PHILADELPHIA | International House Addition | 440 FT | 37 FLOORS

[mja]

Originally Posted by Dan1

Looks like it will be the largest Target in the city if they move forward. Any clues to the square footage?

That can't possibly be true. There are some big ass Targets around the city. City Line Ave, South Philly, a couple in NE Philly, Bridesburg, etc.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by El Duderino

18,750 according to the recent docs. not sure how this compares to other stores in the city

That's comparable to other mini Targets. Most are around ~20k sqft.

Great store to have between 2 massive campuses though. I wish I was this spoiled when I attended Drexel, lol.

[Daario]

This entire project depresses me. Of course I don't oppose change, but the International House was such an important landmark in West Philly. It's insane how much West has changed since I was a little kid growing up there. The international house was this cool brutalist building where cool cultural events were held, and now that's going to be replaced with a Target. Targets are useful no doubt, but I think this represents the changes going on in west really well. Almost everything I used to know, businesses I used to frequent now demolished for ugly student apartments, the parking lot of my high school being turned into apartments, etc... Like I said, change isn't bad necessarily, but West Philly's gentrification does make me sad at times. The area is cleaner and safer (relatively), but also less real if that makes sense

[PHLtoNYC]

^ It's not getting replaced though. Do you mean the addition will lessen the beauty of the building?

[Mayormccheese]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

^ It's not getting replaced though. Do you mean the addition will lessen the beauty of the building?

They’re saying they should have used the addition to dd to the cultural fabric of the neighborhood rather than a target that could go anywhere. They’re lamenting that as things change the character of the neighborhood changes as well and feels soulless to them. The target represents that.

[mcgrath618]

Towering drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility is proposed for University City

A towering drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is being proposed just behind the building formerly known as the International House at 3701 Chestnut St. in University City.

The proposal comes from real estate firm CSC, which owns the historic Brutalist student housing complex, now called The Mason. The company describes itself as one of the largest landlords in Mexico and has been expanding in the United States in recent years by acquiring large, vacant properties in high-value areas.

After initially exploring a life science use or student apartments, CSC decided to go in a radically different direction on the parcel just north of The Mason that fronts on Ludlow Street. Renderings show a 53-story building, although the developer says around 40 stories is more likely.

“We thought that the best possible use is for something that Philadelphia actually needs,” said Sal Smeke, managing partner at CSC. “[There’s] a very, very bad drug problem. No one wants to fix it; everyone is looking the other way.”

Smeke said the site would offer comprehensive services and between 150 and 250 beds, although, as with the height of the building, the exact number hasn’t been locked in. It would provide inpatient and outpatient services and be able to treat complex medical conditions like the wounds associated with xylazine use. Both public and private insurance would be accepted.

He said that he hoped the facility would attract patients from throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

I count 37 floors, which would be somewhere in the vicinity of 440 feet, depending on floor height. Someone correct me if I miscounted.
Not a big fan of the blank curtain wall facing east (and also likely west), but the south facade is interesting.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Towering drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility is proposed for University City





I count 37 floors, which would be somewhere in the vicinity of 440 feet, depending on floor height. Someone correct me if I miscounted.
Not a big fan of the blank curtain wall facing east (and also likely west), but the south facade is interesting.

“We thought that the best possible use is for something that Philadelphia actually needs”

Tbh this comes across as kind of condescending - “We’re going to put a drug rehab center in your blossoming life science/research hub because that’s what Philly deserves” lol

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

“We thought that the best possible use is for something that Philadelphia actually needs”

Tbh this comes across as kind of condescending - “We’re going to put a drug rehab center in your blossoming life science/research hub because that’s what Philly deserves” lol

Really. No even a hint for how it might even be financially viable, like tapping into public financing for such a purpose.

"He said that he hoped the facility would attract patients from throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions." Oh boy. That'll do wonders for the neighborhood.

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

“We thought that the best possible use is for something that Philadelphia actually needs”

Tbh this comes across as kind of condescending - “We’re going to put a drug rehab center in your blossoming life science/research hub because that’s what Philly deserves” lol

lol, how about this quote:

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m sure the mayor’s office will be full throttle on this because we’ll fix 90% of the people that are on the street in one project,” Smeke said. “Put them into our building, sort of like a car wash, they’re going to come in dirty and they’re going to come out clean.”

I'm sure that'll rankle a few ppl!

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by jaysb

lol, how about this quote:

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m sure the mayor’s office will be full throttle on this because we’ll fix 90% of the people that are on the street in one project,” Smeke said. “Put them into our building, sort of like a car wash, they’re going to come in dirty and they’re going to come out clean.”

I'm sure that'll rankle a few ppl!

Geez, sounds like he hasn’t thought through this at all. This is one project that I hope NIMYs nix.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Towering drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility is proposed for University City





I count 37 floors, which would be somewhere in the vicinity of 440 feet, depending on floor height. Someone correct me if I miscounted.
Not a big fan of the blank curtain wall facing east (and also likely west), but the south facade is interesting.

Cue the outrage....

I have to say...I was out there advocating for the Fairmont project with the argument that the city needs these facilities and that simply catering to that population wouldn't necessarily mean a meaningful downgrade in the neighborhood. Well, as usual, the city completely botched the execution. There are needles and users new to the area without any management of the situation by law enforcement or sanitation or anything. And now, reports that Kensington hasn't changed at all.

(Pro-tip, Mayor: these one-day, media moves that aren't followed through with an actual plan are never gonna do a thing.)

We pound the table all the time about multi-faceted approaches to making a difference with addiction, from prevention to treatment to vocational training etc. But you have to also include management of the areas these facilities exist in to ensure that neighbors don't pay the price.

I would expect Penn/Drexel to weigh in HEAVILY on the plan for the immediate area surrounding this project. It's an exciting possibility that could make a massive difference in a city absolutely decimated by drugs. The devil is in the details. And theat's precisely where the city has failed over and over.

[skyhigh07]

Anyone know if a portion of the building would still be used for student housing? If so, it’ll be nice to see college students scared straight about drug use lol

[Justin7]

What a jackass. This is not happening.

[Dan1]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

Anyone know if a portion of the building would still be used for student housing? If so, it’ll be nice to see college students scared straight about drug use lol

The article specifically states that student housing would remain. Such a strange proposal. I feel like this would be far better suited on one of the empty lots a couple blocks west. Even on 38th.

[BroadandMarket]

The Inquirer reports this incoherent proposal but scoffs at the 76ers real proposal haha what a joke

[skyhigh07]

So here’s my theory….how the hell does this developer think he can get a decent loan for a 40-50 story tower in this environment? It came out of nowhere. He knows Parker is prioritizing building treatment centers for addicts so I suspect he’s hoping for some kind of break or joint venture with the city to get this project going.

[PHLJD13]

Everything about this reads like a trolling article, something off of The Onion. The incoherent proposal, the bizarre way they compare the design to a Nordic valley-bound town illuminated by mirrors on the mountain side, and the out of pocket comments from the developer.

The Inquirer almost certainly ran this as rage-bait to continue stoking the fire from the Fairmount rehab proposal.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Ludicrous.

[chimpskibot]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Cue the outrage....

I have to say...I was out there advocating for the Fairmont project with the argument that the city needs these facilities and that simply catering to that population wouldn't necessarily mean a meaningful downgrade in the neighborhood. Well, as usual, the city completely botched the execution. There are needles and users new to the area without any management of the situation by law enforcement or sanitation or anything. And now, reports that Kensington hasn't changed at all.

(Pro-tip, Mayor: these one-day, media moves that aren't followed through with an actual plan are never gonna do a thing.)

We pound the table all the time about multi-faceted approaches to making a difference with addiction, from prevention to treatment to vocational training etc. But you have to also include management of the areas these facilities exist in to ensure that neighbors don't pay the price.

I would expect Penn/Drexel to weigh in HEAVILY on the plan for the immediate area surrounding this project. It's an exciting possibility that could make a massive difference in a city absolutely decimated by drugs. The devil is in the details. And theat's precisely where the city has failed over and over.

What are you talking about? The city has proposed Fairmount, but has not actually moved anyone into that neighborhood for addiction treatment. That space is currently used as a shelter, but the city has done so well running it even the current residents didn’t know it was there per the Inky article. Where has there been needles lying around in Fairmount or addicts out on the street like Kensington? I know there was a Reddit post a week or two ago, but that looked completely staged even before they had moved any individuals into their proposed facility.

[japmes]

IMO, the most obvious location for something like this is the old Hannemann Hospital.