PHILADELPHIA | 8th & Race | 185 FT | 12 FLOORS | CANCELLED

[PHLJD13]

http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...ow-a-lush-park

Write up on the revised proposal for second CDR go-round. Emphasis is on “much needed” green space.

While always “much needed” in a city, the article seems to completely disregard the ample green space in the form of Franklin Square a half-block away. Or do you think the focus is on its inaccessibility given the difficult public crossing at 8th/Race?

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by PHLJD13

http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...ow-a-lush-park

Write up on the revised proposal for second CDR go-round. Emphasis is on “much needed” green space.

While always “much needed” in a city, the article seems to completely disregard the ample green space in the form of Franklin Square a half-block away. Or do you think the focus is on its inaccessibility given the difficult public crossing at 8th/Race?

Green is good. Always thought Franklin Square was in an odd place straddle by 676 and the busy Race street over the Ben Franklin Bridge to NJ. Chinatown needs more space. This section of the city is always full of people out and about.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Green is good. Always thought Franklin Square was in an odd place straddle by 676 and the busy Race street over the Ben Franklin Bridge to NJ. Chinatown needs more space. This section of the city is always full of people out and about.

Just in case some people don't know this, but Franklin Sq. was one of Penn's original 5 public squares. So it existed long before the bridge and certainly the highway. I've always wondered how the bridge ended up in that spot and not alittle further north. I've seen old photos taken back around 1900 and the whole area around the square was very much 'old City' like. Part of the area was Philly's skid row, parts which lasted until the 50's. It's amazing to think what that area might have looked like without the wholesale demo for Independence Mall and before that the bridge cutting through the area, and more recently the highway tearing things up. Sortof surprised the park wasn't 'repurposed' in some fashion.

[Nova08]

I think it will greatly improve the area around Franklin Square if they proceed with the proposal to redo the 676 EB ramp to the BF bridge the way it should be and institute traffic calming measures on Race. No idea why it goes from 2 lanes to what seems like a super highway between 6th and 8th.

[mcgrath618]

CDR seems to have mixed feelings about this one:
https://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/p...%20Reviews.pdf
Either way, it's through now so it can be built!

[Urbanthusiat]

Equal Justice Center to break ground in 2019

Construction of a 12-story, 180,000-square-foot Equal Justice Center at 800-830 Vine St. in Philadelphia is scheduled to begin next year.

Pennrose, the developer of the project, has retained Philadelphia-based Intech Construction as the contractor for it. WRT, a Philadelphia architectural firm, is designing the center that will have 36,000 square feet of outdoor and pedestrian spaces.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...d-in-2019.html

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...d-in-2019.html

This is awesome. Do you know if funding, including any grants are already secured?

[mcgrath618]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but any update on this one? It was supposed to start this year.

[Jawnadelphia]

"$1,000,000 was awarded to the Philadelphia Bar Foundation for the creation of their Equal Justice Center II."

http://www.senatorfarnese.com/sen-fa...-redevelopment

[PhilliesPhan]

Last weekend, I was talking to a buddy of mine familiar with this project. Apparently, their firm has signed off on space in this building, and they heard that the projected opening date is 2021. I'll continue to ask them for any info that may be pertinent to this project!

[mcgrath618]

Speak of the devil, according to the CCD Development Report this thing has a proposed starting date of Q1 2020:

[summersm343]

Looks like the Equal Justice center office building has been downsized to 9-stories... The apartment building still looks to be 12 or 13 floors though



https://philaequaljusticecenter.org/...justice-center

[SEFTA]

I like that there is a lot of public space. I will assume that giant parking lot behind the tower will be for future development.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Looks like the Equal Justice center office building has been downsized to 9-stories... The apartment building still looks to be 12 or 13 floors though



https://philaequaljusticecenter.org/...justice-center

The shorter these get the more I'm worried that this is a severe underutilization of the space.

You're literally right on top of a subway station and you include parking???? I really wish that we'd wait for the inevitable I-676 Cap before developing any more of this space. This area desperately needs more density.

[SEFTA]

Yeah. It's very underwhelming considering they have an entire block to play with, and a subway station. Filler

[iheartphilly]

It is...I think an article that I came across, but couldn't locate, said less tenants signed onto the project than anticipated, thereby lowering the size of the project. I don't think there a underground or above ground garage associated with the build, right? I'm not usually a fan of parking garages associated with a project when it is located above a subway line, but being that it is in Chinatown, parking is a big issue there. People from NJ and other parts come into Chinatown for lunch, dinner, shopping, whatever and parking is very hard to get on the street. Chinatown is very dense and gets lots of visitors, especially on weekends. Nonetheless, I think this is a miss on a large size TOD.

[PHL10]

There's a such thing as being patient for the right development but I'd rather have these buildings sitting next to the subway station than the huge surface parking lot that's been there for decades.

And while this is a TOD, this is one of the most disconnected stations on either the Subway or the El. The line terminates a couple block to the South and then takes you North Bound with the next stop being Broad and Fairmount. So unless you are going to Temple and North Philadelphia, you are better off walking to Market St. to get anywhere else.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

The shorter these get the more I'm worried that this is a severe underutilization of the space.

You're literally right on top of a subway station and you include parking???? I really wish that we'd wait for the inevitable I-676 Cap before developing any more of this space. This area desperately needs more density.

you are going to need to have a very long life span to see the eastern end of Vine St. expressway caped!

[Vince_]

Originally Posted by PHL10

There's a such thing as being patient for the right development but I'd rather have these buildings sitting next to the subway station than the huge surface parking lot that's been there for decades.

And while this is a TOD, this is one of the most disconnected stations on either the Subway or the El. The line terminates a couple block to the South and then takes you North Bound with the next stop being Broad and Fairmount. So unless you are going to Temple and North Philadelphia, you are better off walking to Market St. to get anywhere else.

Agreed 100%. Of course I'd rather a skyscraper here but empty lots are the worst thing about this area. It's very desolate and unsightly. Anything is better than an open lot. If the area truly takes off there are plenty of other spots to build high density, especially the police station across the street when they move.

[bigfish]

Once the Franklin Square station opens then Jersey people can take Patco