and are portable.

Comparing cities makes my butt ache. Philly seems to be learning from our own mistakes and much of what seems to be happening (Market East, Chestnut Street, CHoP, University City) seems to be applying those lessons.

Outside Center City (Passyunk Square and neighborhoods like it), I think other cities are probably making their own comparisons, saying, "we need to be more like Philly."

Forgive my rosy glasses, but Philly is on a roll.

[summersm343]

http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/the-hard-hat-tour-3737-chestnut-street.php

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by GarCastle

So a quick google later, I found this about Hopkins' recent construction which might give us an idea of the scale and if Penn truly plans to take back the current HUP buildings or lot, then Penn's new building(s) will be larger than any "addition".

So what's your best guess at this point? Do you think that HUP will keep the old buildings in addition to the new complex? Or will that space eventually be taken back by Penn for general academic purposes?

[summersm343]

Inky North Broad Building - Blatstein has two back up plans

Blatstein won’t say what his next plan is for the site at Broad and Callowhill Streets, other than that he’s looking at two ideas:

“We’re working through each of them now, and it’s going to be something great. It’s just that I didn’t want to leave such an iconic property fallow like that.”

The developer says he hopes to be able to talk publicly about this plans “within a few months.”

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/01...move-ahead-with-other-inquirer-hq-plans/

[summersm343]

IntegriChain, a growing tech company moving headquarters to Center City

All but 20 of IntegriChain's 60 employees are working out of the new Center City office, the company said. It will maintain its office in Princeton, keeping a consistent employee-base of 20 there.

IntegriChain signed a three-year lease for space in 8 Penn Center. There is an additional 2,800 square feet of space existing on the floor that the company is slated to take by the end of the year. IntegriChain plans to hire somewhere between 12 and 15 people in Philadelphia by December.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...loud-company-moving-headquarters-to.html