PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[TonyTone]

From Philadelphia Reddit User/ilovetorunforfun

The Old Applebees at 15th & Chancellor is now a new Venue Called Vinyl.

The city is BACK.

BUILD. BACK. BETTER. PHILLY.

[ScreamShatter]

Walnut St was hopping yesterday. Looking down JFK and seeing the skyscrapers past 30th st is a trip. It wasn’t long ago, only blue sky was behind the station.

Was surprised to see it crowded again. Was also struck my North Broad and Spring Garden. They are starting to look like a whole new section of center city now. Frankford Ave was bristling yesterday too, up towards York st.

It’s def a surreal experience seeing Philly grow. For the longest time, the city felt small but yesterday was the first time that it felt bigger.

[mja]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Walnut St was hopping yesterday. Looking down JFK and seeing the skyscrapers past 30th st is a trip. It wasn’t long ago, only blue sky was behind the station.

Was surprised to see it crowded again. Was also struck my North Broad and Spring Garden. They are starting to look like a whole new section of center city now. Frankford Ave was bristling yesterday too, up towards York st.

It’s def a surreal experience seeing Philly grow. For the longest time, the city felt small but yesterday was the first time that it felt bigger.

Yes, I've been thinking the same thing for the last few months! First of all, CC is packed in a way that quite frankly I don't ever remember it being packed. I know there's been data that suggests it's not at pre-Covid levels, but I'm having a hard time buying that. It's absolutely humming out there. Second, all of the construction that's happened the last few years and how spaces have been reprogrammed has done something to how big the city feels. It feels big, expansive, and connected in a way it never did before.

[Raja]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

Also I get a little confused when people say South st is bad or declining? I'd say from viewing it on street level it had a 95% occupancy rate, and other then the wild weekend nights in certain locations like fat Tuesdays, it is one of the cities liveliest and money making strips, I'd say its a good model for how other strips in the city should be because it is successful.

Ehhhhh.... I'd invite you to come live in QV for a bit. Fantastic neighborhood. Love it. South Street is NOT just "wild" on "weekend nights." It's a sh*t show all week at night. Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights are the worst because they close the street to traffic on the weekends.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Raja

Ehhhhh.... I'd invite you to come live in QV for a bit. Fantastic neighborhood. Love it. South Street is NOT just "wild" on "weekend nights." It's a sh*t show all week at night. Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights are the worst because they close the street to traffic on the weekends.

You know what, Ill give it to you because I remember when I lived on 5th & Girard last summer just the Dirtbike squad & Musical Subwoofer jeeps & cars alone were terrible from 12pm to 12am it would just occur, so I could only imagine the terror that area goes through due to the commercial strip & rowdiness.

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by mja

Yes, I've been thinking the same thing for the last few months! First of all, CC is packed in a way that quite frankly I don't ever remember it being packed. I know there's been data that suggests it's not at pre-Covid levels, but I'm having a hard time buying that. It's absolutely humming out there. Second, all of the construction that's happened the last few years and how spaces have been reprogrammed has done something to how big the city feels. It feels big, expansive, and connected in a way it never did before.

Well said, and agreed about expansive and connected. The day is coming where someone coukd hypothetically walk from university city down JFK to N Broad to Spring Garden, down to Del Ave, and back from Frankford to Lehigh and have restaurants and retail on most of the blocks along the way. It’s something not many cities see fully developed and connected corridors like that outside of NYC, Chicago, and DC.

Driving along Spring Garden made me wish a subway/transit line was there. Something like a trolley system that would run down Ben Franklin Parkway, cut down Spring Garden, left on Del Ave, turn on Frankford, and then loop up Girard. It’d be a way of fully tying Fairmount and north Philly into center city.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

And while on the topic, local media loves their dramatic headlines "Another Philadelphia Retail Closure", "Another Retailer Shuttered in Center City", garnering thousands of troll comments.

Yet the major Stephen Starr restaurant announcement received minimal online reaction and the new J. Crew Factory at 16th and Chestnut (opened on Friday) wasn't even mentioned by local news outlets.
Go figure...

Originally Posted by Londonee

I actually find it helps if you send an email/tweet to shame the journalist a bit. We have such an inherent Negadelphian attitude in our media it’s terrible for the city. We should all start calling them out on it.

Places like WaWa and Target are necessity places and appeal to a much broader demographc than Stephen Starr restaurants and J. Crew so there just isn't going to be the same attention or reation.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Places like WaWa and Target are necessity places and appeal to a much broader demographc than Stephen Starr restaurants and J. Crew so there just isn't going to be the same attention or reation.

While it’s certainly sad to see some of these places close, I think we have to look at the broader picture. Most urban areas across the US right now are struggling to keep retail open. A lot of cities are dealing with increased vacancies. Philadelphia is actually doing pretty well compared to some other places.

I don’t want to see any place close, but Center City is also MUCH more geared towards small businesses. A lot of chain stores and restaurants don’t seem to do as well. There are a slew of small convenience stores throughout Center City where you can go, fill your needs, and completely avoid Wawa altogether. Plus, they tend to be nicer on average, have better selections, and do not have any beggars, druggies, homeless or vagrants outside. Funny how these other convenience stores don’t seem to attract the same issues as Wawa?

Even with this Wawa closing, I still count 6 Wawa’s in Center City. There’s also still 3 Target’s in Center City.

I think Center City will be fine. I think Market East seems to really be the only area still struggling. Every other part of Center City does seem to be roaring back or fully returned, and it really does seem to be building back better with better options replacing the places that closed.

[BroadandMarket]

Bella Vista/Queen Village are definitely lacking convenience now with CVS/Wawa leaving. CVS closed locations at 11th and Washington, 12th and South and 2nd and South. And then Wawas closed at 9th and South and 2nd and South. It's also been rumored that Whole Foods will leave 10th and South for Broad and Lombard. Can we bring Duane Reade to Philly...maybe they know how to run their store better

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Places like WaWa and Target are necessity places and appeal to a much broader demographc than Stephen Starr restaurants and J. Crew so there just isn't going to be the same attention or reation.

True, but local media also wasted no time with the drama headlines when H&M and Marshalls closed. It's apparent the local media (and trolls) get off more on closings than openings, which I find unfortunate.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

Bella Vista/Queen Village are definitely lacking convenience now with CVS/Wawa leaving. CVS closed locations at 11th and Washington, 12th and South and 2nd and South. And then Wawas closed at 9th and South and 2nd and South. It's also been rumored that Whole Foods will leave 10th and South for Broad and Lombard. Can we bring Duane Reade to Philly...maybe they know how to run their store better

I was thinking about Duane Reade today also.

[UrbanRevival]

Don't remember reading anything about this hospitality project before. Looks like a great new asset for South Street and already getting exposure from the NYTimes:

The Hotel That Started as a Gift Shop

When she was growing up, Shannon Maldonado wanted to be a fashion designer.

After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Ms. Maldonado spent a decade on the design teams for several brands in New York, including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle. But by her early 30s, Ms. Maldonado said, she had become uninspired by her career.

While traveling around the world for work, she liked hunting for unconventional souvenirs in hotel gift shops (her first purchase was a speckled ceramic pen holder in Japan). She started to wonder what it would be like to choose such items for shops at the Ace or Standard hotels.

In 2015, Ms. Maldonado, now 39, recalled thinking, “What if I start a modern gift shop?”

Soon after, she started a website, Yowie, that sold housewares, like ceramic cups and bowls. (When considering names for the website, yowie, an Australian word synonymous with yeti or Bigfoot, emerged as a favorite and stuck.) Ms. Maldonado soon quit her job at American Eagle to focus on the business. She moved to her native Philadelphia, where she hosted a series of Yowie pop-up shops before settling into a tiny store in the Queen Village neighborhood.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/style/yowie-hotel-philadelphia-shannon-maldonado.html

[PHLtoNYC]

The article was a bit cryptic. Is Bankroll a flop, is the money just in private events, or just a quiet sports period?

$25M Bankroll scales back operations for summer four months after opening
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...roll-scaling-back-summer-operations.html

Located at 1910 Chestnut St., the 13,000-square-foot venue will shift to events-only for the summer months due to a "strong interest in private events," operators said on Monday.

"With a lighter professional sports schedule and many Philadelphians traveling to shore points and other locations during the summer, Bankroll’s operating partners decided to use this idle time to optimize the venue’s spaces and operations," a spokesperson for Bankroll said in a statement.

[Mtphilly]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

The article was a bit cryptic. Is Bankroll a flop, is the money just in private events, or just a quiet sports period?

$25M Bankroll scales back operations for summer four months after opening
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...roll-scaling-back-summer-operations.html

Located at 1910 Chestnut St., the 13,000-square-foot venue will shift to events-only for the summer months due to a "strong interest in private events," operators said on Monday.

"With a lighter professional sports schedule and many Philadelphians traveling to shore points and other locations during the summer, Bankroll’s operating partners decided to use this idle time to optimize the venue’s spaces and operations," a spokesperson for Bankroll said in a statement.

I’m pretty sure it’s a flop, I’ve never seen anyone in there.

[Gatorade_Jim]

Originally Posted by Mtphilly

I’m pretty sure it’s a flop, I’ve never seen anyone in there.

I've seen people coming and going, but yeah it's never seemed super busy. I wonder how they did during the NBA playoffs.

[TempleGuy1000]

It's a pretty big space. Comedy or Jazz club would be awesome.

[TonyTone]

Im thinking the kneecapping from the judge & neighbors caused a decline more then anything. I think it can be successful, they just have to do it right.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Mtphilly

I’m pretty sure it’s a flop, I’ve never seen anyone in there.

I went once to check it out a few days after it opened and it was cool - but it was ridiculously expensive. $12 Budweiser, $30 wings... like, it's not for a casual night with a buddy or two who want to just catch up and watch hoops. It's definitely a special occasion/event space - but it's so large from a capacity standpoint that I just don't know how that's sustainable. I left wondering when/why/what occasion would ever compel me to return (and I live 8 blocks from it) - and that's probably a questionable business model.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I went once to check it out a few days after it opened and it was cool - but it was ridiculously expensive. $12 Budweiser, $30 wings... like, it's not for a casual night with a buddy or two who want to just catch up and watch hoops. It's definitely a special occasion/event space - but it's so large from a capacity standpoint that I just don't know how that's sustainable. I left wondering when/why/what occasion would ever compel me to return (and I live 8 blocks from it) - and that's probably a questionable business model.

I feel like the concept is hard to sustain year-round outside of a few market (Vegas, Manhattan, maybe Miami).

[yuryphilly]

New PMC apartment building on Cherry st is almost done