PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

The National Condos - 2nd Street between Arch and Elfreth's Alley
Demo well underway. Replacing it will be a 6 floor condo building

[summersm343]

1100 Chestnut - apartments/retail - 7 floors

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

And all of that was there before the High Line.

Point?

I'm the first one to argue there are plenty of meh buildings in NYC (I look at them every day)...but so close to the pending rail park this is unacceptable. That will become a very prime site very soon.

You could have said the same thing in 2011 and yet five years later it's still a dump there. At this point the Reading Viaduct is very likely to be built. But shovels aren't in the ground yet, nothing has changed yet. This neighborhood is a wasteland and I just don't get the contention that you would expect high quality architecture here, based solely on the hypothesis that in the future this neighborhood will be nicer. Something has to get the ball rolling. And places like this, and eventually the Reading Viaduct are what lead to people building the type of stuff you're looking for.

Those crappy buildings were there before the high line in NYC? Well this building is being proposed before the Viaduct in Philly.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by allovertown

You could have said the same thing in 2011 and yet five years later it's still a dump there. At this point the Reading Viaduct is very likely to be built. But shovels aren't in the ground yet, nothing has changed yet. This neighborhood is a wasteland and I just don't get the contention that you would expect high quality architecture here, based solely on the hypothesis that in the future this neighborhood will be nicer. Something has to get the ball rolling. And places like this, and eventually the Reading Viaduct are what lead to people building the type of stuff you're looking for.

Those crappy buildings were there before the high line in NYC? Well this building is being proposed before the Viaduct in Philly.

Exactly lol. The neighborhood sucks. I just went through the area today, and there are certainly signs of improvement, but the whole thing from Broad to the River, Vine Street to Spring Garden is just a wasteland. Huge superblocks, large blocks filled with transformers and PECO power stations, empty lots, abandoned buildings, parking lots, car oriented development. It's got A LONG way to go, and I think this development is certainly a huge step in the right direction. Not sure what all the complaining is about.

[Philly-Drew]

1/22/2016

Here are some pics I grabbed real quick of the National on 2nd street in Old City. I had to grab the pics real quick from the street, with traffic going around me while I was standing against the fence.





You can see Elfreth's Alley on the far left.

[Philly-Drew]

1/22/2016

33rd and Mantua ave.

Thank God these thing are coming down. I couldn't help but to think of the gut wrenching feeling of the neighbors as these were getting built years ago. And then I thought about the people who had to live in them. If your going to help people get back on their feet, how could you put them in these? WTF?

[br323206]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

And all of that was there before the High Line.

Point?

I'm the first one to argue there are plenty of meh buildings in NYC (I look at them every day)...but so close to the pending rail park this is unacceptable. That will become a very prime site very soon.

At least one of those is very recent and definitely after the high line. And there are tons of other examples of crappy architecture getting built after the high line. My point is that the viaduct is going to spur lots of development, just like the high line. Some of those buildings are going to be great architectural additions to the cit. Others will just blend in to the urban fabric. This is one of those buildings. It's not bad, not great. Every building is not going to be a show stopper, even in the most desirable neighborhoods.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by summersm343

1100 Chestnut - apartments/retail - 7 floors

Love this development but at a minimum, the red brick building needs a cornice or similar element to visually terminate the top of the structure. The last three buildings almost seem to be mimicking a set of badly remodeled South Philly rows that had their cornices lopped off.

[Larry King]

Would people really want to live behind a strip mall off Columbus boulevard?

http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1401-1499-S.-Columbus-Blvd-Brochure_sm1.pdf

http://www.phillymag.com/?p=3068116

[Parkway]

I honestly can't think of a worse way to use that site. Even making it industrial would create a few hundred good jobs.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Would people really want to live behind a strip mall off Columbus boulevard?

http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1401-1499-S.-Columbus-Blvd-Brochure_sm1.pdf

http://www.phillymag.com/?p=3068116

Is Blatstein Planning a Residential and Retail Complex at Former Foxwoods Site?

A new mixed-use complex on the Delaware River would bring apartments, townhouses, park space, and retail–including a new Wawa and an Aldi–to the mix of strip malls and big box stores on Columbus Boulevard in Pennsport. That’s according to a brochure from MSC Retail, which shows the expansive 16-acre parcel would essentially be divided into four distinct areas.

Bart Blatstein, who originally assembled the site some 20 years ago, purchased the property once again in 2014 for $13 million after plans for a Foxwoods Casino at 1401 South Columbus Boulevard failed to get off the ground.

A large retail complex would front Columbus Boulevard, which the brochure shows plans for a proposed Wawa at Tasker Street and an Aldi supermarket, located near a newly created drive aisle that looks to be an extension of Dickinson Street, the latter would get a new traffic light and extend to the river.

Blatstein couldn't be reached for comment, but a person close to project said the plan is to be completed it in two phases: the retail portion opening in early 2017, and the residential part would follow at some point.

MSC Retail is marketing the retail portion of the project and the site plan shows the parcel would hold a total of 75,000-square-feet of retail, including a bank pad site, over multiple buildings and separated by a few surface parking lots.

A center drive aisle and path would run through the middle of the site and lead to a grouping of 10 residential buildings. This residential area, the first of its kind south of the Residences at Dockside near South Street, would feature a mix of around 600 apartments and for-sale townhouses, creating some semblance of a street grid while providing access to the river.

A park area, in the form of an extended riverfront trail, would separate the complex from the river and span the parcel from Reed Street in the north to Tasker Street in the south.

Finally, townhouses would be located on a restored pier that juts into the Delaware River. In total, 435 apartments, 90 "stacked townhouse units," 91 townhouses and 54 pier townhouses are planned for the site, according to the brochure. This site is set between two popular riverfront parks–Washington Avenue Pier and Pier 68.

The plot in Pennsport isn't the only riverfront play Blatstein has cooking in Philadelphia. In Fishtown, the developer has partnered with Joe Volpe, of Cescaphe Event Group, to propose a large adaptive reuse project at Delaware Station, a defunct power station adjacent to Penn Treaty Park. Early plans include two private event spaces, two restaurants, hotel suites for event guests and public access to the river.

Renderings:
http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1401-1499-S.-Columbus-Blvd-Brochure_sm1.pdf

Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/property/2016/01/25/bart-blatstein-foxwoods/#OUA56EtQp0vToMyu.99

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Would people really want to live behind a strip mall off Columbus boulevard?

http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1401-1499-S.-Columbus-Blvd-Brochure_sm1.pdf

http://www.phillymag.com/?p=3068116

Square peg in round hole. You'd think that prospective residents would want a bit more than a few trees separating them from the backside of Aldi and Wawa.

[summersm343]

Whitman’s Chocolates Building Bids A Bittersweet Farewell

Currently being demolished


What will be replacing it - 4 story apartment building with ground floor retail


What could have been - 13 floor hotel with apartments facing 4th street and event space with ground floor retail


http://hiddencityphila.org/2016/01/whitmans-chocolates-building-bids-a-bittersweet-farewell/

[Busy Bee]

^Horrible horrible wasted opportunity. What a gddamn shame.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^Horrible horrible wasted opportunity. What a gddamn shame.

Where's a recession when you need one?

[Human Scale]

I think homes are better than hotel only because the peculiar traffic arrangement around this area would be better for those residents conditioned to it rather than the transient hotel traveler who might accidentally merge onto the Ben Franklin bridge, creating an unfavorable tripadvisor review.

[Busy Bee]

The use change isn't the beef, it's the form. It's lost all ambition in scale and is a dissapointment in both size and style for such a prominent site. It's a dog turd.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by Human Scale

I think homes are better than hotel only because the peculiar traffic arrangement around this area would be better for those residents conditioned to it rather than the transient hotel traveler who might accidentally merge onto the Ben Franklin bridge, creating an unfavorable tripadvisor review.

You are joking, hopefully? Or are you really suggesting planning decisions in Center City should be based primarily on how drivers experience associated traffic flows?

[summersm343]

Sixers: Camden training facility will be NBA's biggest

Renderings in the article. Oof, I feel bad for Camden. This sort of development would have likely been a better fit for the Navy Yard.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...raining-facility-biggest-nba-hinkie.html

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Is Blatstein Planning a Residential and Retail Complex at Former Foxwoods Site?

Blatstein's ADD is peculiar. From Columbus Blvd to Northern Liberties to North Broad to Atlantic City to South Broad now back to Columbus Blvd, he just needs to focus and finish something.

Has he sold all of his Northern Liberties properties? What about his North Broad projects at the old Inky building? Any movement on Broad and Washington?