PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[joemustardo]

Somewhat unrelated but I have always wondered about this. You look at NYC suburbs like Rye, New Rochelle, Stamford and they all have high rises. In Atlanta, there is Buckhead. In DC, there is Chevy Chase and Bethesda. In LA, there is Century City and Westwood. Each of these have high rises (150-500) feet buildings. Why don't Philly suburbs like The Main Line, King of Prussia, Conshohocken (there are a few), a Chester enhancement/redevelopment, Cherry Hill, Newtown Square, City Ave have any high rises? I think Radnor/Villanova have great potential to be a business epi-center. Are there zoning regulations? Is there not a need? Do the suburbs want to remain as a suburb feel? I live in Radnor Township and I feel as if high rises in the suburbs add a much needed cosmetic feel to the area. It adds a level of importance to the area. Any thoughts?

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by joemustardo

Somewhat unrelated but I have always wondered about this. You look at NYC suburbs like Rye, New Rochelle, Stamford and they all have high rises. In Atlanta, there is Buckhead. In DC, there is Chevy Chase and Bethesda. In LA, there is Century City and Westwood. Each of these have high rises (150-500) feet buildings. Why don't Philly suburbs like The Main Line, King of Prussia, Conshohocken (there are a few), a Chester enhancement/redevelopment, Cherry Hill, Newtown Square, City Ave have any high rises? I think Radnor/Villanova have great potential to be a business epi-center. Are there zoning regulations? Is there not a need? Do the suburbs want to remain as a suburb feel? I live in Radnor Township and I feel as if high rises in the suburbs add a much needed cosmetic feel to the area. It adds a level of importance to the area. Any thoughts?

I think it's a combination low demand and Philly being a much denser and more centralized city than many of those examples.

[Teakwood]

Originally Posted by joemustardo

Somewhat unrelated but I have always wondered about this. You look at NYC suburbs like Rye, New Rochelle, Stamford and they all have high rises. In Atlanta, there is Buckhead. In DC, there is Chevy Chase and Bethesda. In LA, there is Century City and Westwood. Each of these have high rises (150-500) feet buildings. Why don't Philly suburbs like The Main Line, King of Prussia, Conshohocken (there are a few), a Chester enhancement/redevelopment, Cherry Hill, Newtown Square, City Ave have any high rises? I think Radnor/Villanova have great potential to be a business epi-center. Are there zoning regulations? Is there not a need? Do the suburbs want to remain as a suburb feel? I live in Radnor Township and I feel as if high rises in the suburbs add a much needed cosmetic feel to the area. It adds a level of importance to the area. Any thoughts?

NYC is basically at critical mass at any given point, and Washington has zoning laws which keep prices within city limits at very high levels. In both instances, the suburban cities that you speak of are located at highly accessible points on the transit system, and feature a town center of sorts with which to build around. Philadelphia has not reached the level of development where there is not affordable land available near the core of the city in which to develop, and few of the towns mentioned fit the criteria of those in other cities.

The towns on the Main Line would never allow it. The only one that the demand would really exist for such a development in that area is Ardmore, which has been in a fight over a an eight storey building for over a decade.

The only one that currently has the layout, transit connections, desirability, and potentially the necessity to build higher is Conshohocken. Whether any of the current plans there ever come to fruition is yet to be seen.

Chester would need to see a major turn around before I could imagine any type of investment taking place there. King of Prussia may be the next to potentially grow in height if the rail line is ever built there.

As an aside, towns like White Plains and Stamford feature a street life that very few suburbs in the Philadelphia area seem to be able to match. The only one that I would say is somewhat comparable is West Chester.
Also, Greenwich has always reminded me tremendously to Wayne.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by joemustardo

Somewhat unrelated but I have always wondered about this. You look at NYC suburbs like Rye, New Rochelle, Stamford and they all have high rises. In Atlanta, there is Buckhead. In DC, there is Chevy Chase and Bethesda. In LA, there is Century City and Westwood. Each of these have high rises (150-500) feet buildings. Why don't Philly suburbs like The Main Line, King of Prussia, Conshohocken (there are a few), a Chester enhancement/redevelopment, Cherry Hill, Newtown Square, City Ave have any high rises? I think Radnor/Villanova have great potential to be a business epi-center. Are there zoning regulations? Is there not a need? Do the suburbs want to remain as a suburb feel? I live in Radnor Township and I feel as if high rises in the suburbs add a much needed cosmetic feel to the area. It adds a level of importance to the area. Any thoughts?

Well, let's see. In Philadelphia, you not only have Center City and a growing highrise section in University City, but Templeton and Temple Hospital as well. There are also some highrises in Germantown/East Falls and more along the City Avenue corridor split between West Philly and Bala Cynwyd.

In the suburbs, there is Wilmington, and a growing highrise sector in Conshohocken. There is also Camden, which definitely has room for growth. Then, a bit further about you have Atlantic City, Reading and Trenton (which is realistically a suburb of Philadelphia).

[Hrytsyu]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Any one know anything about this? 600k sq. ft. office is really significant for a multi-national to house its U.S. headquarters here in Philly.

http://www.varenhorst.com/work/project/confidential_multinational_client_philadelphia_headquarters

I believe, as well, the building represented is an old GSK building located at the northeast corner of 16th and Race Streets. The adjacent building profiles are represented by the Sheraton hotel, to the west, and the newer curvalinear, and ultimately vacated, GSK headquarters to the north.

I would be immensely pleased if that building is to be "reskinned". Unfortunately, this is probably a proposal that surfaced in response to GSKs interest in reorganizing employee
structures and workspace...that ultimately led to the Naval Yard development.

[Hrytsyu]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Any one know anything about this? 600k sq. ft. office is really significant for a multi-national to house its U.S. headquarters here in Philly.

http://www.varenhorst.com/work/project/confidential_multinational_client_philadelphia_headquarters

Upon review of my previous message it seems I improperly supposed the "reskinned" building to be on the northeast corner of 16th and Race Streets...while, in fact, it is located on the northWEST corner. Quite a ghastly error for a first post.

[Philly-Drew]

Originally Posted by Hrytsyu

Upon review of my previous message it seems I improperly supposed the "reskinned" building to be on the northeast corner of 16th and Race Streets...while, in fact, it is located on the northWEST corner. Quite a ghastly error for a first post.

Hehe! No worries Hrytsyu. Welcome to the forum.

[josef]

Originally Posted by joemustardo

Somewhat unrelated but I have always wondered about this. You look at NYC suburbs like Rye, New Rochelle, Stamford and they all have high rises. In Atlanta, there is Buckhead. In DC, there is Chevy Chase and Bethesda. In LA, there is Century City and Westwood. Each of these have high rises (150-500) feet buildings. Why don't Philly suburbs like The Main Line, King of Prussia, Conshohocken (there are a few), a Chester enhancement/redevelopment, Cherry Hill, Newtown Square, City Ave have any high rises? I think Radnor/Villanova have great potential to be a business epi-center. Are there zoning regulations? Is there not a need? Do the suburbs want to remain as a suburb feel? I live in Radnor Township and I feel as if high rises in the suburbs add a much needed cosmetic feel to the area. It adds a level of importance to the area. Any thoughts?

Cherry Hill has a few different higher-rises. There's Cherry Hill Towers by the mall - http://www.cherryhilltowers.com/. There's "The Grand" at like 70 and 295 - http://www.allstatemgmt.com/home/communities/new-jersey/the-grand-cherry-hill-apartment-homes.aspx.

Honestly though, I'm happier to see more of this kind of thing going up, like the Lumberyard in Collingswood. http://thecollingsapts.com/apartments.html

[EastSideHBG]

Clinton kin promoting Chinatown tower plan

PAUL NUSSBAUM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Saturday, April 4, 2015, 1:07 AM
image: http://media.philly.com/designimages/partnerIcon-Inquirer-2014.jpg

Developers of a long-planned $75 million residential and office tower in Chinatown are using Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, Anthony Rodham, to help market the project to foreign investors.

The proposed 23-story Eastern Tower Community Center, planned for 10th and Vine Streets, is to have 143 residential units, as well as ground-floor retail shops, a second-floor community center, and three floors of office space, developers say.

A firm created in 2013 to find wealthy Chinese investors for the project, Global City Regional Center, says Rodham is responsible for international marketing and promotion, and "all governmental relations matters" for the firm.

The firm's website promotes Rodham's family connections, noting that he "has worked with former President Bill Clinton on all his campaigns, from the House of Representatives to the presidential campaigns. Subsequently, Mr. Rodham worked for the Democratic National Committee coordinating constituency outreach. Mr. Rodham also worked for his sister, Hillary Rodham Clinton, during her Senate and presidential campaigns."

Rodham, who has been associated with the firm for at least a year, brings added political heft to a project that also has two prominent local Democrats as advisers.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150404_HIGH_PROFILE_HELP_FOR_TOWER.html#YZfQOrs8DqA1p673.99

[volguus zildrohar]

Edward Corner Building on Delaware Avenue coming down to make way for 12-story apartment building?

Edward Corner Building Coming Down?

[Outta here]

Good afternoon to all , back to work or not . Just did a growth search on Wikipedia Encyclopedia and
discovered new estimates for population growth in Philly for 2014 .
Latest stats suggest the current population ( 2014 ) are at , or near 1,560,297 . If this trend continues
through the next U.S. official census report , that figure could hit 1,637,739 ..... or more . A number
not seen here since 1980 , something ...... Nice .

[cafeguy]

Originally Posted by Outta here

Good afternoon to all , back to work or not . Just did a growth search on Wikipedia Encyclopedia and
discovered new estimates for population growth in Philly for 2014 .
Latest stats suggest the current population ( 2014 ) are at , or near 1,560,297 . If this trend continues
through the next U.S. official census report , that figure could hit 1,637,739 ..... or more . A number
not seen here since 1980 , something ...... Nice .

Such a neat way to think of things... we should consider both our population and homicide rate in terms of years in the past after suburban flight took a grip on cities. With the goal of getting back to pre-suburbia size of a year of 1955 or something.

[1487]

http://centercityphila.org/pressroom/ccnews040715.php

some positive trends in CBD office market that will make new construction more likely. Seems like vacancy rate will be under 10% very soon and rents are headed towards $30/sf for class A space. Id think we are one major company move away from serious talk of a non comcast office tower.

[iheartphilly]

Bro, I hope so. Getting a Class A office tower built in CC would solidify the notion that companies want to be located in and around where millennials want to work and live. Keeping my fingers cross and would be a nice surprise if we got some sort of announcement soon!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

Such a neat way to think of things... we should consider both our population and homicide rate in terms of years in the past after suburban flight took a grip on cities. With the goal of getting back to pre-suburbia size of a year of 1955 or something.

Well if we assumed the average ppsm in the city is 15k/m^2*, and the City has 134 m^2 of land area, then the City's population would be 2.01 million. I think that would be a reasonable carrying capacity for the city.

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

* Rounded down from South Philly's population density, which is about 16.7k/m^2

[TempleGuy1000]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Well if we assumed the average ppsm in the city is 15k/m^2*, and the City has 134 m^2 of land area, then the City's population would be 2.01 million. I think that would be a reasonable carrying capacity for the city.

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

* Rounded down from South Philly's population density, which is about 16.7k/m^2

I dream of the day that Philadelphia breaks the 2 million mark again and is healthy enough to support that many jobs. It will be a beautiful thing.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by 1487

http://centercityphila.org/pressroom/ccnews040715.php

some positive trends in CBD office market that will make new construction more likely. Seems like vacancy rate will be under 10% very soon and rents are headed towards $30/sf for class A space. Id think we are one major company move away from serious talk of a non comcast office tower.

This is honestly superb news.

Here is the full article for those who haven't read it:

Office Vacancy Down in CBD
Based on the inventory Integra counts, the occupancy rate is now 90% and Class A rents have increased from $28.60 to $29.56, a 3.4% increase in just the last four months, the article noted.

Counting a slightly different inventory and geography than Integra, Jones Lang LaSalle(JLL) in their Office Insight Philadelphia Q1 2015, puts the office vacancy rate in the Central Business District, including University City, at 9.9% (compared to 16.3% in the suburbs) in the first quarter of 2015. They report asking rents of $27.07 ($24.87/suburbs), down slightly from the previous quarter's $27.85 ($25.68/suburbs), and calculate net absorption for the first quarter in the CBD at 142,114 SF. The vacancy rate has seen a steady trajectory downward. In 2014, it was 10.5%; in 2013, 12.2%; and in 2010, it reached a peak of 13.5%.

The report notes there are 17 coworking spaces, open or under construction, occupying 209,000 square feet (SF) of office space in Center City and University City.

There is 2,210,914 SF of office space under construction, with 80% of it preleased. While theComcast Innovation and Technology Center is already 100% leased to Comcast, there are 220,000 SF of available space remaining in the FMC Tower, which will open in third quarter of 2016.

http://www.centercityphila.org/pressroom/ccnews040715.php

[summersm343]

Thermostat maker Lux Products relocates from South Jersey to the Navy Yard

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...aker-relocates-from-south-jersey-to.html

[Outta here]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Well if we assumed the average ppsm in the city is 15k/m^2*, and the City has 134 m^2 of land area, then the City's population would be 2.01 million. I think that would be a reasonable carrying capacity for the city.

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

* Rounded down from South Philly's population density, which is about 16.7k/m^2

Ok , fact of the matter is , we know the city supported 2.07 million back in the 50's and
might of had enough decent paying jobs to carry that kind of capacity regardless of flight
to the suburbs .
I look at the borough of Brooklyn @ 71 s.m. and it supports some 2.59 million population .
So if the jobs are there and the housing is decent there is no telling where Philly can go .
I just think , it will take longer than any of us have time for . I'd love to see 1.8 million .
That might be very doable in the not-to-distant future .

[apetrella802]

Originally Posted by Outta here

Ok , fact of the matter is , we know the city supported 2.07 million back in the 50's and
might of had enough decent paying jobs to carry that kind of capacity regardless of flight
to the suburbs .
I look at the borough of Brooklyn @ 71 s.m. and it supports some 2.59 million population .
So if the jobs are there and the housing is decent there is no telling where Philly can go .
I just think , it will take longer than any of us have time for . I'd love to see 1.8 million .
That might be very doable in the not-to-distant future .

I have seen studies that concluded that Philadelphia's transportation infrastructure(trolleys, subways, trains, roads) as it exists today could support a population of 3,000,000.