PHILADELPHIA | THE LAUREL @ 1911 Walnut | 604 FT | 48 FLOORS

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by allovertown

This is the building they're talking about for reference: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9504321,...FvO6B2VDWdgfxhakQCgPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The more I look at the Bair and Warwick buildings (visible in the background), the less I care about them, overall. Their Sansom facades are the parts that I want to see preserved.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by allovertown

This is the building they're talking about for reference: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9504321,...FvO6B2VDWdgfxhakQCgPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

No great loss at all. It's actually a silly looking building when viewed in context of it's towering neighbor(s). And a modern two-floor retail building here should be a bit taller then the existing building, despite it being three floors.

[summersm343]

1911 Walnut: Developer Negotiating With Rittenhouse Plaza for More Space

More information about 1911 Walnut was made known yesterday during a presentation to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Oddly enough, it had to do with adding more space.

The proposed 50-story tower, easily the tallest on Rittenhouse Square, would accommodate 342 rental apartments, 64 luxury condo units, and a whole slew of retail on Walnut Street, 20th Street and Sansom Street. The Inquirer reports that developer Southern Land Company is negotiating with the owners of the Rittenhouse Plaza at 1901 Walnut Street to buy an adjacent three story annex for even more retail, probably for two restaurant spaces.

Dustin Downey, Southern's director of mutlifamily development, told Property in December that the plan was to build over and under Moravian Street. He said that the street currently functions "like an alley,"and the goal would be to widen it to 15 feet to give delivery trucks enough space to back in and out. It would create what amounts to a tunnel that services the back of house functions for the site.

The plans would require approval from City Council, and Downey said that they were "willing to work with neighbors for a perpetual maintenance agreement as a shared driveway."

The first two floors of the massive site would be set aside as retail space, and the Inquirer also reports that Southern "is in talks with a New York-based fitness center operator to lease the third floor."

An amenity level is planned for the fourth floor, with floors five through 33 sectioned off for the 342 apartments. A 34th floor amenity space would separate the apartments from the condos, which would be reserved for floors 35 through 50.

Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/property/2016/0...laza-for-more-space/#WeavESPXG4HZzaYF.99

[summersm343]

1911 Walnut St. Seeking High-End Gym for 3-Story Retail Space

http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2016/01/20/1911-walnut-street-seeks-national-gym.php

[thisisforreal]

Originally Posted by summersm343

1911 Walnut St. Seeking High-End Gym for 3-Story Retail Space

http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2016/01/20/1911-walnut-street-seeks-national-gym.php

Every time I see that word, I think of this.

And as long as I'm making a silly post, I'll put this here:

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Can't wait to get a burger there!

It may not be Inga writing this, but a list best perceptions is nothing to scoff at. Wendy's Among Best Perceived Fast Food List.

Sorry for being marginally on topic, Summers, please don't ban me!

[Zoot]

FYI new renderings and an elevation are in the slideshow on PlanPhilly's article about today's presentation: http://planphilly.com/articles/2016/01/2...wer-design-assumes-a-number-of-approvals


Also - note that the Rittenhouse Plaza "annex" that SLC is now trying to buy is NOT shown in the elevations and renderings. Just another building they are quietly trying to demolish. This one is no looker, but buying and demolishing another property doesn't bode well for their phony "hardship" claim on Sansom.

[summersm343]

New perspectives







Site plan with "drive aisle" between Moravian and Sansom removed

[summersm343]

Proposed Rittenhouse apartment tower design assumes a number of approvals

The sky’s the limit at 1911 Walnut Street, at least according to Southern Land Company. The development group presented preliminary plans for the vacant lot, which sits across the street from Rittenhouse Square Park, to the Planning Commission on Tuesday. Its design makes a number of assumptions, admitted Neil Sklaroff, a lawyer representing the development group.

First, the group authorized its architects, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, to design a 599-foot tower with a floor-area ratio (FAR) that wouldn’t fit into the site’s CMX-4 zoning. The group is hoping to get the site rezoned to CMX-5, the most permissive zoning classification in the city. Currently, there are no sites south of Market Street and west of 19th zoned CMX-5. The Planning Commission’s Central District Plan doesn’t recommend any changes for the property at 1911 Walnut Street.

Council President Darrell Clarke’s office, which represents the area, said on Wednesday that a rezoning bill wouldn’t be introduced “as of now,” while the developers meet with neighborhood groups.

Second, the developers would need permission from the city to build above and below tiny Moravian Street, an alley separating some of the Sansom Street and Walnut Street parcels Southern Land hopes to incorporate into its project. That would require either permission to encroach on the public right of way or a striking of the street from the city plan, either of which would have to be authorized by City Council as well. (Not unprecedented, of course: Council struck a small portion of Cypress Street to make way for the SLS International Hotel at Broad and Spruce.)

Third, the group would need to tear down two of the properties it purchased on Sansom Street. Because those properties are listed on the local register of historic places, the developers will need the Historical Commission to find that either the developers have a legitimate hardship that requires them to get rid of the buildings or that tearing them down serves the public interest.

Finally, as Jacob Adelman reported in the Inquirer Wednesday morning, the design assumes that Southern Land will be able to get its hands on the annex to Rittenhouse Plaza, a nearby condo complex.

Take a look at the latest renderings for the tower, which Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron described as “a vertical tea sandwich, made up of dainty, crustless layers that emphasize its wafer thinness.”

http://planphilly.com/articles/2016/01/2...wer-design-assumes-a-number-of-approvals

[Urbanthusiat]

They mentioned a red-brick rendering... I'm curious what that looks like.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

They mentioned a red-brick rendering... I'm curious what that looks like.

See pages 12-15:

http://planphilly.com/uploads/media_item...enz-architects-january-2016.original.pdf

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

See pages 12-15:

http://planphilly.com/uploads/media_item...enz-architects-january-2016.original.pdf

This would get my vote. I'm a big fan of the building overall but don't love the Samson Street side. I like the red brick a lot more than the yellow brick, though.

Edit: I prefer red brick to yellow, but I like the window placement and other elements of the yellow design scheme better than what they've chosen for the red.

[boxbot]

Lots of new renders. Different heights, different textures, (the red brick looks a lot better than the yellow IMO) but no renders incorporating the Warwick facade. It would look fantastic with that red brick option.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by boxbot

Lots of new renders. Different heights, different textures, (the red brick looks a lot better than the yellow IMO) but no renders incorporating the Warwick facade. It would look fantastic with that red brick option.

Damnnnnnnnnnn! Get the 599 version build now. Imagine this view with CITC, 2116 Chestnut fully constructed + SLS, One Riverside - and pan out a little more - CHOP, EVO, and FMC.

And I prefer the yellow brick facade, has a more contemporary look that goes better with the modern glass tower. Also it's different whereas red brick is sooooooo overdonef and monotonous.

[summersm343]

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by McBane

No great loss at all. It's actually a silly looking building when viewed in context of it's towering neighbor(s). And a modern two-floor retail building here should be a bit taller then the existing building, despite it being three floors.

Yea I wouldn't miss it. Seems like another bargaining chip to dangle in front of SLC to push them towards preserving at least the Warwick facade and hopefully the Bair as well.


I also agree that I like the yellow brick better. The red brick causes the base to feel more disjointed from the rest of the tower. Also if they're forced to preserve the Warwick and Bair facades there will be plenty of red brick on the block.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by McBane

Damnnnnnnnnnn! Get the 599 version build now. Imagine this view with CITC, 2116 Chestnut fully constructed + SLS, One Riverside - and pan out a little more - CHOP, EVO, and FMC.

And I prefer the yellow brick facade, has a more contemporary look that goes better with the modern glass tower. Also it's different whereas red brick is sooooooo overdonef and monotonous.

Agree. Except 2116 Chestnut is already fully constructed. So not sure what you mean by that. Its presence in the sky is what it will be (looks pretty nice from many angles). Maybe you mean 1910 Chestnut? That will look very nice in teh sky with this tower and they will meet at some angle if both built!

Further, I have decided I want to live in this building, so I hope the firm has a good couple years and condos are within my price range.

[Justin7]

This is such a mess. Build the tower on Walnut and drop the rest.

[PHL10]

So the height is down to 549 ft?

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by PHL10

So the height is down to 549 ft?

Presumably, only if they can't get the site rezoned from CMX-4 to CMX-5. They show both a 599-ft tower and a 549-ft tower in the latest proposal, and intend to seek rezoning to CMX-5.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Agree. Except 2116 Chestnut is already fully constructed. So not sure what you mean by that. Its presence in the sky is what it will be (looks pretty nice from many angles). Maybe you mean 1910 Chestnut?

No, I knew that 2116 Chestnut is fully built. I didn't make that very clear in my post but I thought it was common knowledge. And a little odd that they used such an old photo.