PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by McBane

^ This seems rash (regarding the co-ops on JFK).

They are without a doubt hideous looking buildings. But they do serve a great purpose, allowing people of moderate means to afford to live in Center City. I wish they are were more attractive also, but if they were bulldozed, what would be built in their place? More luxury buildings?

Besides that, how much demand is there for more of the same product? And it's not as if this end of JFK is prime real estate either, so demolishing these buildings is no guarantee something else would be built in their place. Look at all the available land along the west end of Market. Now that East Market is gaining momentum finally, the far west end of JFK and Market is Center City's last frontier.

Now, if I was playing Sim City, north and south Broad Street would be lined with these types of co-ops and the office district would end west along Market and JFK until the river.

These apartment blocks were built before I started my run in Philly, but when they were built I think its safe to say that having that many people commit to living in CC was a much bigger statement then their sad architecture. That said-----it would be a great project for arch students to come up with ways to modernize their exterior. I've got no idea what would be possible given the givens such as balconies and the general shape of the building.

[shakman]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

Ugly?

Does this Virginia building look bad?


Overall, I’d say that Philadelphia is doing pretty good.
Thoughts?

Locally some us refer to this as the toilet seat buidling.

[Tatts]

"...but when they were built I think its safe to say that having that many people commit to living in CC was a much bigger statement then their sad architecture."

One of the ugliest buildings on my list, 1810 Rittenhouse Square (the Savoy condos) was built as low-income housing in 1952 (according to my sources), and that was possible because so few people wanted to live in center city then.

[Nightman]

Predicable, this was all i could get from the free version of Philadelphia Business Journal


Amazon is hiring an economic development manager in
HQ2finalist city

Amazon.com is hiring an economic development manager with"prior experience with economic incentives" in Washington, D.C., one of the front runners in the Seattle-based company's search for a second headquarters.
Responsibilities would include working on site selection, "new corporate initiatives, site expansion plans and requirements", and working with"state and community economic development, workforce and labor, taxation, and other key government agency officials, as well as chambers of commerce , utilities, and other key
public/ privatestakeholder groups," according to the posting.

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by Nightman

Predicable, this was all i could get from the free version of Philadelphia Business Journal


Amazon is hiring an economic development manager in
HQ2finalist city

Amazon.com is hiring an economic development manager with"prior experience with economic incentives" in Washington, D.C., one of the front runners in the Seattle-based company's search for a second headquarters.
Responsibilities would include working on site selection, "new corporate initiatives, site expansion plans and requirements", and working with"state and community economic development, workforce and labor, taxation, and other key government agency officials, as well as chambers of commerce , utilities, and other key
public/ privatestakeholder groups," according to the posting.

FWIW the person from Amazon leading this search (Holly Sullivan; you can google her and find plenty of info) is based out of Amazon's DC offices. So given they already had this staffing in place there, I wouldn't read much into this in particular. (Although for the record I've already stated my personal opinion that HQ2 will end up in MD or NoVa.)

[mcgrath618]

Amazon will find that the DC metro area will not suit their needs. It has horrible public transit (for getting out of and around the city, not getting in), it has horrible congestion, and it has a horrible height limit law, which means that their campus cannot be built up, it has to be laid out over a sprawl of land. This means more property taxes, and just more land to lease in general.
Why they would go there instead of Philly or even Chicago is entirely beyond me. If it's just because Bezos lives nearby, that's selfish management at the corporate level. What about all of the people who don't already live there that now have to find an apartment in this crowded, incredibly expensive city?

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Amazon will find that the DC metro area will not suit their needs. It has horrible public transit (for getting out of and around the city, not getting in), it has horrible congestion, and it has a horrible height limit law, which means that their campus cannot be built up, it has to be laid out over a sprawl of land. This means more property taxes, and just more land to lease in general.
Why they would go there instead of Philly or even Chicago is entirely beyond me. If it's just because Bezos lives nearby, that's selfish management at the corporate level. What about all of the people who don't already live there that now have to find an apartment in this crowded, incredibly expensive city?

Or Atlanta, Newark - even Boston is cheaper and has more tech talent. If it is truly the DC area, I feel like Amazon is going to need to do some PR maneuvering...they literally put every city in the US (and some in Canada) through the ringer only to choose the place everybody thought they would in the first place, probably at a severely discounted rate since they were 'competing' too.

[Mr Saturn64]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

The Aramark Tower was ranked PA’s ugliest building

Ugliest may be a stretch but I’ve always thought it was far from pretty. I know a number of you disagree.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/ugliest-buildings-in-the-us-2018-1

That article is full of 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Mercedes Benz Stadium, the Thompson Center, and Touchdown Jesus are beautiful, to name a few. I seriously question how this was done. I imagine PA's ugliest would be something in the western portion of the state.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

That article is full of 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Mercedes Benz Stadium, the Thompson Center, and Touchdown Jesus are beautiful, to name a few. I seriously question how this was done. I imagine PA's ugliest would be something in the western portion of the state.

Agreed. Touchdown Jesus is at my (undergrad) Alma Mater. I don't think it's ugly, even if I don't love the style (the mural saves it). There are uglier buildings in South Bend alone, not to mention the rest of Indiana. Heck, google "Stepan Center" for something far uglier right on campus.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Amazon will find that the DC metro area will not suit their needs. It has horrible public transit (for getting out of and around the city, not getting in), it has horrible congestion, and it has a horrible height limit law, which means that their campus cannot be built up, it has to be laid out over a sprawl of land. This means more property taxes, and just more land to lease in general.
Why they would go there instead of Philly or even Chicago is entirely beyond me. If it's just because Bezos lives nearby, that's selfish management at the corporate level. What about all of the people who don't already live there that now have to find an apartment in this crowded, incredibly expensive city?

Amen. I'll lose to Chicago, but I'll be d***ed if I'll lose to DC(ish).

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

Wait, this is a building in Ohio?

It had been built for Longaberger Co, a now-defunct maker of baskets.

Ohio’s famous basket building finally sold | ArchPaper.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longaberger_Company

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

It had been built for Longaberger Co, a now-defunct maker of baskets.

Ohio’s famous basket building finally sold | ArchPaper.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longaberger_Company

Sold to whom, Yogi Bear?

[El Duderino]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

Sold to whom, Yogi Bear?

He would have just stolen it.

[AbortedWalrus]

Longaberger used to have a stand at the town fair my small 🞵🞵🞵 town in Berks county has every year.

So I guess they sold to small 🞵🞵🞵 rural towns.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

Sold to whom, Yogi Bear?

Immediate post-sale regret...


_

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

FWIW the person from Amazon leading this search (Holly Sullivan; you can google her and find plenty of info) is based out of Amazon's DC offices. So given they already had this staffing in place there, I wouldn't read much into this in particular. (Although for the record I've already stated my personal opinion that HQ2 will end up in MD or NoVa.)

I mean...case, closed?

Holly Sears Sullivan, 45, joined Amazon two years ago, in April 2016, from an economic-development position in Montgomery County, Maryland. The county borders Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia, and all three are on Amazon's HQ2 short list. Sullivan is now the head of worldwide economic development at Amazon, and she's based in the Washington, DC, area, according to her LinkedIn profile.

A few years ago a chunk of NBC Sports was based in Philly, another chunk based out of 30 Rock, and the production side was based in Stamford. Corporate wanted to unite the separate entities under one roof for some reason and tasked NBCS's head of operations to lead the search for a new joint facility some place on the Eastern seaboard.

Their head of Ops was based in Stamford, had teenage children in high school, and on the weekends operated a fairly lucrative charter fishing vessel out of the Stamford Harbor. Guess how much effort and energy he spent looking for a facility outside of Stamford? Not a lot. CT offered some nice tax breaks, but I'm sure had the person spearheading the search actually asked he could have pulled some sufficient tax breaks from PA as well. Basically, the guy in charge of the search didn't feel like moving, so he kept it in his back yard b/c, well, he could.

[sayitaintso]

In an absolute shocker:
Buh bye:
Newark
Chicago

What unique and transformative finalists said no one ever:
NOVA
MONTCO
AUSTIN

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

In an absolute shocker:
Buh bye:
Newark
Chicago

What unique and transformative finalists said no one ever:
NOVA
MONTCO
AUSTIN

When did Philly get bumped?

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by sayitaintso

In an absolute shocker:
Buh bye:
Newark
Chicago

What unique and transformative finalists said no one ever:
NOVA
MONTCO
AUSTIN

I'm shocked, shocked to learn that the woman who ran the Montco Chamber of Commerce has selected Montco and Nova!

Both areas, by the way, that didn't fit in with the spirit of the RFP's interest in urbanity, walkability, multi-nodal transit access, diversity, and sustainability.

Enjoy Bethesda.

Edit. It's also clear that they are going to play VA and MD against one another to get the largest pound of flesh possible. Austin is just window dressing to lend legitimacy.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I'm shocked, shocked to learn that the woman who ran the Montco Chamber of Commerce has selected Montco and Nova!

Both areas, by the way, that didn't fit in with the spirit of the RFP's interest in urbanity, walkability, multi-nodal transit access, diversity, and sustainability.

Enjoy Bethesda.

Edit. It's also clear that they are going to play VA and MD against one another to get the largest pound of flesh possible. Austin is just window dressing to lend legitimacy.

Bethesda would be generous. Also, I doubt Bethesda would let this facility be built there.

More like Gaithersburg, Olney, or Poolesville.

What a waste of effort.

NOVA and Montco MD don't even meet the terms of the RFP. Ridiculous.