PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

SEPTA won their transit funding lawsuit

Good! They continue to get about $232 million from PA road tolls. Truckers of course don't like!

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

SEPTA won their transit funding lawsuit

This is the best news I have heard all day. On with the Wawa Extension!

[Nova08]

Odessa CEO plans to double down on growing its Philly HQ
https://technical.ly/philly/2019/04/04/o...its-ceo-wants-to-double-the-philly-team/

As humble startup origin stories go, Odessa CEO and cofounder Madhu Natarajan has a great one to tell you about his leasing software company: He started it on a shoestring budget in an Illinois college dorm room in 1998 while in the United States from India on a student visa.

More than 20 years later, Odessa, named in homage to Homer’s “The Odyssey,” has made his own epic journey from designing simple mobile finance calculators to becoming a software leader in the niche equipment leasing industry (think fleets of trucks, aviation, IT and medical equipment). Today, the company has more than 650 employees between its Center City Philadelphia headquarters and its offices in Bangalore, India, which Natarajan says he makes an effort to visit a few times per year.

“I go just enough to make sure they recognize who I am when I go there, and the guy at the entrance lets me in,” he jokes.

With about 75% of Odessa’s customer base in the U.S., staying anchored out of the company’s Philly HQ is strategic. Natarajan remains very involved in the customer experience, from the initial sales cycle through ongoing touchpoints in customer support, and that personal touch pays off.

“If you look at our financials, 40% of our top line comes from new customers,” Natarajan said. “In our industry that is not normal.”

Around the Philadelphia office, Natarajan’s personal touch shows, too. New Odessa employees discover that their boss has some cheffing skills and enjoys whipping up annual feasts for the entire 60-person team to fuel and reward their hard work.

As Odessa prepares to both double its Philadelphia team and move into a new Two Liberty Place office, Natarajan is thinking a lot about what makes a candidate stand out to him as Odessa material. We talked to him about what means.

“I look for authenticity and a sense of being grounded,” says Natarajan. “Yes, of course we’re also looking for experience, aptitude, a sense of intellectual curiosity and a willingness to learn, but we want to hire people that understand how to navigate a high-growth, fluid environment with grit and grace.”

###

Odessa has grown and changed so much over 20 years. How does that feel?

That last few years we’ve seen some acceleration for sure, but I think that acceleration is more psychological. From a personal standpoint, it just feels like another year at Odessa. This is just normal to me even though every single year the company has been different.

How do you make sure Odessa stands apart from others in the industry?

What separates us from our competitors is our mindset, it’s just ingrained in us that we need to continuously build something better or do something differently.

You mentioned intellectual curiosity as key to working at Odessa. Why is that so important to you?

The reason intellectual curiosity is important is because you’re often jumping into a new client business that you have no idea about and you are essentially telling them how to run their business, so you need to love to learn.

You have a lot of growth planned for Odessa and the Philadelphia office over the next couple of years. What are some of your goals?

We intend to disrupt the heck out of this industry, and to do that I need bandwidth and muscle. We’re changing how this industry operates, and that’s what Odessa is going to be known for. We’re opening up Europe this year, and we’ve started to put all the pieces together to move into additional global markets, so we need to test the establishment of our brand in these marketplaces. The niche that we have in the U.S. can be replicated anywhere! And for that we need people.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

SEPTA won their transit funding lawsuit

Incredibly important, great news.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

This is the best news I have heard all day. On with the Wawa Extension!

So what exactly does this mean?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Redddog

So what exactly does this mean?

The lawsuit would have basically defunded SEPTA. SEPTA gets most of its state funding (ballpark numbers of $296 million) from taxing the Turnpike, which the lawsuit was attempting to curtail.

SEPTA basically released a budget report with two sections: what would happen if the suit was ruled in the truckers' favor, and what would happen if it was ruled in their favor. The former basically promised all projects put on hold indefinitely, and some service cuts. The latter promised:
1) Finishing the Wawa extension
2) Revamping the bus and trolley system
3) A look into returning to Quakertown, PA
4) A look into returning to Phoenixville, PA
5) A return to Coatesville, PA
6) An El stop at 20th st
7) Broad St Line extension to the Navy Yard
8) Silverliner VI procurement
9) Upgrades to the Media/Elwyn line allowing for faster speeds

and much much more.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Good! They continue to get about $232 million from PA road tolls. Truckers of course don't like!

the borrowing isnt sustainable according to the auditor general. He wants it to stop. And aside from that the funding drops to $50m in 2-3 years and there is no plan in place to replace it

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

The lawsuit would have basically defunded SEPTA. SEPTA gets most of its state funding (ballpark numbers of $296 million) from taxing the Turnpike, which the lawsuit was attempting to curtail.

SEPTA basically released a budget report with two sections: what would happen if the suit was ruled in the truckers' favor, and what would happen if it was ruled in their favor. The former basically promised all projects put on hold indefinitely, and some service cuts. The latter promised:
1) Finishing the Wawa extension
2) Revamping the bus and trolley system
3) A look into returning to Quakertown, PA
4) A look into returning to Phoenixville, PA
5) A return to Coatesville, PA
6) An El stop at 20th st
7) Broad St Line extension to the Navy Yard
8) Silverliner VI procurement
9) Upgrades to the Media/Elwyn line allowing for faster speeds

and much much more.

SEPTA doesnt get most of its funding from the turnpike, it got its capital (state portion) mostly from the turnpike. Most of septas budget is operating money, not capital. PA sends septa hundreds of millions outside of the turnpike bond backed money

[Vince_]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

SEPTA basically released a budget report with two sections: what would happen if the suit was ruled in the truckers' favor, and what would happen if it was ruled in their favor. The former basically promised all projects put on hold indefinitely, and some service cuts. The latter promised:
1) Finishing the Wawa extension
2) Revamping the bus and trolley system
3) A look into returning to Quakertown, PA
4) A look into returning to Phoenixville, PA
5) A return to Coatesville, PA
6) An El stop at 20th st
7) Broad St Line extension to the Navy Yard
8) Silverliner VI procurement
9) Upgrades to the Media/Elwyn line allowing for faster speeds

and much much more.

Wait. Septa is looking at an El stop at 20th? This should be their most important project. I always thought it was nearly impossible because the El tracks run inside of the trolley tracks from 30th to 15th. This would be a game changer for the area.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Vince_

Wait. Septa is looking at an El stop at 20th? This should be their most important project. I always thought it was nearly impossible because the El tracks run inside of the trolley tracks from 30th to 15th. This would be a game changer for the area.

there is no movement on such a project. And you are correct in saying it would be very expensive and difficult due to the realities of what's below ground with the green line and MFL having 4 total adjacent tracks.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by cardeza

there is no movement on such a project. And you are correct in saying it would be very expensive and difficult due to the realities of what's below ground with the green line and MFL having 4 total adjacent tracks.

http://www.phillyotis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Connect_9.8_11-09-18_sm.pdf

I suppose "looking into an El stop at 20th" would have been a better phrasing. The link above is all I could find btw, it briefly mentions it on pg 33. I know for sure I have seen a more in depth description somewhere. Nonetheless, it is indeed something that SEPTA and the city are at least looking into. I agree that it would be transformative for the area and I also agree that it would be difficult to do. However, it isn't out of the realm of possibility; it wouldn't be entirely out of the question to put an island platform in the middle and then run everything around it.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

http://www.phillyotis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Connect_9.8_11-09-18_sm.pdf

I suppose "looking into an El stop at 20th" would have been a better phrasing. The link above is all I could find btw, it briefly mentions it on pg 33. I know for sure I have seen a more in depth description somewhere. Nonetheless, it is indeed something that SEPTA and the city are at least looking into. I agree that it would be transformative for the area and I also agree that it would be difficult to do. However, it isn't out of the realm of possibility; it wouldn't be entirely out of the question to put an island platform in the middle and then run everything around it.

My current thinking for such a project is to sink the El tracks to a new lower level and route the trolleys onto the current El tracks. Such a project would be ungodly expensive, of course, and would almost certainly necessitate shutdown of the tunnel between 19th and 20th while it's under construction, but I could see it paired with some track geometry improvements for the El to speed up that section of the subway as well.

In any event (as others have noted), an El stop halfway between 15th and 30th would be a game-changer for Market West accessibility.

[volguus zildrohar]

The tunnel cannot be widened. The tunnel and the basements of several buildings along that stretch of Market quite literally share the same wall. Demolishing one of the SST stations and realigning the tracks is probably the only way to do it but the cost is inexcusable compared to other much more pressing expansion needs systemwide and even just on the MFL.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

http://www.phillyotis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Connect_9.8_11-09-18_sm.pdf

I suppose "looking into an El stop at 20th" would have been a better phrasing. The link above is all I could find btw, it briefly mentions it on pg 33. I know for sure I have seen a more in depth description somewhere. Nonetheless, it is indeed something that SEPTA and the city are at least looking into. I agree that it would be transformative for the area and I also agree that it would be difficult to do. However, it isn't out of the realm of possibility; it wouldn't be entirely out of the question to put an island platform in the middle and then run everything around it.

Many things have been mentioned, studied or talked about- but this isn't close to going anywhere. They have also been studying and talking about the BSL extension for a decade and that project is dead in the water. The lower federal match for expansion projects has really changed the game. As for new subway stops- that is a massive project and the region/SEPTA hasn't figured out how to pay for the massive K of P project. SEPTA hasn't even officially started the real work at City Hall station which is the most expensive renovation project on the books- its been delayed multiple times and is nearly 20 years in the making.

[iheartphilly]

^
Sucks...money talks and when you have to rely on federal grants or other types of grants to get projects going, it is such an uphill battle. It's easy to see how this country has infrastructure problems because infrastructure is so damn expensive to build or repair. Expect more taxes on the hard working people to keep things afloat. It's been avoided too long...

[Radio5]

While we're talking about transit, does anybody know why transit lines don't show up on Google Maps?

[DudeGuy]

Originally Posted by Radio5

While we're talking about transit, does anybody know why transit lines don't show up on Google Maps?

This annoys me to no end. Every other city on the East Coast has this feature, not to mention other cities in North America/the rest of the world.

[nimshady]

Originally Posted by DudeGuy

This annoys me to no end. Every other city on the East Coast has this feature, not to mention other cities in North America/the rest of the world.

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

My current thinking for such a project is to sink the El tracks to a new lower level and route the trolleys onto the current El tracks. Such a project would be ungodly expensive, of course, and would almost certainly necessitate shutdown of the tunnel between 19th and 20th while it's under construction, but I could see it paired with some track geometry improvements for the El to speed up that section of the subway as well.

In any event (as others have noted), an El stop halfway between 15th and 30th would be a game-changer for Market West accessibility.

Speed up the El! That's the one section where it does see to get a head of steam in its motors.

If SEPTA was willing to dream big, and if that dream included extending the subway surface green lines further east (to Penn's Landing?) then I think the best course would be to have a separate trolley tunnel under Chestnut or Walnut Streets. Then there might be enough room at 19th through to 20th to put in a El stop along west Market St. Anybody got a couple of billion $$ laying around? The above is based on the assumption that even with a TBM a new lower tunnel couldn't be dug under the present Market St. tunnel.

[kingtut]

EPA back on the hunt for new Center City office space ,1301 Market ? A perfect fit .