PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[Jawnadelphia]

The NIMBYs seemed to have won in Alapocas - blocking Incyte's latest plans for a new building at their headquarters just outside of Wilmington city limits. The plan for a 5 story new building (see below) was hit with heavy neighborhood backlash, and an online/social media campaign.

Paywall - https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/ne...-friends-deal/ - but the first sentence covers it,

"WILMINGTON — After fervent opposition by neighbors ahead of a likely contentious impending rezoning case, Incyte Corp. has reportedly dropped its plans to acquire the Lower School campus of the Wilmington Friends School for a major expansion. Announced last year, a five-story, 400,000-square-foot office and lab building was planned by the biopharmaceutical company..."



I don't know if this is all bad news though. Recent reports have Wilmington's downtown office-space market seeing 30% vacancies. Also, there's the Riverfront East ... waiting for tenants to fill the planned developments there.

If this rejection ends up with Incyte leasing a large amount of office space in downtown Wilmington, or building a brand-new building at Riverfront East... it might be a win-win in the end for Wilmington.

[iamdjmichael]

Really hope that is the case ^^. In my mind the city really needs to aggressively be pushing for biotech, fintech, STEM, and lab space to be built IN the city. Combined with all new more affordable housing could really make the city boom with its proximity to the major east coast cities.

[Busy Bee]

That looks awesome, of course they'd be against it.

[TonyTone]

VTV00468 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00467 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00466 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00464 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00463 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00462 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00461 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00459 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00457 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00455 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00454 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00453 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00452 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00451 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00450 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00449 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00448 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00445 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00443 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00442 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00437 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

[TonyTone]

VTV00520 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00519 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00518 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00517 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00515 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00514 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00512 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr


VTV00516 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

VTV00530 by Tony Valuez, on Flickr

It also seems they removed all pervious construction material from the original Taco Spot at the riverfront, hopefully something good will be built there in the future.

[bonfire]

https://wpgtalkradio.com/the-first-n...j-in-55-years/

Even though it specifies just midtown Atlantic City. I still find it hard to believe an apartment building has not been built in Atlantic City in 55 years. Crazy.

[summersm343]

CHOP continues King of Prussia expansion with $24.5M office building purchase

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...f-prussia.html

[Jawnadelphia]

Great pics, Tony!

Definitely lots going on in Wilmington these days.

[BroadandMarket]

This is somewhat old news but it seems the Camden mayor wants the Victor Radio loft building demolished. Camden won a lawsuit with Dranoff to gain control. Camden and other cities never seem to learn that the industrial past of these cities and their architecture is the only redeeming thing about it.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden...lofts-building

https://www.inquirer.com/business/ca...-20230901.html



Camden tore down the Plaza Hotel in 2014 which is obviously just a parking lot now:

[InvisibleMan]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

This is somewhat old news but it seems the Camden mayor wants the Victor Radio loft building demolished. Camden won a lawsuit with Dranoff to gain control. Camden and other cities never seem to learn that the industrial past of these cities and their architecture is the only redeeming thing about it.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden...lofts-building

https://www.inquirer.com/business/ca...-20230901.html



Camden tore down the Plaza Hotel in 2014 which is obviously just a parking lot now:

It'll be a real shame if they knock it down instead of attempting to rehab it.

Obviously not everything can be saved, but it just seems like City leaders are stuck in the old-school renewal mindset of "tear down anything urban / dense and replace it with a suburban style complex or parking lot". It'd be amazing if we could one day see the vacant lots and parking lots along Cooper St and in the Cooper Grant neighborhood filled in like some of the neighborhoods in Philly.

[summersm343]

54-year-old Wildwood motel sells, will join neighbor to create large beachfront resort

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-wildwood.html

[EastSideHBG]

Preserve at Stony Brook slated to develop Norristown State Hospital grounds

Norristown council to move forward with development proceedings
https://www.timesherald.com/2023/12/...pital-grounds/

[EastSideHBG]

Time-lapse video of latest apartment building in Conshohocken being constructed


https://morethanthecurve.com/timelap...g-constructed/

[that1newjerseyan]

This demolition vs preservation mentality is why Newark (which has managed to retain more of this charming, solid architecture) is finally experiencing a turnaround whereas Camden continues to languish.

[EastSideHBG]

2024 update on apartment development in Conshohocken, West Conshohocken, Plymouth, and Whitemarsh
https://morethanthecurve.com/2024-up...nd-whitemarsh/

[202_Cyclist]

A private company is proposing a streetcar for Wilmington, which would connect various downtown locations with the Amtrak station.

A new plan could bring trolleys back to Wilmington


Delaware Public Media
By Quinn Kirkpatrick
Published January 1, 2024

"While it wouldn’t pass through Trolley Square neighborhood, named for its history as the site of Wilmington’s old trolley hub, the proposed Wilmington Trolley CityLink aims to provide fare free, zero emissions transport from Brandywine Park to the Riverfront.

It’s proposed by AmeriStar Rail, which focuses on linking environmentally sustainable public transportation routes to encourage their use and boost the economic development of cities they pass through.

“Wilmington is the largest city between New York and Washington that does not have a rail transit link to its Amtrak station. So we took a look and found that having a streetcar system would solve a lot of first and last mile accessibility and transportation mobility issues,” said AmeriStar Rail CEO Scott Spencer.."

https://www.delawarepublic.org/busin...-to-wilmington

[jonesrmj]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

A private company is proposing a streetcar for Wilmington, which would connect various downtown locations with the Amtrak station.

A new plan could bring trolleys back to Wilmington


Delaware Public Media
By Quinn Kirkpatrick
Published January 1, 2024

"While it wouldn’t pass through Trolley Square neighborhood, named for its history as the site of Wilmington’s old trolley hub, the proposed Wilmington Trolley CityLink aims to provide fare free, zero emissions transport from Brandywine Park to the Riverfront.

It’s proposed by AmeriStar Rail, which focuses on linking environmentally sustainable public transportation routes to encourage their use and boost the economic development of cities they pass through.

“Wilmington is the largest city between New York and Washington that does not have a rail transit link to its Amtrak station. So we took a look and found that having a streetcar system would solve a lot of first and last mile accessibility and transportation mobility issues,” said AmeriStar Rail CEO Scott Spencer.."

https://www.delawarepublic.org/busin...-to-wilmington

This would be awesome! Anything to decrease car-dependency is a step in the right direction!

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Preserve at Stony Brook slated to develop Norristown State Hospital grounds

Norristown council to move forward with development proceedings
https://www.timesherald.com/2023/12/...pital-grounds/

I just took the "new bridge" through Elmwood Park this past week and went past the State Hospital grounds and it just one huge eyesore.

This can't happen fast enough.

[UrbanRevival]

Some really interesting data to share from a Bank of America metro migration report based on their internal data: Philadelphia is actually one of only 7 large metro areas across the US showing net positive migration as of Q3-'23--and the only one outside of the Sun Belt other than Columbus: https://institute.bankofamerica.com/...n-the-move.pdf

Also interesting that Philly 5th amongst metro areas for the percentage of individuals having migrated inward for a new job recently. Seems to be supported by strong job growth recently in the region according to BLS.

For those interested, the data was featured in this Business Insider article:

https://www.businessinsider.com/blue...-vegas-2023-12

I know this kind of data is unconventional to determine population trends, but given how error-prone Census data is lately, I'm honestly more inclined to pay attention to "real time" data analytics like this.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by UrbanRevival

Some really interesting data to share from a Bank of America metro migration report based on their internal data: Philadelphia is actually one of only 7 large metro areas across the US showing net positive migration as of Q3-'23--and the only one outside of the Sun Belt other than Columbus: https://institute.bankofamerica.com/...n-the-move.pdf

Also interesting that Philly 5th amongst metro areas for the percentage of individuals having migrated inward for a new job recently. Seems to be supported by strong job growth recently in the region according to BLS.

For those interested, the data was featured in this Business Insider article:

https://www.businessinsider.com/blue...-vegas-2023-12

I know this kind of data is unconventional to determine population trends, but given how error-prone Census data is lately, I'm honestly more inclined to pay attention to "real time" data analytics like this.

This is interesting.

I have a front seat view to this given I live in a new development in city limits. So many of my neighbors in Northbank have moved here from out of state.

Just last week I met a neighbor who moved here from Maryland last month. She's a former investment banker from Goldman who took time off to have kids and her husband is a hedge fund manager in NYC. They were living in Brooklyn prior to the pandemic and both working in NYC. During the pandemic they moved to Maryland to be closer to family as both were working remotely (she has since quit). In spite of family pressure to stay close, they moved here as a sort of compromise. They're an hour and a half from family (including elderly parents) if needed and an hour and a half from NYC via train for work.

The story of many of my neighbors is the same. Many work in NYC and have moved here from somewhere else. It seems as though weekly I meet people at neighborhood watering holes in Fishtown who are newly arrived in Philly but work in NYC and live here.