PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[summersm343]

Vynamis - a healthcare consulting firm - continues to expand in Philadelphia, adding 10-15 a year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...sulting-firm-and-zzzmail-originator.html

[cafeguy]

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...opers-shortlisted-for-festival-pier.html

Movement on festival pier!

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...opers-shortlisted-for-festival-pier.html

Movement on festival pier!

The Delaware River Waterfront Corp. has shortlisted three developers for Festival Pier, an 11-acre site that pokes out into the Delaware River.
The finalists are:

-Jefferson Apartment Group of McLean, Va., and Haverford Properties Inc. of Haverford, Pa. Jefferson has an office in Berwyn, Pa., and has locally constructed Jefferson Pointe, a 230-unit complex off Route 202 in West Chester, Pa.

-RAL Cos., a multifamily developer from New York.

-Toll Brothers Inc.,(NYSE: TOL) a residential developer from Horsham, Pa. The company has expanded its single-family business and delved into multifamily projects — condominiums and apartments - in urban and suburban environments.

This is just the first step in developing the parcel at Spring Garden Street and Delaware Avenue and will serve as a preview of a process for how Penn’s Landing, which totals 14 acres, will eventually be developed.
For Festival Pier, DRWC initiated a request for expressions of interest in February and had eight national and local companies respond. An internal DRWC committee reviewed those responses and narrowed it down by considering experience and financial capacity to complete a large-scale, mixed-use project. A residential component will be the anchor to the project.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...hortlisted-for-festival-pier.html?page=2

[br323206]

Originally Posted by summersm343

The Delaware River Waterfront Corp. has shortlisted three developers for Festival Pier, an 11-acre site that pokes out into the Delaware River.
The finalists are:

-Jefferson Apartment Group of McLean, Va., and Haverford Properties Inc. of Haverford, Pa. Jefferson has an office in Berwyn, Pa., and has locally constructed Jefferson Pointe, a 230-unit complex off Route 202 in West Chester, Pa.

-RAL Cos., a multifamily developer from New York.

-Toll Brothers Inc.,(NYSE: TOL) a residential developer from Horsham, Pa. The company has expanded its single-family business and delved into multifamily projects — condominiums and apartments - in urban and suburban environments.

This is just the first step in developing the parcel at Spring Garden Street and Delaware Avenue and will serve as a preview of a process for how Penn’s Landing, which totals 14 acres, will eventually be developed.
For Festival Pier, DRWC initiated a request for expressions of interest in February and had eight national and local companies respond. An internal DRWC committee reviewed those responses and narrowed it down by considering experience and financial capacity to complete a large-scale, mixed-use project. A residential component will be the anchor to the project.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...hortlisted-for-festival-pier.html?page=2

Would the concert venue remain?

[cjPhilly]

Originally Posted by summersm343

The Delaware River Waterfront Corp. has shortlisted three developers for Festival Pier, an 11-acre site that pokes out into the Delaware River.
The finalists are:

-Jefferson Apartment Group of McLean, Va., and Haverford Properties Inc. of Haverford, Pa. Jefferson has an office in Berwyn, Pa., and has locally constructed Jefferson Pointe, a 230-unit complex off Route 202 in West Chester, Pa.

-RAL Cos., a multifamily developer from New York.

-Toll Brothers Inc.,(NYSE: TOL) a residential developer from Horsham, Pa. The company has expanded its single-family business and delved into multifamily projects — condominiums and apartments - in urban and suburban environments.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...hortlisted-for-festival-pier.html?page=2

Well none of those three are overwhelming choices. Based on their websites, RAL does a lot of conversions of existing buildings, and Jefferson does mostly suburban apartments. And Toll, well, let just say I REALLY hope we don't end up with any of that Naval Square/South Street faux-historical 🞵🞵🞵🞵 on the Delaware. Regardless of who is selected, their choice of architect on the winning team will make the difference in how this turns out.

[br323206]

Originally Posted by cjPhilly

Well none of those three are overwhelming choices. Based on their websites, RAL does a lot of conversions of existing buildings, and Jefferson does mostly suburban apartments. And Toll, well, let just say I REALLY hope we don't end up with any of that Naval Square/South Street faux-historical 🞵🞵🞵🞵 on the Delaware. Regardless of who is selected, their choice of architect on the winning team will make the difference in how this turns out.

If it ends up being Toll I'd think we'd be more likely to get something like this...

http://www.tollbrotherscityliving.com/residences/new-jersey/maxwell-place/

[McBane]

I find it interesting to see Toll bidding on this. It was just a few pages ago that the topic of discussion was Toll's aversion to risk. And here they are bidding on an opportunity to develop a piece of land that's not exactly an established area. Lots of folks, myself included, thought that the Castleway property was more their speed.

Then again, I see the Delaware waterfront as a kind of stepping stone for suburban home buyers, eager to move to the city, while still maintaining a sense of quiet and privacy. You could say that Waterfront Square, for example, is pretty much a vertical subdivision located in the city. This might be Toll's approach.

We shall see.

[Nightman]

Originally Posted by br323206

Would the concert venue remain?

The concert venue will be relocated. Not sure to where.

[jsbrook]

Nor sure Toll would be terrible. They've done some nice work (in other cities). This might finally be their project to break out of their milktoast, Suburban comfort zone they have employed in Philly.

Also, Suburbanesqe in this area (similar to Maxwell) would bother me less than other areas of the city.

[FlyersFan]

More info on One Liberty Place's observation deck opening this fall

http://www.uwishunu.com/2015/05/philadel...n=VisitPhillyFacebook&utm_content=Social

[hammersklavier]

I also vaguely recalling hearing something about suits scoping the 24th and Sansom parking lot. Could that also have been Toll Brothers?

Well we kind of guessed they were looking at new development sites in the city and now we know one they're looking at for sure.

Also yeah, I didn't really think of that angle for the Delaware waterfront. It was only a decade ago when a lot of developers were dreaming big dreams for it too!

[chris08876]

Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at Least 5 and Injuring Dozens

At least five people were killed and dozens more were injured when an Amtrak train carrying 243 people derailed here on Tuesday, shutting down service in the Northeast region, the authorities said.

The train was headed to New York from Washington when it derailed around 9:30 p.m., officials said during a news conference late on Tuesday. Sixty-five people, including six who were in critical condition, were taken to hospitals, Philadelphia’s mayor, Michael Nutter, said.

“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” the mayor said. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”

Emergency workers carrying flashlights and ladders moved frantically from car to car helping passengers off the train, some bloodied, others dazed.

The train had at least seven cars, including the engine, which separated from the rest, officials said. Six cars overturned. At least one looked as bent as a crumpled soda can, and parts of the damaged cars were so badly mangled that firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to rescue the people trapped inside.

=============================
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/us/amtrak-train-derails-crash-philadelphia.html?_r=0

[summersm343]

^^So crazy. Sad situation. I wish the passengers well who are still in critical condition.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

I also vaguely recalling hearing something about suits scoping the 24th and Sansom parking lot. Could that also have been Toll Brothers?

Well we kind of guessed they were looking at new development sites in the city and now we know one they're looking at for sure.

Also yeah, I didn't really think of that angle for the Delaware waterfront. It was only a decade ago when a lot of developers were dreaming big dreams for it too!

Yep. I saw them a couple of days ago - last week? There were at least 10 of them.

[McBane]

Sad story about Amtrak derailment. An absolute tragedy. Will this be the impetus to wake up Congress on the sorry state of our country's antiquated rail system? This reminds me a lot of the Minnesota bridge collapse when you had people (like Ed Rendell) screaming about the country's broken infrastructure and only after a terrible tragedy is something done about it.

[Mappy]

If only we had listened to Mappy

[summersm343]

Brandywine seeks rezoning of Market Street parking garage

Brandywine Realty Trust has initiated a zoning change on a parking garage at 6th and Market streets in Philadelphia that it bought for $17 million in April.

The change would permit upwards of 600,000 square feet of space to be construct at the property at 618-34 Market St., which is across from the U.S. Courthouse. Jerry Sweeney, CEO of Brandywine (NYSE: BDN), indicated the company had started this process while giving a keynote address yesterday at an office summit of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

Sweeney said the company’s purchase of the property is a “hedge” on the direction East Market Street is headed.

The East Market Street corridor had heated up. In all, real estate companies are investing $1.5 billion in 5.5 million square in the East Market Street corridor, according to JLL data. These projects are expected to be completed by 2017. So much money is flooding the area because of the population growth in Philadelphia, which has made “Market East significantly more attractive for retail, multifamily and speculative office projects,” JLL said in a research report.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...s-rezoning-of-market-street-parking.html

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Brandywine seeks rezoning of Market Street parking garage



http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...s-rezoning-of-market-street-parking.html

Nice. But a 'hedge?' Don't hedge. Court an anchor tenant and MAKE something significant happen there (I'm sure that's what they will actually try to do).

[br323206]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Brandywine seeks rezoning of Market Street parking garage



http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...s-rezoning-of-market-street-parking.html

But it's already CMX-5. I guess they are trying to expand the Center City FAR Overlay that ends just across 7th Street. That would allow them to increase from 1200% FAR to 1600% FAR.

[cafeguy]

So what's up with those fancy north broad street light poles??? Last year, they finally started the electric and base installment...but since last summer, its sat dead collecting dust with traffic cones and barrels over top of them.