Quote:
Originally Posted by hammersklavier
So the site line is the old Penrose Ferry Road easement.
That site plan is so very suburban. It's a shame. Penrose would have real potential, if it weren't such a stroad.
Heh ... Lemme note that that site plan is actually fairly New Urbanist, and would, in most cities, be the most urban thing anybody's built in a generation. It's just that, in the context of South Philly -- one of the most urban places in the country -- it doesn't feel too particularly urban.
|
Again, I don't disagree. But South Philadelphians, I think, have always thought of Packer Park as suburban South Philadelphia. And again, in that respect, I think the project succeeds. Just like the Navy Yard offers an alternative to companies that wouldn't otherwise move to Philadelphia (or stay in Philadelphia), a development like this offers an option to a person or family who wouldn't otherwise be here.
It's a handsome development. It uses up a fallow site, increasing density. It also puts something in a spot where I never thought anything would go based on adjacencies to 76, the railroad, etc. And most importantly, although it took awhile, it looks like people have started to scoop these homes up.
I found the site plan on the Siena Place website (it's sorta hidden) and it looks like north of Hartranft there are about 140 homes. In total, about all but 40 of them are sold, the 40 mainly being in buildings that are not yet under construction in the NE quadrant of the site plan north of Hartranft (southeast in the view that was posted here).
All in all, there are 331 homes in this plan. That's not nothing. It increases density nicely.
***Lastly, in the same google satellite view of this development I panned to the west over the old refinery site...If someone can post a pic it would be appreciated as I don't have the patience. But, it looks like much of the old refinery site has been dis-assembled, which I knew (the land between 76 and the Schuykill). ***BUT*** It now shows a few blocks of that site having been greened...the fallow land which was previously brown is now green and clearly freshly planted with grass. If that's the case, it's HUGE. Remember, this is that zone that planners have sort of pegged as being the next Navy Yard...a zone of low to mid rise developments for science companies and suburbanesque tenants (think lab space) that will run along the river from the Navy Yard up to University City...I recall the plan calls for a new road called River Road to run all the way from Center City basically down to the Navy Yard. Could it be that remediation is done on this part of the site and the master plan is progressing?
I wonder how long it will be until the next phases of the plan (infrastructure, etc) are revealed? Can someone post a pic of the google satellite image? As that greenery replaces the old rusted hulks of refineries being disassembled, the perception of the city as you come into it from afar (ie. flights into the airport) will change immensely. I can't think of a more apt way to illustrate the transformation of this great city.