PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[McBane]

Penn approves $38M South Philly labs on ex-DuPont site

Great news and a really nice design to boot.

[Outta here]

Philadelphia Population 2014
Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's largest city, the second-largest city on the US's East Coast and the 5th most populous city in the US. It also has the designation of the only consolidated city-county in the state with a population that was 1,526,006 according to the last official census in 2010. The population of Philadelphia is growing steadily, however, and was estimated at 1.547 in 2012, a figure that should now be about 9,000 higher. That means Philadelphia's 2013 population is estimated at about 1,556,600.

Philadelphia Population 2014
Philadelphia's estimated 2013 population of 1.556 million represents a substantial increase over the 2010 census. The city's population has been growing for 7 years straight, and it's now the second-fastest growing county in the region.


So .... can we expect that number to increase to something like 1.574.000 this year , maybe

[br323206]

Originally Posted by Mappy

Yes!

(Thanks Thisisforreal... Cincy is my hometown!)

I've been trying to come up with a good way to quantify, or at least righteously describe, the similitude of Philly's urban core and Cincy's. They both have the Tree-Streets basis for the grids aligned to a major river, both have areas of the same names (Fairmount, Mt Airy, etc.), trench interstates that tore through old neighborhoods, german heritage, and Italianate architecture - but there's something about the trajectory of the city's building booms and busts, resulting in shape and size of this skyline that really draws such a strange comparison for me. Obviously Philly is on a bigger scale.

I've actually been trying to get folks here in Philly to pay more attention to the work Cincy is doing on "The Banks" project. Which is a massive development project between the sports stadiums, with a huge park on the river, walkable mixed use, and with aspirations of capping over the interstate cutting through the city. A perfect test site for what should go into the new Penn's Landing.

The Roebling Bridge (mentioned above) was one the longest suspension bridge in the world... So was the Ben Franklin Bridge (different name at the time). Since moving out here I have been noting and recording all the odd/interesting connections the two cities have like that. I have about 5 pages of stuff in just baseball, but its piling up and may become a book some distant day.

Nice observations! I'll also add that the degree to which highways tore through old neighborhoods was much worse in Cincinnati. We got lucky by comparison. The West End was basically obliterated. Also, I'm a fellow southern Ohioan! I was born and raised in Adams County, to be exact.

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by zakuc258

Is there a drawing/rendering anywhere of what the skyline will look like once all of the current under construction projects are complete (Comcast, FMC, W/Element, etc...)?

Mappy did this one a long time ago - it's great.

[IMG]user1316571_pic110066_1394559428 by TallCoolOne2014, on Flickr[/IMG]

[josef]

Originally Posted by br323206

Nice observations! I'll also add that the degree to which highways tore through old neighborhoods was much worse in Cincinnati. We got lucky by comparison. The West End was basically obliterated.

Wow does that ever make me some horrible mixture of sad and angry.

[Mappy]

Originally Posted by josef

Wow does that ever make me some horrible mixture of sad and angry.

Robert Moses destroyed more city than blitzkrieg

Thats just I-75... Go check out I-71 and Fort Washington Way near the river with the slider map here http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?op=home

[zakuc258]

Thanks all! I am not very patient and was super curious to see what the skyline will look like.

[mmikeyphilly]

Originally Posted by br323206

That would be the south bank, in Covington, Kentucky. That building was completed in 2008 and is called The Ascent. It's supposed to mimic the Roebling Suspension Bridge, which connects Ohio and Kentucky nearby and was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_at_Roebling%27s_Bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Roebling_Suspension_Bridge

Thanks br323206, I always like learning about different cities!

And Mappy, I didn't realize you were from Cincinnati. It looks like a nice place to live. It really does resemble Philly with the layout of the city. I wasn't sure if it was the west bank or south bank that "The Ascent" was located. I was trying to judge by the Sun setting. And if it means anything at all, I use to watch WKRP in Cincinnati. ()

[hammersklavier]

Cincy's core urban area was also never as large as other cities'. And -- being one of the first major Midwestern cities to develop -- it also had a unique vernacular that is echoed only in East Coast Victorian industrial/commercial districts, like Old City and Soho.

The West End was approximately half of that fabric. It is gone today.

Over-the-Rhine is the only remaining neighborhood which shows Cincinatti's true urban vernacular in any meaningful way.

I has a sad now.

[Dean4983]

I just wanted to pop in and say thanks to summers for all of the thread updates! It is always great when I settle in at work, take a quick peek at the forums, and find that summers is that last update on all of them. Great work as always!

[Larry King]

Bart's site at columbus and reed is being marketed for sale.. if anyone cares

[boxbot]

Some photos from what I thought was a cool vantage point at the Logan Square parking garage today:

Afternoon:


Morning shadows (sky retouched):


To the west:

[1487]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Bart's site at columbus and reed is being marketed for sale.. if anyone cares

Thanks, I think I'll put in an offer.

[Larry King]

Originally Posted by 1487

Thanks, I think I'll put in an offer.

His plans were for a townhouse community but i think it should be a retail play.

[apetrella802]

Originally Posted by mmikeyphilly

Thanks br323206, I always like learning about different cities!

And Mappy, I didn't realize you were from Cincinnati. It looks like a nice place to live. It really does resemble Philly with the layout of the city. I wasn't sure if it was the west bank or south bank that "The Ascent" was located. I was trying to judge by the Sun setting. And if it means anything at all, I use to watch WKRP in Cincinnati. ()

way too far from the ocean

[cafeguy]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Bart's site at columbus and reed is being marketed for sale.. if anyone cares

WHAT!? This dude is really — me off. Constantly buying, proposing, selling, and doing very little! I guess that's just the way developers work, but its incredibly frustrating. It seems like he is only making money from buying and selling along with strip shopping centers and small townhome developments. Outside the only partially finished piazza development, he hasn't done any other "grand" plans but constantly acts like he does and is praised as if he does. He did the spring garden st project, but sold it right when phase 1 was finished.

With this sale, Blumfield's plot of land right next door will likely be sold off too!

Buy land, propose something big to increase the value without any intention of doing anything, then sell it off. Some of these developers seem less and less like innovators and more like speculators artificially inflating the value of Philly real estate. And in doing so, we get land values in certain areas that are too high priced to be able to move on (1919 walnut).

He owns four corners of Philly right now, Inquirer, Penn Treaty Park, This plot of land, and Washington/Broad. At this rate, he will sell these off at inflated values and cause them to sit idle for 5-10 more years as the next developer struggles to get financing to move forward.

[Cro Burnham]

Blatstein's very scummy side is really evident these past 5 years.

I'm happy to see he's getting screwed in AC. Smug fucker deserves some comeuppance.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

WHAT!? This dude is really — me off. Constantly buying, proposing, selling, and doing very little! I guess that's just the way developers work, but its incredibly frustrating. It seems like he is only making money from buying and selling along with strip shopping centers and small townhome developments. Outside the only partially finished piazza development, he hasn't done any other "grand" plans but constantly acts like he does and is praised as if he does. He did the spring garden st project, but sold it right when phase 1 was finished.

With this sale, Blumfield's plot of land right next door will likely be sold off too!

Buy land, propose something big to increase the value without any intention of doing anything, then sell it off. Some of these developers seem less and less like innovators and more like speculators artificially inflating the value of Philly real estate. And in doing so, we get land values in certain areas that are too high priced to be able to move on (1919 walnut).

He owns four corners of Philly right now, Inquirer, Penn Treaty Park, This plot of land, and Washington/Broad. At this rate, he will sell these off at inflated values and cause them to sit idle for 5-10 more years as the next developer struggles to get financing to move forward.

He did also do the Avenue North and the Edge complex up by Temple. Otherwise, I agree. He gets nothing done.

[cafeguy]

Originally Posted by summersm343

He did also do the Avenue North and the Edge complex up by Temple. Otherwise, I agree. He gets nothing done.

Exactly... he does strip shopping centers with movie theaters in them (water front, manyunk, temple), other strip shopping centers (bottom dollar on girard), waits until warehouses burn down to build town homes (girard and front, Ortliebs), and then the Piazza.

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

He owns four corners of Philly right now, Inquirer, Penn Treaty Park, This plot of land, and Washington/Broad. At this rate, he will sell these off at inflated values and cause them to sit idle for 5-10 more years as the next developer struggles to get financing to move forward.

From what I hear, he is *very* focused on Broad and Wash right now. Quite frankly, if he gets that done, all should be forgiven: it's probably the most damaging lot in the city.