PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[summersm343]

New coworking space opens next to 30th Street Station

PLEXUS, a new coworking space, has opened in Philadelphia and seeks to provide MedTech entrepreneurs with the hardware necessary for their startups success.

PLEXUS, located at 3001 Market St., will get off the ground with six startups and aims to increase its Philadelphia membership to 30 or 40 companies.

The initial group of startups will begin moving into PLEXUS's space Thursday.

The first six are:
Bioconnect Systems: A startup focused on improving vascular access in End Stage Renal Disease patients.
Photosonix Medical: A startup that uses light and ultrasound energy to treat acne.
ZSX Medical: A pre-clinical stage medical device company improving minimally-invasive surgery.
Boston Device: A startup focused on designing and building Gen 1 devices.
Active Protective: A wearable tech startup that homes in on decreasing traumatic injuries to senior citizens.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...coworking-space-30th-street-station.html

[Kfmcshan]

Originally Posted by Outta here

Holy crap . I just visited that sight and was almost shocked to learn , at one point in the
early plan development , the Revel Hotel/casino in Atlantic City considered " TWO " towers
of equal height ( 710' ) . But it didn't take long for developers and investors to determine
that plan was never going to fly . WOW

The current owner of the Revel, Glenn Straub, has said he plans on building the second tower as the foundation is already in place for it. Things will really have to turn around for AC for that to work out

[Outta here]

Here's hoping Saturdays nationally televised game between Temple and Notre Dame
generates positive interest for the university and the city ..... and a win wouldn't hurt .

[SJPhillyBoy]

http://www.phillybyair.com/blog/abandoned-philadelphia/

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by summersm343

There are two projects total that I know of that have not been announced yet. I was told one would be announced by the end of the year. Guess we'll see! The second, I'm not sure on a time frame. Both have a residential component to it, but the first was entirely mixed use office, residential and retail. The other seemed to be majority residential/retail.

There is a third (Pearl Properties Broad and Locust) that we know about which I've seen prelim renderings for. I would imagine we would get news on this soon - in fact I'm surprised we have not already. The design looked to be 35+ floors and 400+ feet with ground floor retail and a mix of hotel and residential.

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---hey if its 35 floors, and add SLS just down the street - huge.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by TallCoolOne

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---hey if its 35 floors, and add SLS just down the street - huge.

AND 1401 Spruce in the Atlantic Building if the Pestronks get their shit together. Residential and retail. Still supposed to be a go but no idea when it will hit the market.

http://1401spruce.com/

Plus, do not forget the renovation at Broad and Chestnut which is actively under way and I believe to hit early 2016. http://www.phillymag.com/property/2015/0...nside-the-griffin-at-broad-and-chestnut/

Big things on Broad.

[PHL1]

More Kensington Developement
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...sington-community-17m-somerset-ruth.html

[PHL1]

New UCity Coworking Space:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...coworking-space-30th-street-station.html

[summersm343]

550 apartments, acres of public space planned for Festival Pier site

At its quarterly board meeting Friday morning, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation officially selected Jefferson Apartment Group and Haverford Properties to develop an empty waterfront site at the end of Spring Garden Street, as the Inquirer reported it would earlier this week.

At the meeting, Charles Houder of Haverford Properties said the development would consist of 550 apartment units in a four-to-five story project. It will also have 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, with a public boulevard extending out to the water’s edge. The development group will reconstruct the 11-acre site, using sheet piling and fill to create a pad for development and ultimately shrinking the site in accordance with a previous study commissioned by DRWC.

In the end, the site will be 9 ½ acres, with half the area dedicated as public space, designed and programmed by OLIN.

Houder said that the development team’s initial proposal was neatly responsive to the Request for Expressions of Interest from DRWC. He said the festival pier property is “the most compelling development site in the city,” and the project would be well-positioned to capture the explosive growth of both Northern Liberties and Fishtown. The apartment project will be designed by Cecil Baker, a locally beloved architect who seems to take on a new major project every month or so.

Houder said the project is being designed in accordance with the Master Plan for the Central Delaware. He couldn’t share details of the design plans, but said the proposal has “expanded dramatically on those concepts in a way that’s caused the site and the concept to really blossom.” The developers will meet with the Central Delaware Advocacy Group to discuss the project next month.

http://planphilly.com/articles/2015/10/3...lic-space-planned-for-festival-pier-site

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by summersm343

550 apartments, acres of public space planned for Festival Pier site



http://planphilly.com/articles/2015/10/3...lic-space-planned-for-festival-pier-site

More on the Festival Pier development from Philadelphia Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...team-picked-for-large-site-fronting.html

[1487]

Originally Posted by summersm343

550 apartments, acres of public space planned for Festival Pier site



http://planphilly.com/articles/2015/10/3...lic-space-planned-for-festival-pier-site

good news except for the fact that its only going to be 5 floors.

[Kidphilly]

Originally Posted by 1487

good news except for the fact that its only going to be 5 floors.

I think for this particular parcel and in keeping with the river access and creation of an extension into the neighborhood it is probably right for the area

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by 1487

good news except for the fact that its only going to be 5 floors.

Disappointing but I can understand the reason why.

Festival Pier, like any waterfront parcel, is a challenging development site. If you want to use steel or concrete you need to sink caissons deep. The Central Delaware has an 80-foot height limit overlay, which the RFP is obliged to adhere to.

Once you get above five floors, you have to use steel or concrete. Which in turn ramps up the costs to the point where the next feasible minimum floor count is probably around fifteen floors -- obviously above the height limit.

Part of the problem here is that our construction standards are obsolete. There are now methods for building taller wooden buildings on the market, but we don't allow them. There's at least one good example that I know of in height-limit-obsessed DC.

Actually, that might be the main reason DRWC picked Jefferson for this project. Jefferson's main urban portfolio experience is development in downtown DC and environs.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by 1487

good news except for the fact that its only going to be 5 floors.

I'm also fine with 5 floors here for the reasons stated above. There are still plenty of other development parcels with opportunities to go higher. I'm more concerned with turning the Waterfront into a nice, mixed-use urban neighborhood first and foremost.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by summersm343

I'm also fine with 5 floors here for the reasons stated above. There are still plenty of other development parcels with opportunities to go higher. I'm more concerned with turning the Waterfront into a nice, mixed-use urban neighborhood first and foremost.

When I saw the Inquirer article earlier this week, I was wondering what impact this might have on the adjacent Waterfront Square's remaining two (proposed) towers. With something of modest size, laden with amenities, as a neighbor this may increase the likelihood of that happening, if the apartment boom continues.

[stormkingfan]

Regarding the FMC Tower.

Right now the building is at about the 27th or 28th floor level. I've noticed that it's been a while since the core has been extended. The cage has caught up with it and two weeks ago I noticed some cross-bracing was being put into place at the present top. Today I noticed little change since then.

What's happened? Running low on funds? Technical or code problems? Or is our 49-storey bldg. now going to be a 28-storey?

[Philly-Drew]

Originally Posted by stormkingfan

Regarding the FMC Tower.

Right now the building is at about the 27th or 28th floor level. I've noticed that it's been a while since the core has been extended. The cage has caught up with it and two weeks ago I noticed some cross-bracing was being put into place at the present top. Today I noticed little change since then.

What's happened? Running low on funds? Technical or code problems? Or is our 49-storey bldg. now going to be a 28-storey?

Check out the FMC thread for answers to your questions.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=210333&page=127

[Larry King]

What's the urban planner logic in low rise building on the water?

Seems high rises with parking make sense there. I envision a Miami-like boulevard with high rise condos.

[McBane]

Did anyone watch the Temple game on Saturday night? If so, did you notice the complete lack of shots of Philadelphia? At one point, I saw a shot of Broad Street by Temple's campus. But not a single skyline shot, no Art Museum, City Hall, steaks on the grill, Independence Hall, or anything. What was up with that?

Regarding the festival pier proposal, it's still early and there's no rendering. But I'm fine with the height and the impressive number of apartments. 30,000 sf- that doesn't seem like a whole lot relative to the number of units. For reference, the new Walgreens on Chestnut is 27,000 sf.

I'll just reiterate what I've stated in the One Water St thread - Delaware Ave needs as many new residents as possible to create a critical mass and make it a destination. Even at 4-5 floors, the project still creates far more density than townhomes allow. My main concern is actually the vast amount of open space (half of the entire 9 1/2 acre site). A public greenway along the riverfront is definitely necessary, but too much other open space can do more harm than good. Will there be enough residents and visitors to utilize all the public space or will they end up making the area seem desolate? Race Street Pier is .4 miles to the south and Penn Treaty Park is .7 miles to the north.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Larry King

What's the urban planner logic in low rise building on the water?

Seems high rises with parking make sense there. I envision a Miami-like boulevard with high rise condos.

God no. There's nothing urban about those super block towers sitting atop parking podiums. The master plan calls for the waterfront to be an extension of the city grid with walkable blocks and a mix of housing types. Also, high rises create too much density in an area that has an over abundance develop-able land. Would you want to have a small handful of 500 footers intermittently spread out along the street or a continuous string of 5-10 floor buildings?

Also the ocean front is Miami's primary draw for wealthy folks interested in downtown living, which means there's enough demand to warrant a high rise after high rise. The Delaware River, which competes with established neighborhoods like Rittenhouse Square, the Parkway, etc., doesn't have that kind of demand.