PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

Giant supermarket opens e-commerce warehouse in Southwest Philly, with 125 workers and 69 robots

To speed up the home delivery of groceries, the Giant Co. on Monday opened a large e-commerce warehouse and fulfillment center in the Eastwick neighborhood that aims to fill online orders from Center Center to Cherry Hill.

Giant Co. president Nicholas Bertram said the COVID-19 pandemic “reaffirmed our need for this facility,” which debuted with 69 robots and 125 workers. The Southwest Philadelphia facility is part of a $114 million expansion that Giant is undertaking to support its ecommerce business in the Philadelphia and South Jersey region.

The new 124,000-square-foot facility is about a 10th the size of the biggest Amazon warehouses. But it “is a game-changer” for groceries, said Angel Cordero, facility manager for the new warehouse at 3501 Island Ave. “Our customers have changed, and online shopping is the new norm. New Jersey, here we come.”

Daren Russ, director of e-commerce operations for Giant, said the grocer plans to double the number of human workers to 250 as soon as possible. Wages start at $16 an hour, and drivers earn more including tips.

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/business/retail...amazon-philadelphia-jersey-20211108.html

[mcgrath618]

Man, Francisville and Ridge Ave are on fire. A far cry from when I was a freshman in high school.

I've been saying for awhile now that there might be some justification for spinning off the Ridge Spur and just having it keep running up Ridge...

[Nova08]

~Delete~
*duplicate article posting

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Center City District doubling public safety presence to reassure anxious office workers

I think this is a great move! The presence of additional public safety (beyond police) greatly improves the mood and feelings of office workers, tourists, even visitors.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2021/11/08/center-city-districts-safety-matters.html

"Philadelphia's Center City District is increasing its efforts to patrol the area, deploying a 20-person safety team in anticipation of more workers returning to the office and taking public transit in the coming months."

"The uniformed bicycle patrol is on duty from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in Center City's high-traffic office, retail, entertainment and dining areas beginning this month. "

""We’re planning to continue this into 2022, it’s not just for the holidays," Levy said. "If everybody comes back and the streets are busy maybe we don’t need this, but if its a slow process of recovery the way people have predicted, we’ll keep it.""

Something is better than nothing and the effort is appreciated but...there is no teeth behind things like this. Underpaid employees who are told not to get involved and just observe and report to a police force that may not come/may come well after the fact/may not do much when they arrive. Most hardcore criminals will not let some person on a bike wearing a safety patrol vest stop them, as they know that there won't be many consequences.

Again, a step in the right direction but the streets need something a little stronger than this to really make a lasting impact.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

16 New Homes Will Surround Birchwood Senior Center on Carpenter Street in Graduate Hospital

Building:


Aerial of current site:


Aerial of site plan:


Read/view more here:
https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/g...chwood-senior-center-on-carpenter-street

I am very pro-development, but do we have to build out every little corner in South Philadelphia? This site would have made for a great park, and this project will result in removal of dozens of mature trees in an area that needs them. I wish was some sort of replacement tree provision, and replace with the same kind, (they look like Dogwood's from Google Streetview).

[PurpleWhiteOut]

It would be nice, yeah, but you can't do much about someone else's private property.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I am very pro-development, but do we have to build out every little corner in South Philadelphia? This site would have made for a great park, and this project will result in removal of dozens of mature trees in an area that needs them. I wish was some sort of replacement tree provision, and replace with the same kind, (they look like Dogwood's from Google Streetview).

The north side of the property on Montrose is nice but on Bonsall and Carpenter, it's mostly an ugly parking lot despite the trees.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Man, Francisville and Ridge Ave are on fire. A far cry from when I was a freshman in high school.

I've been saying for awhile now that there might be some justification for spinning off the Ridge Spur and just having it keep running up Ridge...

As someone who lives in the neighborhood, seeing all of this change happening on the ground is mind-blowing. Ridge Avenue was nearly desolate as recently as 2016. The northern portion of the neighborhood was also underdeveloped. Now, there are few lots left in the neighborhood, and the few large lots left (Broad and Girard, 17th and Girard, Ridge and Ginnodo, and the Francisville Triangle) all have proposals ready to go. The best part is that some of the retail spaces along Ridge are starting to host new businesses! The most exciting possibility of them all is the fact that a restaurant is coming to 1625 Ridge Avenue!

The only shady corner left in the neighborhood is the section bounded by Broad, 15th, Girard, and Poplar. Redeveloping that CVS will represent a significant change. Regular street cleaning of the 1400 block of Girard, along with shutting down the seedy ass Carlyle Hotel, would do wonders.

Speaking of the Francisville Triangle, a neighbor told me that the developer secured all final permits. Work should begin within the next few weeks.

[bigfish]

Do you have renderings of the Francisville triangle project?

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

As someone who lives in the neighborhood, seeing all of this change happening on the ground is mind-blowing. Ridge Avenue was nearly desolate as recently as 2016. The northern portion of the neighborhood was also underdeveloped. Now, there are few lots left in the neighborhood, and the few large lots left (Broad and Girard, 17th and Girard, Ridge and Ginnodo, and the Francisville Triangle) all have proposals ready to go. The best part is that some of the retail spaces along Ridge are starting to host new businesses! The most exciting possibility of them all is the fact that a restaurant is coming to 1625 Ridge Avenue!

The only shady corner left in the neighborhood is the section bounded by Broad, 15th, Girard, and Poplar. Redeveloping that CVS will represent a significant change. Regular street cleaning of the 1400 block of Girard, along with shutting down the seedy ass Carlyle Hotel, would do wonders.

Speaking of the Francisville Triangle, a neighbor told me that the developer secured all final permits. Work should begin within the next few weeks.

Any details on the restaurant? I'm waiting for Ridge to follow the footsteps of Passyunk and Frankford, slower progress, but inevitable.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by bigfish

Do you have renderings of the Francisville triangle project?

http://www.rising.realestate/115-apartments-34-townhomes-planned-on-francisville-triangle/

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Any details on the restaurant? I'm waiting for Ridge to follow the footsteps of Passyunk and Frankford, slower progress, but inevitable.

No details yet, but I'll be sure to keep you guys updated! I noticed that a restaurant permit for that space was issued about a month ago, and the space has been getting outfitted ever since. I'm also hopeful that 1648-1650 Ridge Avenue will host a restaurant, especially since the retail space is super deep. Same for the huge building at the corner of Ridge and Francis.

In the meantime, there is a new place called Spicy Masala Kitchen coming to 1601 Parrish, which is just off Ridge. I can't wait to see how that stacks up to Kurry Shack!

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Something is better than nothing and the effort is appreciated but...there is no teeth behind things like this. Underpaid employees who are told not to get involved and just observe and report to a police force that may not come/may come well after the fact/may not do much when they arrive. Most hardcore criminals will not let some person on a bike wearing a safety patrol vest stop them, as they know that there won't be many consequences.

Again, a step in the right direction but the streets need something a little stronger than this to really make a lasting impact.

I hear ya...it may not do much, but every little bit helps. I don't have hard numbers but it seems like weekly there are news reports about violent crime in center city (two this week in Love Park and Society Hill"ish").

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by Nova08

I hear ya...it may not do much, but every little bit helps. I don't have hard numbers but it seems like weekly there are news reports about violent crime in center city (two this week in Love Park and Society Hill"ish").

Yeah the shooting last night in Love Park is a good example, as this would have been of no help outside of maybe another set of eyes to give a description, but I don't feel as if it would have prevented anything.

Sad state of affairs.

[Redddog]

Actual cops being there when it happened wouldn't have mattered either.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Actual cops being there when it happened wouldn't have mattered either.

Incorrect [if they actually do something/have a reputation of doing something].

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Incorrect [if they actually do something/have a reputation of doing something].

Agreed. It probably has more to do with policies implemented over the last few years. If you look at the stats, the homicide rate had been ticking up since 2017 and then shot up (no pun intended) in 2020. I don’t buy the “it’s because of the pandemic” argument. We’re now well passed the lockdowns and most countries actually saw a decrease in homicides during 2020-2021.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

Agreed. It probably has more to do with policies implemented over the last few years. If you look at the stats, the homicide rate had been ticking up since 2017 and then shot up (no pun intended) in 2020. I don’t buy the “it’s because of the pandemic” argument. We’re now well passed the lockdowns and most countries actually saw a decrease in homicides during 2020-2021.

Not taking a side here, but the uptick in violence has happened in almost every US city since 2020.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Not taking a side here, but the uptick in violence has happened in almost every US city since 2020.

Same. It’s sort of beyond taking sides at this point. More than anything I’d love to be proven wrong and start seeing the numbers drop in accordance with whatever policy decisions these cities choose.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Not taking a side here, but the uptick in violence has happened in almost every US city since 2020.

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

Same. It’s sort of beyond taking sides at this point. More than anything I’d love to be proven wrong and start seeing the numbers drop in accordance with whatever policy decisions these cities choose.

But when you look at these cities they have a lot in common as far as the new, "Hey let's not be tough on crime anymore," policies go which is partially to blame for the apathetic police forces. It's a complicated issue but we are going in the wrong direction and the good people are going to continue to be the ones that suffer for this.

In a strange twist of events I just saw that the shooting in LOVE Park last night was done by a security guard so this proves my earlier point in an even worse way re: the safety patrol