PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Jayfar]

Historic building in Kensington sells for $5.6M | Philadelphia Business Journal

The article is behind a paywall (but seen via 'show source' in browser). The historic (National Register) 10-story plant – built in 1922 by Gotham Silk Hosiery Co. and in modern times used as a warehouse by wicker furniture wholesaler Charles Schober Company – will be adaptively reused for 78 residential units by E. Built Inc. An additional 4-story, 52 unit residential building, plus townhouses, will rise from the adjacent parking lot.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PhiladelphiaIndustrialHeritage/permalink/2230960683859239/

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Oh, cool, the "I'm an architect" card. What have you designed?

The I'm an architect card is pretty goofy. Architects can design glorious skyscrapers...or strip malls in Toledo. It'd be like a wedding videographer claiming to be a filmmaker on a video forum.

Not sure what it's worth to Skyscraper, but from where I'm sitting you're coming across pretty aggressively and...a little unhinged. Almost to the troll level.

A few questions: Do you have a personal experience with her that went awry? In your opinion do all film critics need to have attended film school for their opinion to be valid? How bout music critics - should they all have phd's in music theory and composition? Further, can you share with us an architecture critic who you admire? I'm a pretty avid reader of a lot of architecture columns...and she's pretty much in line with the status quo for the subject.

[Boku]

Demand for Philly warehouse space prompts developers to start building without tenants in hand

http://www2.philly.com/philly/business/r...-northpoint-ridge-alliance-20181127.html

NorthPoint Development of Missouri plans to spend $57 million to build 600,000 square feet of high-end warehouse space at the Northeast Philadelphia site where the IRS once had its local administrative offices.

Who's going to use the space? They'll figure that part out later.

"We're building it without anybody in mind," said R.J. Agee, a project manager with the Kansas City-area developer. "It's an area we really like."

Some of this new demand comes from companies fleeing East Coast locations where rents have skyrocketed, such as parts of New Jersey near New York, while others are drawn by the city's abundant supply of potential workers, said Richard Gorodesky, a senior vice president with commercial real estate firm Colliers International, which represented NorthPoint in its Roosevelt Boulevard acquisition.

E-commerce businesses such as Amazon.com Inc., meanwhile, need to be in the city so they can dependably fulfill the quick-delivery promises made to its dense populations of online shoppers, Gorodesky said.

"Part of it is the push from New York," he said. "Part of it is the desire to be near the labor and the population centers and the overall growth of the city itself."

[Aaamazarite]

Ensemble Real Estate Solutions out of LA submitted a new plan for the property they've been holding forever at Pier 40 North aka 933 N Penn Street-- two 18 unit buildings of unknown configuration. They still haven't done anything related to this one yet so I'm guessing this is to get some approvals going before putting it up for sale.

[Urbanthusiat]

Manayunk paper plant site gets $1M in state funds for redevelopment

A Dallas real estate company plans to transform a former paper plant in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia into what it is calling the Venice Innovation Island.

E. Smith Properties received $1 million in funds from the first round of Pennsylvania's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, according to state documents.

...

E. Smith had asked for $20 million for its project, which involves redeveloping the property’s 31 acres into what it described in its application as a “vibrant 21st century live/work/play community in Manayunk.” The development’s master plan will involve transforming “a recently decommissioned paper plant into a new Innovation Island. The plan includes the adaptive reuse of nearly 500,000 square feet of existing space, selective demolition, new construction of several commercial buildings, 100 new units of multifamily residential, and public access and amenity space.”

...

E. Smith Properties has been working on its project for about a year, according to a person familiar with its plans. Among the developer's goals is to link it with SEPTA's Ivy Ridge station and tap other mass transit that has access to it. Though it will have a residential component, plans call for mostly commercial space to attract tech companies and cultivate relationships with some local universities or research firms that might want to have a presence in an environment such as Manayunk, which is on the far western edges of Philadelphia. So-called maker space would also be carved out. The property is currently zoned industrial.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...r-plant-site-gets-1m-in-state-funds.html

Sounds very cool!

[allovertown]

Not the biggest projects, but ya gotta love when you hear about companies from Missouri, Dallas, LA, and a hometown crew all announcing stuff on the same day. (Even if the LA project is unlikely to get off the ground.) Significant outside interest I think is one of the biggest things that Philly lacks, so today produced some good news.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by Londonee

The I'm an architect card is pretty goofy. Architects can design glorious skyscrapers...or strip malls in Toledo. It'd be like a wedding videographer claiming to be a filmmaker on a video forum.

Not sure what it's worth to Skyscraper, but from where I'm sitting you're coming across pretty aggressively and...a little unhinged. Almost to the troll level.

A few questions: Do you have a personal experience with her that went awry? In your opinion do all film critics need to have attended film school for their opinion to be valid? How bout music critics - should they all have phd's in music theory and composition? Further, can you share with us an architecture critic who you admire? I'm a pretty avid reader of a lot of architecture columns...and she's pretty much in line with the status quo for the subject.

Stop making sense, it confuses many people.

[Larry King]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...r-plant-site-gets-1m-in-state-funds.html

Sounds very cool!

Isn't this hall of famer Emmitt Smith's real estate company?

[McBane]

Originally Posted by allovertown

Not the biggest projects, but ya gotta love when you hear about companies from Missouri, Dallas, LA, and a hometown crew all announcing stuff on the same day. (Even if the LA project is unlikely to get off the ground.) Significant outside interest I think is one of the biggest things that Philly lacks, so today produced some good news.

Agree.

And that Manayunk project in particular, even if a Dallas Cowgirl is behind it, sounds really unique. I suppose Manayunk's location is comparable to Bala Cynwyd, so the commercial component could work. Parking and taxes are an issue but on the flipside, the vibe is more congruent with what young tech workers are (supposedly - I'm not a tech worker) looking for.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Isn't this hall of famer Emmitt Smith's real estate company?

It is.

Originally Posted by McBane

And that Manayunk project in particular, even if a Dallas Cowgirl is behind it, sounds really unique. I suppose Manayunk's location is comparable to Bala Cynwyd, so the commercial component could work. Parking and taxes are an issue but on the flipside, the vibe is more congruent with what young tech workers are (supposedly - I'm not a tech worker) looking for.

I think it's a very cool idea, but I have a hard time seeing commercial tenants there due to the site's lack of access. There's only one place for cars to get onto that part of Venice island. If they could somehow build western access to it I think that would really help. I think it could work for some tech/flex space similar to Pennovation Center, or a much smaller version of Pittsburgh's Hazelwood Green. Perhaps a good place to test self-driving cars or drones.

[Aaamazarite]

Some more coming soons:

12 units at 1800 Cecil B Moore

32 units at 911 Race St

9 units at 129 Washington Ave

6 stories, 8 units at 1518 Ridge Ave

[Philly5641]

If you're interested in knowing more about The Fashion District of Philadelphia Digital plans and more.

Fashion District Philadelphia <[email protected]>
10:38 AM (56 minutes ago)

to me

Hi Louis,
Thank you for your message.

In addition to new landscaping and street signage, we will have a mix of digital and static billboards affixed to the exterior of the building along Market Street. We share in the similar vision to ensure Market East is a vibrant, thriving destination for years to come! As such, we are not only activating Market Street but we're also activating Filbert Street as well. Restaurants and Retail situated on street-level will feature personal entrances, outdoor dining and access points in and out of Fashion District - all with convenience and accessibility in mind.

Thanks for reaching out and have a great weekend!

[Urbanthusiat]

Some more details on Venice Island. Just the interesting bits:

Former Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith asking Pa. for $14M to build techie office park in Manayunk

A development firm helmed by former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith is seeking $14 million in financial support from Gov. Wolf's office to raze part of a shuttered paper mill complex on Manayunk's Venice Island so it can build a sprawling campus of labs, offices, and homes on the 31-acre property.

Dallas-based ESmith Properties LLC wants to use the grant and loan money to ready PaperWorks Industries Inc.'s former plant property on the island's northern tip for what's slated to eventually encompass three million square feet of commercial space, about three times as much development as now exists in the South Philadelphia Navy Yard's central office park, according to an application submitted for the support last month.

Potential tenants that have been identified include two out-of-town tech firms seeking locations in Philadelphia and a community college satellite science campus, according to the application.

...

The application, which is also accompanied by a letter of support from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D., Pa.) requests a $10 million loan and a $4 million grant to help finance expenses that include the acquisition and the cost of heaping 8½ feet of material onto an eight-acre section of the property to lift it out of the floodplain.

ESmith proposes spending $72 million to renovate plant buildings spared from demolition for offices and labs in the project's initial phase after the site-preparation work is completed, ESmith chief executive Brian Morris wrote in an email included in the application. More buildings would be constructed in later phases, Morris wrote.

Plans call for the project's first 100,000 square feet of commercial space to be ready for occupancy in 2020, with more development occurring in each subsequent year. The complex would eventually support more than 750 permanent jobs.


The proposal also includes a mid-rise apartment complex with 300 units, hydroelectric and solar power-production facilities, waterfront trails, and a new bridge over the Manayunk Canal to connect the island complex with SEPTA's Ivy Ridge Regional Rail station.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said that ESmith has discussed the rail-station link with the transit agency, along with the possibility of extending the Route 61 bus route between Center City and Manayunk to serve the island directly.

ESmith is also in discussions with a community college to locate its science, technology, engineering, and math campus in the proposed development as it markets the those offerings "to foreign students that they are attracting," Morris said in an application email.

Community College of Philadelphia spokesperson Linda Wallace said the school has discussed expanding its capacity in those academic fields but has made no commitments regarding Venice Island.

ESmith also has letters of intent from two firms that each are interested in leasing 50,000 square feet each at the project, Morris wrote in his email. One is a Danish company that has devised a technology for fertilizing hydroponic crops with algae. The other is an internet company based in the South that's seeking to expand.

Philadelphia officials, meanwhile, have begun marketing the site to large potential tenants and have connected ESmith to one user that could anchor the development by occupying as much as 450,000 square feet, Morris wrote.

While Philadelphia Commerce Department spokesperson Lauren Cox declined in an email to identify that prospective tenant, she said economic development officials are "encouraged by projects like Venice Island and the potential impact they could bring to the city."

http://www2.philly.com/philly/business/r...sland-grant-loan-bios-racp-20181129.html

Sounds like there's really some momentum here.

[McBane]

^ I read that article on my phone last night (no paywall on the Philly.com app). It seems like they've actually done due diligence and are serious. I hope that the city and state, which were prepared to forgo billions in tax breaks for Amazon are seriously considering throwing their support behind this unique project.

But then there was a somewhat vague quote from the city councilperson, Curtis Jones, Jr. that failed to offer unequivocal support for this project (which requires a zoning variance from industrial to office and residential). In saying he'll "work with all stakeholders", he seems to be implying that the developer will have to make compromises to satisfy the community's demands, which the article stated included flooding and traffic. It's crazy to think that this kind of opportunity (up to 750 jobs) is going to be subjected to the petty whims of narrow minded NIMBYs.

[Urbanthusiat]

RE: the Ballet parking lot that had a nice building torn down on north Broad, I’ve heard that’s not supposed to just be a parking lot as was said here.

[reparcsyks]

Originally Posted by McBane

^ I read that article on my phone last night (no paywall on the Philly.com app). It seems like they've actually done due diligence and are serious. I hope that the city and state, which were prepared to forgo billions in tax breaks for Amazon are seriously considering throwing their support behind this unique project.

But then there was a somewhat vague quote from the city councilperson, Curtis Jones, Jr. that failed to offer unequivocal support for this project (which requires a zoning variance from industrial to office and residential). In saying he'll "work with all stakeholders", he seems to be implying that the developer will have to make compromises to satisfy the community's demands, which the article stated included flooding and traffic. It's crazy to think that this kind of opportunity (up to 750 jobs) is going to be subjected to the petty whims of narrow minded NIMBYs.

I understand the flooding concerns, being Venice Island, but everything else sounds like a homerun (on paper). As you wrote, now that we know the city & state were going to bend over backwards for Amazon, they should put that money and energy to good by fast-tracking developments like these.

[PHL10]

Pod Hotel (Saturday):

[McBane]

Originally Posted by reparcsyks

I understand the flooding concerns, being Venice Island, but everything else sounds like a homerun (on paper). As you wrote, now that we know the city & state were going to bend over backwards for Amazon, they should put that money and energy to good by fast-tracking developments like these.

Obviously, yes, Venice Island is prone to flooding but does anyone really believe that Manayunk neighbors are altruistically concerned about the prospect of unsuspecting employers/residents becoming victims of a flood? If a builder decides to build in floodplain and the banks lend the money, and people decide to live/work there - then why should it matter to others? There is a history of employment here and plenty of demand to live on Venice Island, flooding be damned. Those flooding arguments just ring hollow to me.

[iheartphilly]

^
I thought they did work to put a 1 million gallon basin under the performing arts center to mitigate the flooding. Is flood still a concern after this work was done to address it?

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^
I thought they did work to put a 1 million gallon basin under the performing arts center to mitigate the flooding. Is flood still a concern after this work was done to address it?

The basin really doesn't have much to do with mitigating river flooding.

The Venice Island Underground Storage Basin project is located between the Manayunk Canal and the Schuylkill River, between the Lock and Cotton Street bridges in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia. The purpose of the enclosed basin is to temporarily store diverted flow from the sanitary interceptor sewer during intense rain storms. The basin is capable of storing nearly four million gallons of water that is later pumped out and directed to a treatment plant.

More here:
http://www.phillywatersheds.org/what_were_doing/traditional_infrastructure/projects/venice_island