PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Nanyika]

OCF's Royal Theater project is horrible front and rear. Absolutely tasteless. There was no attempt to integrate the old theater facade into the newer sections; it merely looks pasted on. It wouldn't have been that hard to continue the cornice line and perhaps use red brick or another complementary material, at least for the lower stories. It looks like they are trying to thumb their nose at the idea of historical preservation -- perhaps to demonstrate for future preservation battles how awful the result can be.

[PHL10]

I don't know if anyone has been in the wild west casino at Bally's in AC but that's about what this looks like.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by DeltaNerd

Yes, the tracks are still there for the 56 trolley. The 56 bus route is quite busy with the long buses. Though all the over head cantery are gone. It's amazing to see development in Juniata. I look forward to all the development coming.

Tracks west of Broad are long gone. THey were removed and Erie was repaved.

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by Yurkek

An apartment building by OCF close to completion on South street



I like an attempt to reuse the facade, by these aluminum panels are ridiculous.

It doesn't look quite as bad in person (a friend of mine lives on South Street so I've walked by a bunch) but yeah it's not good. I get what they were going for, but they missed the mark IMO.

That said, my friend likes it and think it looks good.

[iheartphilly]

^
Let's call a turd a turd. If they wouldn't of built on top of the theater, it would be passable. The theater just looks like it was wedge into this build. SMH.

[SEFTA]

When I was in San Francisco I noticed many facades being saved with large buildings built above. I understand that it saves these facades. It is not a good look and I believe it has been detrimental to what that building could have been. So, it seems saving the facades is a good thing but the results generally aren't.

[Frontst17]

The facade is the only saving grace. The proverbial lipstick on this pig

[Yurkek]

It looks like a parasite that ate a historic brick building and is now hiding behind the only remaining wall. OCF hired engineers to figure out how to preserve the wall but didn't put enough effort to create a better facade.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by Yurkek

It looks like a parasite that ate a historic brick building and is now hiding behind the only remaining wall. OCF hired engineers to figure out how to preserve the wall but didn't put enough effort to create a better facade.

[TempleGuy1000]

Surprised none of you have mentioned the actually story behind the building and why it might look value engineered. This is one of the two properties that has landed Kenyatta Johnson under Federal indictment. OCF paid 15x more than the previous owners did. The previous owners also squandered another $500,000 in city and state funds meant for redevelopment. I hope they all go to jail.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Surprised none of you have mentioned the actually story behind the building and why it might look value engineered. This is one of the two properties that has landed Kenyatta Johnson under Federal indictment. OCF paid 15x more than the previous owners did. The previous owners also squandered another $500,000 in city and state funds meant for redevelopment. I hope they all go to jail.

does that really explain cheap design details?

[TempleGuy1000]

Originally Posted by cardeza

does that really explain cheap design details?

Well when you pay $4,000,000 for a property instead of $400,000, I would imagine the profit margins change pretty dramatically.

[allovertown]

[Londonee]

It should have been an all-glass enclosure around the historic facade. Crisp, clean lines. It really is just a mess from a distance.

I will say, though, at ground level it's pretty great. They are restoring those 3 massive 20 ft high historic archways and they will be part of the enlarged Rex 1516 restaurant (great, great spot if you've never been) and it's going to look awesome. The space on the left is the entrance to the condos/apartments and kind of just blends in.

These photos from a distance show what a disaster it is visually - but on the ground it's going to really be great.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Well when you pay $4,000,000 for a property instead of $400,000, I would imagine the profit margins change pretty dramatically.

Of course the ROI is affected, but no one "forced" them to buy at that price. A savvy investor would of done just the opposite if that's not the market value. But, I'm sure they did what they did to get as many rental units to pay the note back and to turn a half decent profit...hence building above the facade.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Surprised none of you have mentioned the actually story behind the building and why it might look value engineered. This is one of the two properties that has landed Kenyatta Johnson under Federal indictment. OCF paid 15x more than the previous owners did. The previous owners also squandered another $500,000 in city and state funds meant for redevelopment. I hope they all go to jail.

To be fair, Universal did repoint the facade, I believe using that grant or part of it for that purpose.

[eixample]

Like most projects, I'll await judgment until it is done. Lots of people seemed to be trashing the bulletin building but now not so much. I don't think this will be a beauty, but probably/hopefully acceptable. Facadectomies are not as good as overbuilds, but I still like em. Even the Jeweler's Row building would have been much better as a facadectomy. Is retail going in on the ground floor?

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by eixample

Like most projects, I'll await judgment until it is done. Lots of people seemed to be trashing the bulletin building but now not so much. I don't think this will be a beauty, but probably/hopefully acceptable. Facadectomies are not as good as overbuilds, but I still like em. Even the Jeweler's Row building would have been much better as a facadectomy. Is retail going in on the ground floor?

A restaurant, already operating on the same block, has been signed to move there, run by operators with a good rep in the neighborhood.

Rex 1516 to move into South Street’s historic Royal Theater as owners also expand into Kensington | Inquirer.com

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Surprised none of you have mentioned the actually story behind the building and why it might look value engineered. This is one of the two properties that has landed Kenyatta Johnson under Federal indictment. OCF paid 15x more than the previous owners did. The previous owners also squandered another $500,000 in city and state funds meant for redevelopment. I hope they all go to jail.

Lipstick on a pig? Then that's one very, very sick pig. The front is deeply bad, but it might be better then the rear. How can City gov't claim to be concerned about litter and dirty streets when it allows this type of crap to be built, which will be around for decades.

I'm pretty sure the City's nearly useless Historic Preservation Commission had to sign off on the design, or at least the part directly relating to the old theater. I think if the Commission choses what battles to fight and its pretty clear that they took a pass on putting up any fight about this design. (but it will fight for years trying to preserve a fake colonial house built on Washington Sq.)

Ori really has shown his true colors with this dump; I can't wait to see what bullshit he comes up with on Washington Ave. where he torn down the old chocolate factory. Why can't he just move his operation out to some cornfield some place.

[City Wide]

Now all it needs is a CVS stuck into the space where the big windows belong. After all doesn't every block need a CVS?