PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Jawnadelphia]

IF anyone cares - Sonesta Hotel mural coming along.

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[1487]

I was wondering why they had painted the entire blank side of that building last year.

[shadowbat2]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Are they tearing everything down? I thought they might be keeping the old part along 6th St (or is it 4th?). I thought there was already senior housing in it.

Along 4th street, that one building will be kept (assuming it's separate ownership) Everything else will be townhouses....

[Philly-Drew]

Awesome pics guys. Thanks a ton.

[summersm343]

Parker Spruce Hotel Owner Presents Plans for “Boutique” Fairfield Inn; Neighbors Air Grievances

Plans call for the Parker to become an actual hotel with an instantly recognizable and trusted brand: a Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, with 118 rooms that cater to upper middle class visitors and families and rates in the $200/night range. "This will be the only Fairfield in downtown Philadelphia," said Wankawala.

Tara Betz, Wankawala's regional director of hotel operations, then explained that the Marriott is one of the toughest flags to secure in the hospitality world, “You get to Marriot by having other brands, and that’s where we started and worked our way up to, and now we are finally green-lighted for a Marriott product.”

In an effort to reassure those in attendance that it won't return to its old Parker ways, Betz said Marriott holds management to a stringent set of rules, regulations and guidelines. In fact, Betz went on to say, the hotel is subject to unannounced inspections by Quality Assurance every 6 months. “So we have to keep it on the up and up, cause you never know when they’re walking through the door," said Betz.

Interior demolition on the property has already begun (more on that later), and Wankawala later explained he expected construction to begin in the "4th quarter of this year" and expects "to complete the project by 3rd quarter of [2016]."

Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/property/20...PlGqGfMt9x4.99

[summersm343]

Developer to Build Office Tower in University City

Developer Scott Mazo last week began demolition of the Pep Boys store at 41st and Market Streets in preparation for next spring’s groundbreaking for his forthcoming $70 million office building, 3.0 University Place, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on October 12. The 190,000-square-foot, five-story structure will boast state-of-the-art features such as photoreactive glass, and the developer will seek LEED Platinum certification for the building.

Mazo's 2.0 University Place, which opened in 2013 at 41st Street and Powelton Avenue, is now 90% leased, the article noted.

Toll Brothers Pursuing Society Hill Playhouse Development

Toll Brothers is negotiating with neighborhood groups over a proposed development of theSociety Hill Playhouse, where the builders would like to create 17 condominiums and 18 parking spaces, PlanPhilly reported.

The development needs a zoning variance, and if City Council approves it, Toll Brothers will complete the project in approximately 2½ years.

The Playhouse has not yet announced its closing, the article noted.

http://www.centercityphila.org/press...news102015.php

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Developer to Build Office Tower in University City

Since when does 5 stories qualify as a "tower"?

[I know that's them, and not you. ]

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Since when does 5 stories qualify as a "tower"?

[I know that's them, and not you. ]

Yeah I know. Really weird lol. They can simple put "Office building." 5 stories is really not a tower at all.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Yeah I know. Really weird lol. They can simple put "Office building." 5 stories is really not a tower at all.

They might as well saidsmall tower. Oxymoron...food analogy-jumbo shrimp...LOL.

[1487]

During a walk yesterday I saw demo work going on in the building across from Jefferson on south 10th street a few doors down from the large Brickstone project. I believe I read that Brickstone owns this building as well.

[summersm343]

Planning Commission approves rezoning for Italian Market apartment project

The Planning Commission voted on Tuesday to recommend a bill that would allow a 70-unit apartment complex to rise at 9th Street and Washington Avenue in the Italian Market.

The project, a 5-story ditty with 18,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and two levels of underground parking, was presented to Passyunk Square Civic Association earlier this year. The developers, Midwood Investment & Development, are planning to hold another meeting with the community group before the bill goes to a committee hearing in City Council, probably sometime next month. The project would replace Anastasi’s, a seafood restaurant that Midwood says it will try to bring back as a tenant in the new building, and the largest vacant lot in the Italian Market.

http://planphilly.com/articles/2015/...rtment-project

[Baconboy007]

Anybody know whats going on with this building on Arch between 10th and 9th? It's slow going but they've added a few floors.

[Jawnadelphia]

Dalian update:

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Also, curious --- what's the story with those oddly placed "villas" in the Fairmount/Art Museum area - think it was 19th and Green, anyone know the story behind that?

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[Busy Bee]

Is the building proposed in front of the Dalian on the Park project going to completely obscure the stone wall of the open cut? Could someone there in Philly explain exactly what that cut is and what its future is?

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Is the building proposed in front of the Dalian on the Park project going to completely obscure the stone wall of the open cut? Could someone there in Philly explain exactly what that cut is and what its future is?

The cut is a former branch of the Reading Railroad that ran across the city to the Delaware. It's in a cut from here -- it proceeded into a tunnel just left -- out to Broad.

The right-of-way is owned by SEPTA. Developers own air rights. The Friends of the Rail Park want to turn the cut and tunnel into a linear park, which everybody else in the city thinks is stupid, while SEPTA has floated a BRT idea for it. It's like this awesome disused bit of transportation infrastructure.

Basically, you can build over the cut (like the current Whole Foods), but you have to retain the easement. The question of what's going to happen with the easement is very much still up in the air, though.

[Busy Bee]

Thanks hammer.

That stone retaining wall is fantastic. It's a shame it won't be visible from above anymore. Regarding the park idea, ive noticed a strange unintended effect of NY's High Line success is this unfortunate bandwagon pushing for "parkifying" irreplaceable infrastructure that should be used for transit - whether rail or BRT. The former LIRR Rockaway branch is another example, as is the SCAL Air Line in Chicago.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by TallCoolOne

Dalian update:

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2 more floors to go.

Also, curious --- what's the story with those oddly placed "villas" in the Fairmount/Art Museum area - think it was 19th and Green, anyone know the story behind that?

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Public housing innovation from back in the 70s when Fairmount/Spring Garden was a predominantly lower income Puerto Rican neighborhood.

[Jawnadelphia]

Aha! Thanks Cro Burnham.

[pfrieden]

So I've been keeping up on the 1911 Walnut saga and I happened to walk past there this weekend. At the corner of 20th and Walnut there's another empty lot I admitted never noticed that is currently used as parking. Does anyone know who owns that (I assume Parkway since their sign is there) and if they've ever considered developing it or selling it to a developer? It's a smaller parcel than 1911 Walnut but I think it could support a pretty sleek residential building with one unit per floor in the AQ Rittenhouse and 500 Walnut fashion. I've just never seen that lot mentioned before on here and it struck me as odd since it's location is essentially as prime as 1911 Walnut.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Thanks hammer.

That stone retaining wall is fantastic. It's a shame it won't be visible from above anymore. Regarding the park idea, ive noticed a strange unintended effect of NY's High Line success is this unfortunate bandwagon pushing for "parkifying" irreplaceable infrastructure that should be used for transit - whether rail or BRT. The former LIRR Rockaway branch is another example, as is the SCAL Air Line in Chicago.

I don't know much about the St. Charles Air Line, but I do know that the pushback against the Queensway proposal is at least as strong as the one against the cut part of the rail park here (there is no opposition to parkifying another section of abandoned rail infrastructure on the other side of Broad Street).