PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[summersm343]

Wawa to hire more than 5,000 workers this spring

Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...more-than-5-000-workers-this-spring.html

[PhilliesPhan]

Although I'm generally against annexation, the smartest form of annexation would be to change our southwestern/western city limit from Cobbs Creek to the Darby Creek. Not only would this add both population (especially Upper Darby) and a tax base, but this would place the entirety of Tinicum Island in Philadelphia County. The significance of this? Philadelphia International Airport would be entirely in Philadelphia County, which would give the city full discretion over the expansion of PHL.

Besides, Delco from Cobbs Creek to the Darby Creek is pretty dense and transit-rich. Some streets in Upper Darby even follow the name/numbering pattern of Philadelphia's streets.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by Daario

I don't know if this is the best place to put this, but I just want to thank you guys. The fact that this forum has managed to withstand all the political/cultural wars is amazing, and kudos to summersm for keeping this place about Philadelphia and the built environment. It's great finding niches of my interest online that manage to withstand all the bs online.

On another note, this forum has really pushed my interest in Architecture and Urban Planning. I'm going to be studying Architecture at Philadelphia University this fall. I'm honestly really hype.

Good luck man! This forum is one of the primary reasons why I chose to study Community and Regional Planning as a minor in addition to my Finance major at Temple University. We younger people heading in the direction of urban planning/public policy are going to help this city become more urban and improves, as Millennials tend to have the political drive and really care about this city (not to say other generations don't)!

[summersm343]

Avison Young Is Beefing Up In Philly To Pounce In Its Fertile Investment Market

Avison Young has begun a serious expansion into Philadelphia, indicative of, and in response to, the city’s growing national and international profile as a fertile market for commercial real estate development and investment.

AY, which opened its Philly office in 2013, has hired two new executives to its Philadelphia office in the past couple of weeks: Peter Greenhalgh as executive vice president of industrial, and Jim Pasquarella as senior vice president of capital markets and investment sales.

The Canadian firm is far from done. Philadelphia managing director David Fahey said he anticipates adding 50 to 100 more employees in the region while expanding from its main Conshohocken office and small Center City presence to more space downtown and in the suburbs of the Lehigh Valley, Delaware and New Jersey.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/philadelphia/news/capital-markets/avison-young-philadelphia-expansion-72172

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by McBane

Perhaps the wrong thread, but I'll post it here anyway: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/...orhoods-gentrification-inga-saffron.html

Interesting commentary nonetheless and here's where I stand:

The majority of Philadelphia's housing stock are small old homes that may be enough for students and young families but by and large a family today desires more than the typical 1,000 to 1,200 square foot home. Besides fixing up schools and reducing crime, if you want families to stay in the city, you need more housing options. Somewhere between million dollar new construction in Center City and its environs and cheap air lites in the Northeast, you need a middle ground: affordable homes that offer modern conveniences (like a first floor bathroom, a master bathroom, a basement with 8 foot ceilings, and generally more elbow room) but yet still conform to urban concepts. Whereas rowhomes under 1200 s.f. are ubiquitous, it can be a challenge to find homes in the 2,000 s.f. range in middle class neighborhoods.

Agree with this. I feel like there's a decent amount of homes around this size in the $350k to $450k range in Fishtown and certain other neighborhoods. But the stock is still limited, especially outside a small number of neighborhoods where they are more prevalent.

[Gonzo the Great]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Agree with this. I feel like there's a decent amount of homes around this size in the $350k to $450k range in Fishtown and certain other neighborhoods. But the stock is still limited, especially outside a small number of neighborhoods where they are more prevalent.

I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as near I can tell , Philly is like three hundred years old . I saw a census report that claims
the population didn't even start to exceed a 100,000 until around 1850 . There may be an archive showing the rate of home construction
over a given time line but I question the " amount " of middle class families that were present in the city when most of these homes were
built . So if there was a working class and an upper class , the need for something in between might not have been a very popular idea in an
era when you were either among the haves , or the have nots .

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Gonzo the Great

I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as near I can tell , Philly is like three hundred years old . I saw a census report that claims
the population didn't even start to exceed a 100,000 until around 1850 . There may be an archive showing the rate of home construction
over a given time line but I question the " amount " of middle class families that were present in the city when most of these homes were
built . So if there was a working class and an upper class , the need for something in between might not have been a very popular idea in an
era when you were either among the haves , or the have nots .

I was under the impression we were first to hit 1,000,000, but I could be wrong.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Gonzo the Great

I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as near I can tell , Philly is like three hundred years old . I saw a census report that claims
the population didn't even start to exceed a 100,000 until around 1850 .

That was pre-amalgamation of Philadelphia County so Philadelphia City pre-1854 was Vine to South and river to river so areas like Northern Liberties and Southwark were separate townships.

[Gonzo the Great]

[QUOTE=Gonzo the Great;7743255]I
There may be an archive showing the rate of home construction
over a given time line but I question the " amount " of middle class families that were present in the city when most of these homes were
built .


THIS statement about the type of homes built during the manufacturing revolution was my point . A response to jsbrook's note about the lack
of homes with adequate space or amenities that now exists in a three hundred year old city .... regardless of population or land area .

[summersm343]

Philly port is poised to get new cranes, bigger ships, more cargo, and more jobs

More cars, more containerized freight, and more cargo such as wood pulp and lumber will all be arriving on larger ships and creating more jobs.

The Port of Philadelphia is getting its first major capital investment in four decades for terminals, wharfs, and cargo cranes, with a $300 million cash infusion from the Wolf administration. The state is landlord and owner of 16 piers and terminals on the Delaware River.

Fixing ship berths, buying new cranes, updating and relocating warehouses, and doubling cargo-handling space is expected to create 2,000 waterfront jobs, and nearly 7,000 total jobs for truckers, rail workers, suppliers, and port-related businesses.

For the region, the improvements will position Philadelphia to attract new shippers that currently go to rival ports in New York and Baltimore.

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/tr...pital-investment-plan-by-the-state-.html

[jsbrook]

[QUOTE=Gonzo the Great;7743406]

Originally Posted by Gonzo the Great

I
There may be an archive showing the rate of home construction
over a given time line but I question the " amount " of middle class families that were present in the city when most of these homes were
built .


THIS statement about the type of homes built during the manufacturing revolution was my point . A response to jsbrook's note about the lack
of homes with adequate space or amenities that now exists in a three hundred year old city .... regardless of population or land area .

I wasn't criticizing. I was just agreeing with McBane that this is a niche we should now work to fill.

[summersm343]

Ben Franklin Technology Partners hits biggest year yet for investments amid regional growth

The success of the seed stage investment fund and economic development nonprofit is a good sign.

Lightning struck for Ben Franklin this year.

The nonprofit seed fund and economic development organization Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania posted its highest numbers yet when it released its 2016 investment figures this week. In total, it's approved $10.6 million in seed funding for 52 companies over the course of the last calendar year. The figures aren't just a sign the public-private partnership itself is making gains, leaders say, but that demand and opportunity in the regional ecosystem is also on the rise.

“It’s our biggest year yet, both in dollars committed and number of deals; but that is a statement as much about the depth and quality of opportunity in Greater Philadelphia as it is our increasing ability to support it,” RoseAnn Rosenthal, president and CEO of the statewide public-private partnership’s southeastern operation, said in a statement. “Our portfolio companies are scaling, and so are we.”

In 2016, Ben Franklin approved 27 deals in the information technology sector that totaled $4 million, followed by 13 deals in the health industry for $3.2 million. Investments in the growing digital health sector totaled $1.9 million in nine deals, and the physical sciences received $1.5 million in four deals.

The investments are spread across the region, with 28 in Philadelphia county, 11 in Montgomery County, eight in Delaware County, five in Chester County and one in Bucks County.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...-technology-partners-record-2016-vc.html

[kingtut]

More Philly Tech news .https://staceyoniot.com/ring-has-hired-most-of-zonoffs-former-employees/

[Gonzo the Great]

[QUOTE=jsbrook;7743658]

Originally Posted by Gonzo the Great

I wasn't criticizing. I was just agreeing with McBane that this is a niche we should now work to fill.

[reparcsyks]

This development could fundamentally alter N. Philly forever. I'm sure it'll be hotly debated.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...hia-amtrak-station-district.html?photo_1

[TempleGuy1000]

Originally Posted by reparcsyks

This development could fundamentally alter N. Philly forever. I'm sure it'll be hotly debated.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...hia-amtrak-station-district.html?photo_1

Anyone who has ever rode Amtrak or the the Trenton line knows how embarrassing North Philadelphia station is. The commercial area around there is intact along Broad, but along the train tracks all you see is a sea of blighted factories.

At first I thought the rendered building looked too big, but now that I think of it, this needs to be the core of uptown Philly if it is ever going to be reborn, so shoot for the sky!

[mja]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Anyone who has ever rode Amtrak or the the Trenton line knows how embarrassing North Philadelphia station is. The commercial area around there is intact along Broad, but along the train tracks all you see is a sea of blighted factories.

At first I thought the rendered building looked too big, but now that I think of it, this needs to be the core of uptown Philly if it is ever going to be reborn, so shoot for the sky!

I can't even wrap my head around it. Like, I'm looking for the angle. Like, this proposed development can't be real or something. But then I'm looking at the developer and it's not some fly-by-night operation, it's a major Manhattan developer with a track record.

This proposal is something I would get excited about if it were in Center City, and here it is up in the middle of North Philly. I mean, look at the arial rendering:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...tion-district.html?viewGallery=y&photo_2

That would be great on the Chinatown site, for example.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by mja

I can't even wrap my head around it. Like, I'm looking for the angle. Like, this proposed development can't be real or something. But then I'm looking at the developer and it's not some fly-by-night operation, it's a major Manhattan developer with a track record.

This proposal is something I would get excited about if it were in Center City, and here it is up in the middle of North Philly. I mean, look at the arial rendering:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...tion-district.html?viewGallery=y&photo_2

That would be great on the Chinatown site, for example.

This proposal is so bold, I love it. This swanky Manhattan firm is taking a big gamble on the future of our city. Imagine the potential of having what is happening in University City happen in North Philly.

[Nova08]

I don't really get this. Are they trying to play off the development around Temple.

[reparcsyks]

Can we all agree that the developer and partners have probably done their due diligence regarding risk before announcing a development of this magnitude? They obviously know something that only seasoned developers know. The N. Philly station is what makes this project work. This area could be the Metro Park of Philadelphia.

Think about it, the 1-2 punch of Schuylkill Yards and N. Philly Station could be a major business force. If we can figure out our business tax situation, Philly could be a giant killer when it comes to attracting business.