PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Had already cleaned up by the time I came back to the city in 2012 (everywhere except the 1300 block of Walnut, which has actually regressed since Wawa came). But someone posted this in response to this project in a facebook group I'm in: "This location went from Trannie hookers to Senior Living in just over a decade. Open Mic Night at Fergie’s will now have more banjo and accordian." I thought it was pretty funny.

ha....very true. It was sketchy back in 2003 when I arrived. I remember standing on a corner my first week in the city and a car rolling up with a guy and girl propositioning me for....well....a good time, I suppose. Obviously, I didn't know that corner was used for the ladies of the night.

[SEFTA]

I like the concept. Seems a perfect fit for this location. I only hope a project like this doesn't skimp on the architecture or the proper density.

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Wouldn't a project this big have to go in front of CDR before getting a building permit? Are there situations in which that isn't the case?

This will most definitely trigger CDR. It's over 100 units so that alone is an automatic trigger.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Had already cleaned up by the time I came back to the city in 2012 (everywhere except the 1300 block of Walnut, which has actually regressed since Wawa came). But someone posted this in response to this project in a facebook group I'm in: "This location went from Trannie hookers to Senior Living in just over a decade. Open Mic Night at Fergie’s will now have more banjo and accordian." I thought it was pretty funny.

I moved to 13th and Walnut in 2009 when it was on the tail end of being cleaned up. I did get solicited for prostitution once while hanging outside my building (not too out of the norm, except they wanted to be the client...). It's crazy to go back now, when I lived in the area there were a couple of bars - Irish pub and Moriarty's being my go to, no place to buy simple groceries except the Asian market/beer store on Walnut (which I'm happy they are still there, they are good people), a couple of fast casual places to eat, and a single higher end restaurant - Caribou Cafe. Now there's Indeblue, Graffiti Bar, Insomnia Cookies, FUEL, etc. all within less than a block of each other. Old me certainly couldn't have afforded to live there now haha.

[Mikieman]

Article on 12th and Sansom.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/benchmark-...ng-brickstone-park-america-20190703.html

[SEFTA]

It would definitely fill a big hole in the area.
red represent recent proposals including the south end of East Market Development

1180 Sansom Street 2

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

It would definitely fill a big hole in the area.
red represent recent proposals including the south end of East Market Development

Edit: Nvm was looking at it incorrectly.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Mikieman

Article on 12th and Sansom.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/benchmark-...ng-brickstone-park-america-20190703.html

Are there any renderings of the full building, or just one at ground level? In the EU until tomorrow and the internet over here is not of the highest caliber.

[iheartphilly]

^^^^
I don't have an account to this but the plans are here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/415479875/123-S-12th-Street-plans#

Maybe someone else knows how to pull them.

[summersm343]

Philly tower to be first project for Mass.-based senior-living developer’s new urban-minded division

Massachusetts-based developer Benchmark Senior Living plans its first project under its newly formed urban-focused division in Philadelphia at the current site of a parking garage at 12th and Sansom Streets.

Benchmark Wellness Management, as the six-month-old unit has been named, is teaming with developer Brickstone Cos. to build a 24-story tower for residents 62 and older at the Brickstone-owned site, Benchmark said in a news release Tuesday.

It had not yet been decided whether the units will be condo or rental, a Benchmark spokesperson said.




“We handpicked Philadelphia for our first development because its Center City revitalization has not only captured our attention, but also the interest of local and suburban boomers,” Denise McQuaide, president and chief operations officer of Benchmark Wellness Management, said in the release.

The Park America garage that the project will replace was acquired by Philadelphia-based Brickstone for $14.5 million in late 2015 from the estate of Samuel Rappaport. The developer had previously said it planned a pair of towers at the site with residential units, along with offices, a hotel or retail, or some combination of those.

The project now planned will have 220 units from 800 to 1,400 square feet, Benchmark said. Amenities at the building, scheduled for completion in 2023, are to include a spa with massage services, a heated pool, and “Center City’s first and only pickleball court,” it said.

Read more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/news/benchmark-...ng-brickstone-park-america-20190703.html

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^^^^
I don't have an account to this but the plans are here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/415479875/123-S-12th-Street-plans#

Maybe someone else knows how to pull them.

Unfortunately the download is just that one page. Looks like it will be 304 feet tall.

Architect is Perkins Eastman.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Unfortunately the download is just that one page. Looks like it will be 304 feet tall.

Architect is Perkins Eastman.

It sounds like they are marketing this as luxury, hopefully actual renders reflect it as such instead of what's on that page.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

It sounds like they are marketing this as luxury, hopefully actual renders reflect it as such instead of what's on that page.

I like the picture of the base. That looks pretty good to me. This, the Estia hotel adjacent to it, and the midrise replacing Wendy's down the block are SERIOUS upgrades for this area.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

I like the picture of the base. That looks pretty good to me. This, the Estia hotel adjacent to it, and the midrise replacing Wendy's down the block are SERIOUS upgrades for this area.

Yeah the base rendering looks nice, I’m referring to the more technical drawings on the other page....but those may just be showing the size and scale of the project instead of the details of the final product.

[iheartphilly]

I think Center City has reached a turning point when developers outside of PA decides to invest here. Hopefully, more will invest as the word gets out that Philly is desirable in so many ways, both economically and culturally. It speaks to a lot of positives the city is seeing and doing. Let's keep the momentum going.

[jsbrook]

Proposal to limit building width on some key historic blocks in Rittenhouse and prevent uglification, degradation, and blanderization of the City: https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/phil...MQ1Gl1o4uTpWZkH4&__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar I support this, with the caveat that the width limitation should be tweaked to carve out parking lots, vacant lots, above-ground garages. A new building that's not destroying anything should be able to be wider than 60 feet. The corner lot width is proposed at 100 street, so that helps for something like this lot at 20th and Walnut if it's more than 60 feet (which it may not be): https://www.google.com/maps/place/1920+W...dce7eb9d8!8m2!3d39.9505082!4d-75.1737039 But fairly sure there are some non-corner garages on Sansom on these blocks that could appropriately become buildings wider than 60 feet, notwithstanding the street's narrowness. There may be a few non-corner lots on Chestnut that could handle wider buildings too. Not sure how wide the Boyds parking lot on Chestnut is, but that would be one appropriate parcel for a wider building if it's more than 60 feet.

[Boku]

CIRA'S FUTURE

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2019/07/05/cira-centre-leases-whats-next-future.html

A "best-case scenario" minimum of 150,000 square feet of office space is about to open up in the Cira Centre, "but real estate observers say more is likely to go dark."

It is not unusual for a building to have multiple or large tenants depart. Many of Philadelphia’s prime office towers — Centre Square, Mellon Bank Center, One Liberty Place, Commerce Square — have faced large vacancies over the years. But for Cira Centre, it’s the first time the building may have to deal with this potential reckoning. “Part of the natural life cycle of a building is that you will have vacancies,” said Jack Meyers of Cushman & Wakfield.

The building is coming of age. If Cira Centre is going to face a rocky adolescence, it’s doing it in the best of times. The potential setback Cira Centre faces isn’t as daunting as it might have been three or four years ago. Indeed, the pending exodus comes at a time when trophy and Class A office space is scarce, there’s plenty of demand and downtown rents are hitting a zenith. This has prompted law firms and other tenants in the market to consider new office construction, as in the case of Morgan Lewis, which is working with Parkway Corp. on a proposed building.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Boku

CIRA'S FUTURE

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2019/07/05/cira-centre-leases-whats-next-future.html

A "best-case scenario" minimum of 150,000 square feet of office space is about to open up in the Cira Centre, "but real estate observers say more is likely to go dark."

I'm really not concerned. All of these large blocks that are being vacated from firms downsizing square footage or moving to new construction buildings, seem like they're being backfilled within 2 or 3 years by smaller firms.

It's also an iconic Philadelphia skyscraper, in a very hot and desirable neighborhood, connected directly to the third busiest transit hub in the country. It'll be fine.

[summersm343]

Plan for new law firm HQ tower on Market Street receives upbeat welcome from neighborhood committee

Developer Parkway Corp. is getting positive early feedback from members of a Center City neighborhood group whose support it could need to build a proposed headquarters tower at 23rd and Market Streets for law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Janice Woodstock, who co-chairs a task force under the Center City Residents Association that met with the developer last month, said this week that her committee is drafting a letter to Parkway indicating that it is “encouraged by the general outlook” of the proposal.

Morgan Lewis confirmed in May that it is negotiating an agreement with Parkway to anchor the developer’s planned 18-story tower, which would be built to occupy most of the southern side of the 2200 block of Market Street at a cost of $175.9 million. The law firm is currently located at 1701 Market St.

Architectural renderings of Parkway’s proposed 2222 Market St. tower by design firm Gensler show a glass-and-brick building divided into six horizontal sections offset over one another to form terraces and overhangs.

Woodstock said she expects Parkway to seek the CCRA’s support for zoning relief needed to permit the office project, but that members of her task force appeared to prefer the scheme over a hypothetical proposal for a residential tower at the site that would need no land-use exceptions.

“The direction was very positive,” she said of the proposal, although the group was left with unanswered questions concerning access to the underground garage, the building’s sidewalk-level appearance, hours of operation for ground-floor retail tenants, and other factors.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/morgan-lew...treet-office-building-ccra-20190705.html

[jsbrook]

Big fan of the design for the new MLB building!