PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

Excavation Work Underway At 1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue In Point Breeze

Project Rendering:



Current Progress:

Excavation is underway for a multi-family building at 1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia. Designed by JKRP Architects, the building will rise four stories tall and will house 69 residential units. The ground floor will hold a mail room, lobby, and bike storage space. In total the structure will contain 51,410 square feet of space. There will be no parking space incorporated with the project.

Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2022/03/excavati...-in-point-breeze-south-philadelphia.html

[summersm343]

Community Vote Upcoming For 191-Unit Development At 1600 Carpenter Street In Graduate Hospital

Current site:



Site plan:



Project Renderings & Massings:

A community vote is anticipated on March 23rd to address a 191-unit mixed-use development proposed at 1600 Carpenter Street in Graduate Hospital, South Philadelphia. Designed by Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture and developed by Streamline, the complex will replace a suburban-style shopping mall with a stately, traditionally-styled six-story building facing Washington Avenue, which will offer 23,185 square feet of ground-level retail and 131 rental apartments, ranging from studios to two-bedrooms, many of which will rank as affordable housing. To the north, 60 multi-family townhouses will be situated, which will match the scale and the material palette of the surrounding area. The development will boast publicly accessible pedestrian promenades and landscaping, as well as 141 parking spaces, of which 119 will be located in an underground garage in the apartment building, and 22 more will be situated in the townhouses. A Zoom meeting for the project’s approval will be held on March 23rd at 7PM, with prior registration required. An in-person meeting will also take place at the South of South Neighborhood Association at 1901 Washington Ave, Unit B Phila. PA 19146 (entrance on 19th street), where no registration will be required.

Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2022/03/communit...raduate-hospital-south-philadelphia.html

[chimpskibot]

Philadelphia-area housing stock is at 'implausible levels.' Here's a county-by-county look at the dramatic decline.

In Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties, three of Pennsylvania's most populous, home inventory would only last half of a month as of February. The figures are some of the lowest inventory numbers ever seen, according to Kevin Gillen, a senior research fellow at Drexel's Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and an expert in the housing market.

Gillen said that the trends are "reaching implausible levels." The disparity between supply and demand hasn't been this low since the housing bubble of the mid-2000s.

"Every time we think [inventory] can't get lower, it does," Gillen said. It's resulted in a home buying market in which prices far outweigh the income of potential homebuyers.

In some of the region's counties, the drop in inventory has been more exaggerated than others. Philadelphia County is the outlier, and the lone county in the area to have greater than a month's supply of available homes as of February. The pandemic and rise of work from home pushed a large contingency of city-dwellers to relocate to the suburbs, but Gillen said there are other socioeconomic factors at play.

"Because we're the poorest county in the region, the housing affordability is biting here the hardest, so there's just a lot of buyers that aren't qualifying anymore here in the city," Gillen said.

News like this only bodes well for Philadelphia as a city and the growth of the region. Already Philly is permitting more than 2/3rds of the new housing in our region and beating out NYC's total yearly apartment permitting.

'Absurd': Philly Permitted More Housing Units Than New York City In 2021

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Not a revelation really, but I enjoyed the article/stats nonetheless:

Baltimore, Philly housing prices 40% cheaper than DC

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2022/03/baltimore-philly-housing-prices-40-cheaper-than-dc/

The median price of a home that sold in the D.C. metro area in February was $526,000, up 10.6% from February 2021 and near an all-time high, but prices in two of our nearest big city neighbors are considerably less.

In the Baltimore metro, the median selling price last month was $319,000, or 39% less than the D.C. area. And in the Philly metro, the median selling price of $295,000 was 44% below the D.C. region, according to listing service Bright MLS.

Total active listings on the market in the Baltimore area last month were down 12.3% from a year earlier, and 64.3% below February 2020. In Philadelphia, the number of homes for sale was down 34% from a year earlier, and down 63.3% from two years ago.

As a result, there were fewer sales. Closed sales in Philadelphia so far this year are down 6.3% from last year, and down 8.9% in the Baltimore region. Inventory remained fairly steady in both D.C. and Philadelphia compared to the previous month, but the number of listings in Baltimore fell another 5.7%. The number of property showings by real estate agents was down about 8% from a year ago in Baltimore and about 9% in Philadelphia.

The three housing markets aren’t that different, but, particularly for the District itself, there is a distinct difference.

Wow at Chester County leading the pack, but not surprising when you think about, and I don't expect that to change.

But the Philadelphia region still proves to be a generally affordable option with healthy price growth, but the market (particularly in the burbs) is still on fire.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by chimpskibot

Philadelphia-area housing stock is at 'implausible levels.' Here's a county-by-county look at the dramatic decline.




News like this only bodes well for Philadelphia as a city and the growth of the region. Already Philly is permitting more than 2/3rds of the new housing in our region and beating out NYC's total yearly apartment permitting.

'Absurd': Philly Permitted More Housing Units Than New York City In 2021

Great for Philadelphia. It accounted for half the housing permits issued in 2021, which is amazing and plays against the rural PA agenda that Philadelphia is a dying cesspool.

But the burbs need to step it up, clearly the demand is there for any type of housing, although I would push for denser multi-family in the walk-able centers.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by summersm343

^^The fact that we're cheaper than Baltimore and yet people are still claiming Philadelphia has some mythical affordability problem

It's not mythical, a chunk of the population is quickly getting priced out of safe and desirable areas on their salary.

[PHLtoNYC]

^ Community Vote Upcoming For 191-Unit Development At 1600 Carpenter Street In Graduate Hospital

I skimmed the article, so maybe I missed, but is the community vote binding or merely suggestive? Is this project officially a go?

[chimpskibot]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

It's not mythical, a chunk of the population is quickly getting priced out of safe and desirable areas on their salary.

This isn't a zero sum game though. A neighborhood is made safe and desirable by its community. And while people may be priced out of a neighborhood, the data shows they're not really moving outside of the city.

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Great for Philadelphia. It accounted for half the housing permits issued in 2021, which is amazing and plays against the rural PA agenda that Philadelphia is a dying cesspool.

But the burbs need to step it up, clearly the demand is there for any type of housing, although I would push for denser multi-family in the walk-able centers.

The problem with Chester County is the lack of non-sf zoned lots to develop multifamily around transit. And as you go further out into western Chester county many of the large lots close to transit are in a flood plain (Downingtown, Thorndale, parts of Exton). And then on-top of zoning there is the general NIMBYism of the mainline crowds which isnt as prevalent in MontCo or DelCo as a whole. I do think as housing remains constrained in ChesCo places like Coatesville and Downingtown will see greater investment in multi-family even though the city/borough has been trying to block development as much as it can.

Hankin Group moves forward with $60M mixed-use development in Downingtown

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Wow at Chester County leading the pack, but not surprising when you think about, and I don't expect that to change.

But the Philadelphia region still proves to be a generally affordable option with healthy price growth, but the market (particularly in the burbs) is still on fire.

I'm surprised Delaware County is up only 10% YOY according to this.

Houses in my parent's middle brow suburb are still going under contract in days with list price as the floor and contract price up to 10% over ask. I'd say there are 10-15 subdivisions that are considered sort of the nicest in their township and when anything comes up in one of them, it's under contract almost immediately.

This is a good example:

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Boothwyn/4008-Fox-Mill-Dr-19061/home/38082764

Under contract in 2 days for $30K over ask. These are record prices for this area.

Next door in Garnet Valley, houses are regularly going under contract for $1MM plus. Prices have never been this high in that area. Maybe 2 or 3 houses sold for over a million in 2008 in one specific subdivision (Greystone)

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Bethel-Township/Lot-5-Sarum-Farm-Ln-19060/home/178654961

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/38-Pennrose-Talley-19060/home/37922865

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/150-Mattson-Rd-19060/unit-3/home/174465822

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/31-Kirk-Rd-19060/home/163747906

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/1007-Davids-19060/home/175721771

I mean. This is a townhouse:

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Marcus-Hook/3062-Maria-s-WAY-19060/unit-28/home/167165769

$918K

That's 5 homes over a million in a couple of months. If there was more inventory, there'd be many more.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

^ Community Vote Upcoming For 191-Unit Development At 1600 Carpenter Street In Graduate Hospital

I skimmed the article, so maybe I missed, but is the community vote binding or merely suggestive? Is this project officially a go?

It would be a non-binding recommendation to the ZBA. This site is still zoned I-2 (Medium Industrial), so a variance is needed to construct anything residential here.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

I'm surprised Delaware County is up only 10% YOY according to this.

Houses in my parent's middle brow suburb are still going under contract in days with list price as the floor and contract price up to 10% over ask. I'd say there are 10-15 subdivisions that are considered sort of the nicest in their township and when anything comes up in one of them, it's under contract almost immediately.

This is a good example:

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Boothwyn/4008-Fox-Mill-Dr-19061/home/38082764

Under contract in 2 days for $30K over ask. These are record prices for this area.

Next door in Garnet Valley, houses are regularly going under contract for $1MM plus. Prices have never been this high in that area. Maybe 2 or 3 houses sold for over a million in 2008 in one specific subdivision (Greystone)

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Bethel-Township/Lot-5-Sarum-Farm-Ln-19060/home/178654961

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/38-Pennrose-Talley-19060/home/37922865

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/150-Mattson-Rd-19060/unit-3/home/174465822

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/31-Kirk-Rd-19060/home/163747906

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Garnet-Valley/1007-Davids-19060/home/175721771

I mean. This is a townhouse:

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Marcus-Hook/3062-Maria-s-WAY-19060/unit-28/home/167165769

$918K

That's 5 homes over a million in a couple of months. If there was more inventory, there'd be many more.

Because Delaware County greatly varies in desirability, affordability, availability.
Million dollar sales in Media, Newtown Square, Radnor, Concord, Edgemont, etc. are the norm (or becoming the norm) with SF prices near $300/sf, and near $500/sf in some areas. But a chunk of the county consists of more affordable & blue collar areas like Glenolden, Folcroft, Darby, etc., and then rougher areas like Chester, Upland, Yeadon, etc. where supply is vast and demand is low.

Delaware County must be one of the most socioeconomically diverse counties in the country, less than 20 miles separates Chester from the lavish Ardrossan Estate mansions, and everything else in-between.

Anyways, I know you know this, just making conversation.


But I hear ya about hot market, in my parents area, many homes recently listed for well over $1M, some over $2M, and all under contract within days, insane.

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Next door in Garnet Valley, houses are regularly going under contract for $1MM plus. Prices have never been this high in that area. Maybe 2 or 3 houses sold for over a million in 2008 in one specific subdivision (Greystone)

Not denying that real estate increases in the burbs aren't significant, but worth pointing out that $1M today is $760K in 2008 money. Our ideas of how expensive housing should be are very sticky.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Because Delaware County greatly varies in desirability, affordability, availability.
Million dollar sales in Media, Newtown Square, Radnor, Concord, Edgemont, etc. are the norm (or becoming the norm) with SF prices near $300/sf, and near $500/sf in some areas. But a chunk of the county consists of more affordable & blue collar areas like Glenolden, Folcroft, Darby, etc., and then rougher areas like Chester, Upland, Yeadon, etc. where supply is vast and demand is low.

Delaware County must be one of the most socioeconomically diverse counties in the country, less than 20 miles separates Chester from the lavish Ardrossan Estate mansions, and everything else in-between.

Anyways, I know you know this, just making conversation.


But I hear ya about hot market, in my parents area, many homes recently listed for well over $1M, some over $2M, and all under contract within days, insane.

Yeah. Understood. But it's still % increase and some of the largest increases are happening in the poorest areas. Rehabs are going under contract in Marcus Hook for $185K in Viscose Village (one of the neighborhoods in Mare of Easttown). 2 years ago you could get a house in Viscose for $60K. A rehab would have been $95k max.

That's a 100% increase in 2 years.

[Urbanthusiat]

Cash App, a Block Inc. business, leases space at East Market for new Philadelphia office

A business operated by Block Inc., a financial services company that owns Square among other brands, has signed a deal to occupy 35,000 square feet of office space at East Market in Philadelphia.

Cash App has leased the space at 1100 Ludlow St., a 225,000-square-foot office building. A spokeswoman from Block confirmed Cash App will move into the space but declined to provide additional details such as how many employees it will have working from the new Philadelphia office.

Nice to see a new tech company in the market. Haven't seen much of this since the pandemic began.

[PHLtoNYC]

^ I was about to share, great see.

Cash App has largest offices in San Fran, New York, and Charlotte (and other smaller offices), but good they see a Philadelphia expansion as advantageous.

[iheartphilly]

^^
CashApp, (Block, Inc.) Ticker: SQ- Guys this is a big deal in the world of tech. Excellent to see them plant a flag in Philly...should help raise our profile in fintech for Philly.

[DeltaNerd]

As a software engineer, I love to see this. I'm so glad they located in center city instead of a suburb. Hope fittech continues to grow here and tech in general!

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Cash App, a Block Inc. business, leases space at East Market for new Philadelphia office

Nice to see a new tech company in the market. Haven't seen much of this since the pandemic began.

That's amazing news.

[Urbanthusiat]

Developers finalize lease, financing for 9-acre Delaware River mixed-use project

Jefferson Apartment Group and Haverford Properties have closed on a long-term ground lease of one of the largest parcels fronting the Delaware River as well as secured construction financing that will pave the way for the development of a mixed-use project along the waterfront.

In addition to apartments, the development will have a new Sprouts Farmers Market, adding to the growing retail options along the Delaware River waterfront.

[justremember]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Well the argument against Krasner is that once they catch these violent criminals, its a day or two before they're back out on the street.

I’ve heard so much complaining about Krasner over the years, but this is the most fact based argument I’ve heard yet. And it’s not fact based.

It’s sad. I’ve come to this forum because I’m genuinely interested in all the great things big and small being built and developed in this city. It’s a great place to learn and understand a part of civic life that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. This place is the reason I believe in upzoning as a way do allow people from differently income levels to actually reap the benefits of the good things happening in the city.

It’s unfortunate that justice and following the law (equal protection, due process, etc.) are seen by some as barriers to safety and development. The fact is that a person isn’t a criminal in the eyes of the law until he or she has been convicted of a crime. And when the crime in question is non-violent, holding a person on bail become a back door incarceration for unconvinced poor people.

Sometimes it feels like people on this forum see certain demographics of our community as a problem that must be pushed out so the city can prosper. Shouldn’t we be growing in a way that includes them? Maybe the best way to make people let go of their irrational fear of development is to make those fears actually irrational, not by demonizing them and anyone who tries to help them.