PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...-jewelers-row-tower-philly-20171219.html

Toll gets new permit for Jewelers Row residential tower

Would like to see this happen sooner rather than later. Not sure if it will have an impact on the skyline tho.

Why the hell is there only one commercial space? If they are going to dismantle Jewelers Row, I'd hope they'd at least bring some vibrancy at street level.

[summersm343]

Philly won't appeal decision to strip Robinson building of historic designation, planning director says

Philadelphia officials have decided not to fight to keep the former Robinson department store at 1020 Market St. on the city’s historic register.

“The city believes that the public’s interest in redevelopment there significantly outweighs the public’s interest in the preservation of the facade,” city planning and development director Anne Fadullon wrote in a letter Monday to Paul Steinke, president of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. “We believe that allowing the owner to redevelop the Market Street site as he sees fit is the appropriate path forward.”

The Board of License and Inspection Review’s ruling last month against the historic designation will not be challenged, Fadullon said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...ion-planning-director-says-20171219.html

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Philly won't appeal decision to strip Robinson building of historic designation, planning director says



http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...ion-planning-director-says-20171219.html

I completely understand and would even fight to preserve Philly's great historical inventories. While this certainly falls into that classification, it doesn't take away from the fact that the Robinson building is one of the most butt-ugly buildings ever.

I'm glad cooler heads prevailed. That block is one of the last really bad swaths along the south side of Market. I hope they get going on that block soon.

[SEFTA]

Agreed
I'm really hoping some forward-thinking developer snatches this up. It does seem to be the next step.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Why the hell is there only one commercial space? If they are going to dismantle Jewelers Row, I'd hope they'd at least bring some vibrancy at street level.

Why? Because Toll is Toll and they just don't have commercial interests in their blood stream. Maybe a coffee shop or a dry cleaner, but if this goes through, then jewelers row is toast (it might be anyways!)

[summersm343]

19th and Arch - Comcast III?

Take it for what it's worth... walked by the site yesterday and overheard a handful of guys in suits talking about a tower...

[summersm343]

One Franklin Tower - 16th & Race - office/luxury apartments/retail - redevelopment

[summersm343]

Took a ton of photo updates yesterday... just got around to uploading them. Enjoy!

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by summersm343

19th and Arch - Comcast III?

Take it for what it's worth... walked by the site yesterday and overheard a handful of guys in suits talking about a tower...

did you engage them?

[Kidphilly]

Originally Posted by jjv007

did you engage them?

the real question should be will this new tower require a small billy penn statue to be relocated or not

[frbrown]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Took a ton of photo updates yesterday... just got around to uploading them. Enjoy!

Thanks, great pictures! Its exciting to see how many tower cranes are coming up now

We recently got new cranes for the Harper, Chinatown tower, HUP patient pavillion, View II, Nest, Hamiltion. Not to mention all the other cranes that have been up for a while.

Construction is chugging along!

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by frbrown

Thanks, great pictures! Its exciting to see how many tower cranes are coming up now

We recently got new cranes for the Harper, Chinatown tower, HUP patient pavillion, View II, Nest, Hamiltion. Not to mention all the other cranes that have been up for a while.

Construction is chugging along!

lot of lovely sub-250 ft projects going up. Can anyone say boom!

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by jjv007

lot of lovely sub-250 ft projects going up. Can anyone say boom!

Aside from new signature towers, as well as most parts of the city receiving a new tallest (CTC in Center City, FMC in West Philly, CHOP Tower in South Philly, and The Alexander in North Philly), the infill projects are honestly just as exciting! Due to the little projects, Center City is more vibrant than ever, entire neighborhoods have been/are continuing to be built up after years of neglect, and ridership along the El is booming.

I'm excited to see which neighborhoods will be next to experience development booms once our population starts growing at a faster rate. Strawberry Mansion, East Parkside, Belmont, and possibly even parts of Kingsessing will all be likely candidates.

[Knight Hospitaller]

It's been said by others before, but I'd rather have a bunch of modest-height towers than one big one (as nice as those are).

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

It's been said by others before, but I'd rather have a bunch of modest-height towers than one big one (as nice as those are).

It isn't an either or at all, but I'll be the first to tell you construction is only a byproduct of other factors which control the climate of a city. Philly's doing okay but I don't know what standards others are using when they say the city's going through a boom, whether economically or construction-wise (generally inter-related). Philadelphia is still very much functioning as a city dictated by external market trends, and won't truly reach the next level until it can achieve greater immunity to market fluctuations and progress forward autonomously to an extent (think of the way universities kind of operate in their won bubble at times relative to city market trends). I think people on this forum compare Philadelphia of old to Philadelphia of today (definite improvement) and say, whoa, what a positive difference. True, but look at Philadelphia's peer cities historically. NY, LA, Chicago, San Fran, Boston, DC. They're all doing better at the moment and the gap isn't really lessening. The Houstons, Dallases, Atlantas, Miamis, etc. are also passing Philly. Amazon may come here but probably not because as many positives as Philly has, the city hasn't truly shed its old reputation (and I don't even mean necessarily a negative rep, simply a neutral one). I think we're taking some of the right steps to do that, and hope we can continue to improve as a city and do even bettter. Calling the positive improvements a "boom" is very much a stretch, though. Look at Seattle to see a boom, look at NY to see a constant boom. Philly's been making steady progress, which is good, but so is pretty much every other US city in Philly's echelon.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by jjv007

It isn't an either or at all

I didn't say that it was. If forced to choose, I would choose many shorter ones over one tall one. That's all I'm saying.

[summersm343]

Post Brothers completes $100M renovation of Presidential City, moves on to 260 S. Broad

While on a tour at Presidential City in April 2016, Matt Pestronk of Post Brothers, which owns the massive apartment property, predicted that its more than 1,000 units would be leased up during 2017.

Skeptics would rightly question that prognostication, considering hundreds of brand new units were coming online at a steady clip in nearby Manayunk and other parts of Philadelphia and across City Avenue in Lower Merion. But all things considered, Pestronk wasn’t far off from his initial prediction.

After a $100 million gut renovation that started in 2014 and is now completed, Presidential City’s 1,019 apartments are so far 89 percent leased, according to Post Brothers. For the three-month stretch over last May, June and July, 120 rental agreements were being signed a month, said Mike Pestronk, CEO of Post Brothers. For Post Brothers, that pace meant they were tapping into pent up demand for the type of apartments at Presidential City.

All in, a single-bedroom unit runs around $1,700 a month, which is a market segment Post Brothers cut its teeth on at Rittenhouse Hill, an apartment complex less than three miles away in East Falls that catered to young professionals between 25 and 35 years old with some disposable income who likely work in the suburbs but want to live within proximity to the city. That’s the same group leasing at Presidential City.

“It’s an underserved demographic,” Mike Pestronk said.

Presidential City has four, 12-story buildings built during the 1950s and the redevelopment involved re-skinning the façades, reconfiguring portions for 10,000 square feet of retail that includes a Panera, adding about 20,000 square feet of amenity spaces and renovating each unit from top to bottom. The developer spent $7 million on the so-called Sora Pool Club, an outdoor area that includes an Olympic-length lap pool, a lounge pool and activity pool, as well as three Jacuzzis and gathering spaces.

Post Brothers can add upwards of 800 new, ground up units on the Presidential City property but doesn’t have any plans to pursue that at this time. Instead, the real estate company has turned its focus to 260 S. Broad St., a former Center City office building it bought in July 2012 for $27 million.

Earlier this year, Post Bothers lined up a $103 million loan to convert what was known as the Atlantic building into 260 high-end apartments. The total project will cost around $200 million to complete.

The average unit size will be 1,200 square feet and rents are projected to be 20 percent more than the highest rates other landlords are charging. Rents average $2,308, or $2.54 a square foot for high-rise apartments in Philadelphia, according to Delta Associates. What the Atlantic isn’t is Presidential City.

“We believe in both parts of the market,” said Matt Pestronk, pledging that the type of rental the company plans to develop at the building is “unprecedented” in Philadelphia.

At the Atlantic, Post Brothers is looking to seize on established professionals and baby boomers who want luxury living on South Broad Street, a burgeoning residential district in Center City, and not far from Rittenhouse Square and other attractions. “There are plenty of people who can afford it,” Mike Pestronk said.

The Atlantic, which is using a 1401 Spruce St. address, is expected to be completed next year.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...others-completes-100m-renovation-of.html

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by jjv007

NY, LA, Chicago, San Fran, Boston, DC. They're all doing better at the moment and the gap isn't really lessening. The Houstons, Dallases, Atlantas, Miamis, etc. are also passing Philly.

Have you been to Atlanta?

It's not passing Philly. Not now, not any time in the future.

It is still very much a city oriented toward it's suburbs. Is that changing? Yes. Will it have the scale and walkability that Philadelphia has, ever in our lifetimes?

Not in a long shot.

[ePlanningPhila]

Originally Posted by jjv007

It isn't an either or at all, but I'll be the first to tell you construction is only a byproduct of other factors which control the climate of a city. Philly's doing okay but I don't know what standards others are using when they say the city's going through a boom, whether economically or construction-wise (generally inter-related). Philadelphia is still very much functioning as a city dictated by external market trends, and won't truly reach the next level until it can achieve greater immunity to market fluctuations and progress forward autonomously to an extent (think of the way universities kind of operate in their won bubble at times relative to city market trends). I think people on this forum compare Philadelphia of old to Philadelphia of today (definite improvement) and say, whoa, what a positive difference. True, but look at Philadelphia's peer cities historically. NY, LA, Chicago, San Fran, Boston, DC. They're all doing better at the moment and the gap isn't really lessening. The Houstons, Dallases, Atlantas, Miamis, etc. are also passing Philly. Amazon may come here but probably not because as many positives as Philly has, the city hasn't truly shed its old reputation (and I don't even mean necessarily a negative rep, simply a neutral one). I think we're taking some of the right steps to do that, and hope we can continue to improve as a city and do even bettter. Calling the positive improvements a "boom" is very much a stretch, though. Look at Seattle to see a boom, look at NY to see a constant boom. Philly's been making steady progress, which is good, but so is pretty much every other US city in Philly's echelon.

I would say $9 Billion dollars of projects on the books, and the soon to be completion of what will be the tallest building in the USA outside of NYC and Chicago. We certainly are not doing bad. lol The momentum is only going to continue.

Are other cities booming? Sure. But so are we.

[iheartphilly]

NYC is not a peer city to Philly. Never have and never will be.