PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[PHLtoNYC]

^ And the Prudential Center & Copley Place in Boston.

[summersm343]

Yes, I'm saying comparing anything in NYC to anything in Philly is not really a fair comparison to Philly. Even if we're talking about malls. No matter what we're talking about.

Even Chicago I would say is a league above Philadelphia.

Boston is a great comparison. Its easily a wealthier city, and in a lot of ways Philadelphia should look to emulate what Boston has done - not all the ways though.

There's no doubt that Prudential Center and Copley Place have INFINETLY better retailer lineups than the Fashion District.... but both of these places are god awful at the street level. I thought the biggest complaint about Fashion District was street level interaction?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Yes, I'm saying comparing anything in NYC to anything in Philly is not really a fair comparison to Philly. Even if we're talking about malls. No matter what we're talking about.

Even Chicago I would say is a league above Philadelphia.

Boston is a great comparison. Its easily a wealthier city, and in a lot of ways Philadelphia should look to emulate what Boston has done - not all the ways though.

There's no doubt that Prudential Center and Copley Place have INFINETLY better retailer lineups than the Fashion District.... but both of these places are god awful at the street level. I thought the biggest complaint about Fashion District was street level interaction?

That was my complaint. Not PHL's.
I can see that this conversation is going in circles at this point. Let's just agree to disagree.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Yes, I'm saying comparing anything in NYC to anything in Philly is not really a fair comparison to Philly. Even if we're talking about malls. No matter what we're talking about.

Even when it doesn't benefit your stance?

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9589386&postcount=3905

Pretty good sign that Philly is at least holding up better than some other major cities when it comes to increases in office vacancy rates:

Signs of stress deepen in the office real estate market

Change in U.S. office vacancy rate

San Francisco +7.5
Seattle +3.9
New York +3.5
Los Angeles +3.3
San Jose +3.0
Houston +2.8
Boston +2.7
Chicago +2.6
U.S. +2.5
Washington, D.C. +2.3
Miami +2.0
Philadelphia +1.6

[PhillyGrunt215]

I personally feel overall we’re a much better city then the sunbelt cities, disregarding our crime rates. Overall phillys really only comparable, at least to me and how I see it, to Boston, SF, DC

[DeltaNerd]

Why can't we say that Philly is a different city. We are a core market position in the middle of the NEC. We are a developing City with tons of opportunity for growth. We have an all electric commuter rail system and we have the fastest growing port in America.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Yep! Visitors are most likely to enter via I-95, I-76 or the Platt Bridge to 26th Street.... all 3 are amongst the most trash-strewn and embarrassing entrances into a major city.

I put in complaints about this stretch- PennDOT doesn't clean it- likely because it is adjacent to a private property which should be maintained by the owner or it could be because its not an actual highway. Either way- they aren't responsible for it. I did contact people on council about it- the last person I talked to worked for Allan Domb and she said she would put in request to City forces to clean up the area.

Here are some highlighs of District 6 investments by PennDOT and the impact of the federal infrastructure bill. SOme large numbers on here, including $226m for the Penns landing project.

https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/pages/details.aspx?newsid=7445

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by summersm343

I'm not sure how you could defend PennDot and it's (lack of) highway upkeep in this region and Pennsylvania as a whole.... but leave it to Cardeza to do so.

This proves you don't travel. Have you been to any other state? Literally any other one?

I've seen other highways in other states in some state of disrepair, but none as bad as Philadelphia and none EVEN CLOSE to the level of trash on the shoulders as Philadelphia area.

There is more to a road budget than cleaning. Do you understand that? Have you reviewed any of the information I have provided? How can you not have read anything and know nothing about the topic and then try to ignore FACTS. The stuff I am saying is all factual. On the east coast I've only been to PA, NJ, DE, VA, MA, CT, MD, NC, SC, GA and FL but other than that I've never been past state lines. And what Ive seen is that southern states with better weather have better roads (thats called science- look up what causes potholes- if you have time) and toll roads (including PA's own) are better maintained than non toll roads. Many of the major highways in our region outside of Philly are tolled- NJ turnpike, GSP, I95 in DE and MD, DE-1 and PA turnpike, including NE extension. And coincidentally, they are paved more often and better maintained than non toll roads. See if you can make a correlation.

Speaking of travel, have you been on I95 in Philly and seen that is is being completely rebuilt for $2Billion? Are you seeing a lot of potholes on the portions that are nearly brand new? BTW, there is an I76 paving bid coming out this year for Philadelphia.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

-delete-

Sorry. Thought I deleted that before anyone saw it.

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=227935&highlight=roundhouse&page=5

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

That was my complaint. Not PHL's.
I can see that this conversation is going in circles at this point. Let's just agree to disagree.

My complaint was that as well (I've made my point a long time ago about the retail). But yea, agree to disagree, (although I agree with your points).

[AnEmperorPenguin]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

It was. the structure was designed to have towers built on top of the mall.

wow wtf. I was thinking when they were revamping the mall they should demo half of it for housing to get better foot traffic and not need to fill space with "discount" stores, but they could have built on top of it this whole time?

I know there are a lot of parking lots nearby but the mall, convention center, and RTM create a huge swath of dead space at night (and off days for convention center) around whats probably the best transit served part of the city, and that was probably a once in a generation chance to work on it, unlike the parking lots. (not that RTM should be replaced)

[TK2001]

There's a demolished building next to Dr. Martens. Anyone know what's going on here?

[TK2001]

Delete

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by cardeza

I put in complaints about this stretch- PennDOT doesn't clean it- likely because it is adjacent to a private property which should be maintained by the owner or it could be because its not an actual highway. Either way- they aren't responsible for it. I did contact people on council about it- the last person I talked to worked for Allan Domb and she said she would put in request to City forces to clean up the area.

Here are some highlighs of District 6 investments by PennDOT and the impact of the federal infrastructure bill. SOme large numbers on here, including $226m for the Penns landing project.

https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/pages/details.aspx?newsid=7445

Sweet! Thanks for filing a complaint!

Originally Posted by cardeza

There is more to a road budget than cleaning. Do you understand that? Have you reviewed any of the information I have provided? How can you not have read anything and know nothing about the topic and then try to ignore FACTS. The stuff I am saying is all factual. On the east coast I've only been to PA, NJ, DE, VA, MA, CT, MD, NC, SC, GA and FL but other than that I've never been past state lines. And what Ive seen is that southern states with better weather have better roads (thats called science- look up what causes potholes- if you have time) and toll roads (including PA's own) are better maintained than non toll roads. Many of the major highways in our region outside of Philly are tolled- NJ turnpike, GSP, I95 in DE and MD, DE-1 and PA turnpike, including NE extension. And coincidentally, they are paved more often and better maintained than non toll roads. See if you can make a correlation.

Speaking of travel, have you been on I95 in Philly and seen that is is being completely rebuilt for $2Billion? Are you seeing a lot of potholes on the portions that are nearly brand new? BTW, there is an I76 paving bid coming out this year for Philadelphia.

I have not looked at the info you provided yet, but I will be sure to do so. Thank you for sharing.

I'm not even complaining about the potholes that much... I get it.... seasonal weather and all. My biggest complaint is the trash all up and down most of our highways. It's pretty disgraceful.

Also, NY, NJ, CT, RI, DE, MD, OH and MA all have better highways than PA and they're northern states too.

Lastly, yes, I've been on the new sections of I-95, as I grew up in Lower Bucks and my parents, sister and a couple friends & their families still live in Lower Bucks. It's also sprucing up the parts of the city under/near I-95 which is great. I think these sections look great and am looking forward to the continue redevelopment of I-95. My complaint was the trash that's already piling up on even the new sections of I-95. It's sad these things can't be more well-maintained in PA.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by TK2001

There's a demolished building next to Dr. Martens. Anyone know what's going on here?

That was one of the sites of the protests/riots/looting in 2020. Someone set a fire in one of the buildings after the store was looted. 3 buildings were damaged. Here's what they looked like:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9500299,...y5qW7JZ_B3-1sQ21XOFaQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

There is a developer whom is planning to redevelop the site but I can't figure out who. Last rumor I heard was a 12-story condo building with ground floor retail. We haven't seen plans yet though.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Big news might be coming? The lot at 419 S Broad now says SOLD

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

That was one of the sites of the protests/riots/looting in 2020. Someone set a fire in one of the buildings after the store was looted. 3 buildings were damaged. Here's what they looked like:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9500299,...y5qW7JZ_B3-1sQ21XOFaQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

There is a developer whom is planning to redevelop the site but I can't figure out who. Last rumor I heard was a 12-story condo building with ground floor retail. We haven't seen plans yet though.

I really hope that projects gets off the ground soon! It makes me sad every time I see that burned out whole and what once stood there.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PurpleWhiteOut

Big news might be coming? The lot at 419 S Broad now says SOLD

419 S Broad is Gershman Hall. Do you mean the lot just south of that?

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I really hope that projects gets off the ground soon! It makes me sad every time I see that burned out whole and what once stood there.

Same. I try to avoid that block as much as I can.

Good news is that as long as the Historic Commission doesn’t budge from their requirement that the facades be rebuilt using salvaged materials, we’ll eventually have a copy of what was there (although it depends on the execution but fingers crossed). Also, a 12 story addition above them would be pretty cool.

This was done with the little terra cotta townhouse on Sansom that was demolished to make room for The Laurel. They rebuilt it surprisingly quickly and it appeared pretty easy to do.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

Same. I try to avoid that block as much as I can.

Good news is that as long as the Historic Commission doesn’t budge from their requirement that the facades be rebuilt using salvaged materials, we’ll eventually have a copy of what was there (although it depends on the execution but fingers crossed). Also, a 12 story addition above them would be pretty cool.

This was done with the little terra cotta townhouse on Sansom that was demolished to make room for The Laurel. They rebuilt it surprisingly quickly and it appeared pretty easy to do.

This entire block is about to be revamped. It can't come soon enough.

-Madewell is moving to where Loft was.
-The building where H&M and Steve Madden were is being split by Outdoor Voices and Aritzia.
-J-Crew is moving to where Talbots was.
-Vans is reopening where the current State & Liberty is
-The redevelopement of the 3 empty lots should hopefully happen soon
-The old Wells Fargo building is being redeveloped

Soooo, that will leave what - 4 vacancies on this block not including the empty lot? The space Madewell is vacating, a redeveloped 1712 Walnut where Wells Fargo was, the old Ann Taylor space and the old Aldo space. All 4 of these spaces should be filled pretty quickly.