PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

2nd & Poplar (in NoLibs) To Lose a Warehouse and Public Art, Gain 63 Apartments

Current view of the site:

For a corner that currently consists of an unremarkable warehouse that’s no longer in active use, we sure have spent a lot of time talking about the southwest corner of 2nd & Poplar over the years.

But recent news gives us a better idea of what we can expect for this long vacant site. Catalyst City Development purchased the property for $5M and is teaming up with Southwood Properties to transform this corner. Plans call for the demolition of the existing structure, with a new mixed-use, five-story building consisting of 63 rental units and over 9,000 sqft of retail. We’ll be sure to update you with renderings if we see them prior to their planned start this summer.

Read/view more here:
https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/n...ehouse-and-public-art-gain-63-apartments

[summersm343]

Update on 824 N. 2nd Street in Northern Liberties

Current progress:



Massing rendering of project on the Work in Progress sign:



Old rendering of the project, but new plans are similar overall:

A little over a year ago, we noted that another old industrial building was being demoed at 824 N. 2nd St., and told you to expect a new building with 78 apartments over a fresh food store. We’re a little hazy on what happened since then, but it appears the developers decided to eliminate the fresh food aspect of the project and add underground parking, which triggered a zoning refusal.

Then they went to the ZBA and got approval, but it appears they agreed to keep the fresh food store. So now we’re expecting a 78 unit building over a fresh food store again, but with a couple dozen parking spots in the basement. It looks like site work is ongoing, so figure this project should start moving forward in earnest in the coming months.

Read/view more here:
https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/n...ehouse-and-public-art-gain-63-apartments

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Update on 824 N. 2nd Street in Northern Liberties
Massing rendering of project on the Work in Progress sign:

Not to get pedantic (but hey, it's Sunday, so why not? ), but that's an elevation (2-dimensional drawing of one facade of a building) and not a rendering. They call it a "RENDERING/ELEVATION" on the sign, but it's actually just the latter. OK, Sunday School dismissed.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Not to get pedantic (but hey, it's Sunday, so why not? ), but that's an elevation (2-dimensional drawing of one facade of a building) and not a rendering. They call it a "RENDERING/ELEVATION" on the sign, but it's actually just the latter. OK, Sunday School dismissed.

Haha fair enough. I usually call those "massing renderings," but I guess you're right, it would be an "elevation drawing." Hey, I'm not an architect

[MAF1968]

It's already built. It was a prefab. They tossed it up a few weeks back. I'll grab a picture in the morning. Frankford will see a lot of development. The closed supermarket at Frankford and Pratt is a large parcel. Plenty of land near the El. Another project is planned for Foulkrod and Duffield. When I get more info I'll pass it along.

Originally Posted by summersm343

Permits Issued For 47-Unit Building At 5127 Duffield Street In Frankford

Current site:




Site plan:


Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2022/02/permits-...in-frankford-northeast-philadelphia.html

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Haha fair enough. I usually call those "massing renderings," but I guess you're right, it would be an "elevation drawing." Hey, I'm not an architect

You're BETTER than an architect--you're moderator of the Philly SkyscraperPage!

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by MAF1968

It's already built. It was a prefab. They tossed it up a few weeks back. I'll grab a picture in the morning. Frankford will see a lot of development. The closed supermarket at Frankford and Pratt is a large parcel. Plenty of land near the El. Another project is planned for Foulkrod and Duffield. When I get more info I'll pass it along.

When the areas around the EL start to be redone and the row homes start to get torn down and rebuilt it will really be crazy to see.

Especially since I lived in Oxford circle. that area will soon get it.

[mcgrath618]

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is about where I chime in and echo that the land around the El being desirable clearly means that it should be zoned for TOD… and that building new transit will lead to similar investment elsewhere…

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is about where I chime in and echo that the land around the El being desirable clearly means that it should be zoned for TOD… and that building new transit will lead to similar investment elsewhere…

Does council know about this? maybe we should pitch it to them.

[ScreamShatter]

With all these new upper middle class people moving in, the city taxes are going to be in better condition. Wonder what they’ll do with the extra budget? Would be great to see an investment in roads, transit, and infrastructure.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by summersm343

For those who say Philadelphia has an "affordability problem"

100 Largest US Cities by Typical Home Price, February 2022 (this is according to Zillow BTW)
San Francisco, CA $1,545,059
Fremont, CA $1,476,366
San Jose, CA $1,397,574
Vancouver, BC $1,162,632
Irvine, CA $1,159,143
Oakland, CA $961,248
Los Angeles, CA $934,305
Toronto, ON $927,957
San Diego, CA $918,467
Seattle, WA $915,340
Anaheim, CA $846,355
Honolulu, HI $824,605
Long Beach, CA $786,182
Scottsdale, AZ $784,305
Chula Vista, CA $777,383
Santa Ana, CA $763,925
Santa Clarita, CA $750,542
New York, NY $741,622
Boston, MA $710,654
Washington, DC $692,376
Austin, TX $636,839
Denver, CO $599,742
Riverside, CA $594,530
Jersey City, NJ $576,986
Portland, OR $564,334
Reno, NV $549,527
Gilbert, AZ $547,777
Boise, ID $523,760
Chandler, AZ $498,677
Aurora, CO $489,489
Plano, TX $487,587
Sacramento, CA $484,269
Henderson, NV $469,875
Miami, FL $469,562
Colorado Springs, CO $461,668
Stockton, CA $434,490
Montreal, QC $416,094
Raleigh, NC $412,599
Mesa, AZ $405,723
Nashville, TN $404,945
Las Vegas, NV $399,108
Phoenix, AZ $396,063
Spokane, WA $387,564
Newark, NJ $384,391
North Las Vegas, NV $380,286
Glendale, AZ $380,007
Durham, NC $370,805
Atlanta, GA $366,797
Tampa, FL $365,650
Charlotte, NC $358,605
Anchorage, AK $356,401
Virginia Beach, VA $355,526
Fresno, CA $354,622
Bakersfield, CA $353,987
Irving, TX $351,550
Madison, WI $349,786
Chesapeake, VA $348,322
Orlando, FL $338,272
Minneapolis, MN $324,985
St Petersburg, FL $315,765
Richmond, VA $310,042
Chicago, IL $306,098
Arlington, TX $300,723
Tucson, AZ $300,294
Dallas, TX $294,603
Fort Worth, TX $292,552
Albuquerque, NM $286,465
St Paul, MN $279,635
San Antonio, TX $276,049
Garland, TX $275,992
Jacksonville, FL $273,730
New Orleans, LA $271,080
Lexington, KY $260,968
Norfolk, VA $260,906
Omaha, NE $251,594
Lincoln, NE $250,845
Houston, TX $241,582
Philadelphia, PA $227,938
Columbus, OH $223,836
Louisville, KY $219,949
Greensboro, NC $218,809
Cincinnati, OH $217,891
Baton Rouge, LA $215,200
Kansas City, MO $214,263
Winston-Salem, NC $209,917
Indianapolis, IN $208,102
Corpus Christi, TX $204,144
Pittsburgh, PA $203,384
Baltimore, MD $196,478
Buffalo, NY $195,614
Fort Wayne, IN $190,825
Lubbock, TX $190,742
Laredo, TX $184,086
Oklahoma City, OK $183,125
El Paso, TX $182,377
Wichita, KS $170,666
Tulsa, OK $169,554
St Louis, MO $166,529
Memphis, TN $139,694
Toledo, OH $102,102
Cleveland, OH $99,107
Detroit, MI $64,368

Avoiding the big picture and the math behind all of this is the part. Let's break it down:

• What is the size of Philly vs some of these other places?
• How many blighted and low income areas are there in comparison that will drive your averages downward?
• What is the cost of an average home in a desirable area?
• What is the average size of the units?
• What is the cost of living along with salaries?

Is Philly still an affordable big city in comparison to some others? Yes. Is it as affordable as it once was and rapidly becoming unaffordable? No/yes.

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

But the spreading the idea of Philadelphia being "unaffordable" is a typical trigger of emotions used by the City Council crew to detract from more serious issues like poverty, crime, lack of jobs and opportunity for residents in poverty, etc., ... but I digress.

Or they are keeping in mind the income of their constituents and with that in mind Philly is becoming rapidly unaffordable for decent areas and not like it once was.

[skyhigh07]

^^You know, I lived in Manhattan for a few years and had to move to Queens because my rent kept going up. Did I like it? No. Is that how the world works in every aspect of life? Yes. Luckily, there are plenty of other places to move to for a better quality of life/affordability. People have been doing that since the dawn of civilization lol.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

^^You know, I lived in Manhattan for a few years and had to move to Queens because my rent kept going up. Did I like it? No. Is that how the world works in every aspect of life? Yes. Luckily, there are plenty of other places to move to for a better quality of life/affordability. People have been doing that since the dawn of civilization lol.

Sure. But NYC's identity was not based on being the east coast's affordable alternative, though. Philly hung its hat on, "Yeah it's a little rough around the edges but at least it's affordable," for quite a long time. Also, you moved to Queens but in turn remained in NYC where because of Philly's size and makeup if people need to leave their area the city may lose them as residents entirely.

[Porky]

I was replying to another message that said Philadelphia was a world-class city to which I disagreed

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Porky

I was replying to another message that said Philadelphia was a world-class city to which I disagreed

And I disagreed with you and pointed out examples in other obviously world class cities that are dealing with the same issues Philadelphia is dealing with.

I tend to find Philadelphian's that don't travel a lot and really have no clue what they're talking about tend to beat up on Philadelphia. Once you get out and travel and see the world, you'd be surprised how great Philadelphia is.

Does Philadelphia have issues that need to be addressed? 110%
Does that mean it's not world class? Absolutely not

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ It can be (and is) world-class in general, but be far more/less so in certain respects. Not everything should be viewed through an either/or lense. I'm proud of many aspects of Philadelphia, and embarrassed/offended by others.

[japmes]

This is a debate with no definite answer. I think Philly measures up to or exceeds many so-called world-class cities, but I think Philly also has a more provincial self-image than what I normally associate with world-class cities.

*Disclaimer: The foregoing is all opinion.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^ It can be (and is) world-class in general, but be far more/less so in certain respects. Not everything should be viewed through an either/or lense. I'm proud of many aspects of Philadelphia, and embarrassed/offended by others.

Agreed. For better or worse, the city has a few bright spots in spite of its current inept leadership. The administration really only needs to do a few things to put the city back on track in being world class - improve public safety, clean up the streets and at least try to seem like they’re focused on job growth. Unfortunately, they’ve gotten tied up with issues that have made these problems worse over the last few years. We need a return to the Nutter era...

[iheartphilly]

Philadelphia is a tourist destination from travelers abroad. These people abroad have been (and will continue) coming to Philly to see Independence Hall, among other historic buildings and sites well before it was named a World Class City through an application and vetting process. So, is it nice to be known as a World Class city, sure...it has good marketing cache. But, it terms of a global city or alpha city, we are over shadowed by Manhattan NYC and Washington DC here on the east coast.

[Mayormccheese]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Thanks for posting! Great news on all of these brands! That would literally refill the entire 1700 block of Walnut. This would leave only 2 vacancies on the 1700 block (plus the empty lot), which by the way has "proposed redevelopment" on it.


Screen Shot 2022-02-08 at 10.34.19 AM by Mr. Summers, on Flickr

This puts more validity to the rumors of a 12-story building proposed here.

Also, there will now only be 2 vacancies on the 1600 block, and only 4 vacancies on the 1400 block (with Barbour closing).

That's pretty damn impressive and exciting overall! The 1400 block of Walnut is still obliterated though and almost entirely empty. Hopefully the redo of the Bellevue gives this block the shot in the arm it needs.

Looks like they’re starting to demo 1710-1712 walnut.