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

[1487]

Originally Posted by Frontst17

I agree with you EastSide, the amount of homes, apartments shops and restaurants that have gone up within a 5-10 minute drive of vanguard is crazy. There's pretty acessable bus service, train is right there, bike trails galore. They're slowly expanding pedestrian access but within malvern borough, Phoenixville, Paoli now KOP etc there's so much to do. I talk to dozens of people from vanguard, most of them are young and are fully aware they live in the suburbs but almost all frequently go into the city. On top of that with Uber there's really no transportation issues at all. It doesn't help city development per say, but these towns have also been around for hundreds of years and any development they receive can only benefit the metro area... also his tinder game is weak then because there's plenty of young attractive people haha.

People are being too sensitive. No one is saying it's a bad place to live, but to try and diminish the fact that the majority of young (and slightly older than young) people would prefer an urban location or at least a suburban location more tied to the transit network makes no sense to me. I know numerous people who lived in Philly and used to work at Vanguard- all hated the reverse commute and spoke of others who felt the same. Most could not afford or had no interest in living near the campus. While there are revitalized towns throughout our region vanguard is located in a typical, sprawling office park type setting that could easily be mistaken for countless other suburban HQs in the country, it's not in some repurposed building in a walkable town center a few blocks from a train station.

[1487]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Yeah you are so much cooler if you are living in the new up and coming Hipster part of the city and the parents are paying most if not all of your rent.

Reality is if one is living and working in the 'burbs and they go to working in the city their expenses go up, that is a legitimate grievance.

it could be that they fear they would have to offer pay raises if they shifted jobs to the city.

One thing that cannot be changed is that the transit network is designed to move people from the outlying areas to the city efficiently. So no matter how many shuttles and UBERs or whatever we throw out there to make up for the lack of organized planning in the burbs traffic and the need for cars to get people to their final destination will not change. While its great for people to talk about the living options in Paoli, the reality most Vanguard employees don't live within 10-15 minutes of the campus and unless they happen to live in Philly the car is the ONLY way to get there. I do think cheap gas is sort of breeding complacency and a fall back to the sprawl centric development patterns of the 70s through 2000s. Gas will not remain this cheap forever and our local highways generally will not be gaining any capacity.

[Jawnadelphia]

Time for some healthy competition, Wilmington's new mayor Mike Purzycki said at the Millennial Summit at the Chase Center today that he wants the Wilmington Riverfront to rival Philly's Navy Yard--and mentioned some "plans are in the works." We shall see.
https://twitter.com/acherry13/status/892422233901150208

As a reminder re: the Riverfront--
B/P Group will be building a new hotel;
Big Fish Restaurant Group is also building a new hotel;
Capano Management is building a new apartment building--well underway; and the Christina River bridge project (to connect both sides) has broken ground.

[Boku]

King Of Prussia Is Now About More Than Just The Mall

“The mall plays a big role in the activity in King of Prussia, but more so than that, at this stage, King of Prussia Town Center is playing an interesting new role in the diversification of the submarket,” JLL Philadelphia Director of Research Lauren Gilchrist said.

The town center is an open-air retail and dining complex centered around an open green, which gives the area more of a neighborhood feel than the adjacent mall, with its giant structure and vast parking lots. It will be the retail heart of the Village at Valley Forge, a 122-acre mixed-use complex that has 1,000 residential units under construction, a new branch of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and room to spare for future office development.

“The town center is the most important development we’ve had in the area in 30 years,” Korman Communities co-CEO Brad Korman said. “From a dynamics standpoint, most markets in the country have several, and we haven’t had any [suburban] mixed-use communities, so I think having the Town Center … makes it really important for our region.”

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/philadelphia/...medium=Browser

[summersm343]

Lower Merion officials delay approval of Kimco's 6-story, 150 unit Suburban Square apartment development

Read more here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...r-ave-cre.html

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by Boku

King Of Prussia Is Now About More Than Just The Mall



Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/philadelphia/...medium=Browser

The KOP Town Center is still self contained and not really walkable from area hotels or businesses save for one or two.

That said, I like that they built parking around the perimeter while keeping the stores, restaurants, apt's generally contained in the center. Rather than creating massive parking lots between stores...Think the Cherry Hill Race Track boondoggle.

[Jawnadelphia]

amazing how nice this place has turned out over the last 25 years--from industrial wasteland to luxury living.

The Capano new apartment building is coming along nicely--building #1 (on the right).












7th and Market Street-- B/P Group latest apartment conversion well underway too:

[jslice]

What do you guys think Wilmington should aspire to be? Living in the shadow of established major metropolis to the north and south it seems like Wilmington needs to embrace its boutique factor. Perhaps an austin? Try to become a funky, creative, alternative option? Would be tough to do though in a city full of lawyers, bankers and chemists.

[domodeez]

From yesterday 8/7

Another floor higher since last update




Walkway between the two new apartment buildings, connecting Shipley and Orange Streets:




Progress on Chelsea Plaza, connecting Shipley and Market Streets:

[skiesthelimit]

@TallCoolOne wow, that's just the shorter portion of the Capano project making such an impact on the skyline, imagine the larger tower. Also check out, Midtown peeking out in the background!

@jslice I think Austin is a good model, and the direction the city seems to be aiming is more focus on creativity with the prominence of the creative district and midtown aiming to be a future fashion district iirc. As you mentioned though, we're way too white collar. Though the city has really been pushing the focus on tech, so we'll see what happens with that especially with mention of the riverfront possibly being a rival to the Navy Yard.

@domodeez There's 3 more floors to go right? This thing is way taller than I thought! It starting to really creep into the skyline.

Alas, my contribution to the updates on the other side of Wilmington, here's a week's progress on the Wilmington Hospital parking garage expansion:








And a quick look at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave:

[summersm343]

Wilmington is on fire! Love it!

[Boku]

$500K makeover, new docks have Bristol rollin' on the river

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pe...-20170807.html

[Nova08]

This article popped up on my Yahoo page the past few days. KOP Town Center is a focal point of the article. Not sure if it is a local or national article.

Older millennials are leaving the city for a new kind of suburb
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/o...183804971.html

[kingtut]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Wilmington is on fire! Love it!

I think the whole Philadelphia Region is on fire . The Philadelphia Region is such a bargain . In the middle of 40 million people and some of the lowest real estate values , make for great investment opportunities .

[summersm343]

South Jersey company plans to cut 2,250 jobs

Mortgage lender PHH Corp. said it will cut its employee headcount by 64 percent by the second half of 2018.

In a supplement to its second quarter earnings report, the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company said to expect PHH to have a headcount of 1,250 by the end of 2018, down from 3,500 at the end of 2016. PHH said it has reduced 650 full-time positions “and we expect the pace of head-count reductions to accelerate over the next four quarters,” CEO Robert Crowl said during a Wednesday conference call with investors.

Crowl said during Tuesday’s call with investors that virtually all of its employees will be located in Mount Laurel moving forward, with a small percentage in Jacksonville, Fla.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...uts-crowl.html

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by summersm343

South Jersey company plans to cut 2,250 jobs



https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...uts-crowl.html

Updated article:

PHH: South Jersey headquarters workforce to be cut by 700

On Monday, a company spokesman provided clarity on the impact to be felt at Mount Laurel, where PHH will reduce headcount from 1,900 to under 1,200. Virtually all of those reductions will occur via layoffs

Dico Akseraylian, senior vice president for marketing and communications at PHH, said about half of the 2,250 cuts happening company-wide before 2019 are due to the sale of two units to other companies and about half of those individuals have been offered roles with their new employers.

PHH had transferred jobs from upstate New York to Jacksonville last year. Akseraylian said the company will now largely exit Jacksonville as well, save for a small number of telecommuters.

With New York and Jacksonville largely being eliminated from the equation, the overwhelming number of jobs left at the company will be in Mount Laurel.

Of the 3,500 jobs at the company at the end of last year, 1,900 were located in its Mount Laurel headquarters. Akseraylian said he expects about 600 South Jersey employees will be laid off with a small number also heading to Guaranteed Rate.

Akseraylian said the company will most likely sublet space after the job cuts take place. He said PHH has no plans to leave its headquarters, let alone South Jersey, where it will have a little less than 1,200 employees. The remainder of the employee base will be telecommuters from all over the country.

“I also think it’s important to note that we plan to grow after we get down to 1,250 employees,” Akseraylian said. “We are already one of the largest sub-servicers today and we hope to grow.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-servicer.html

[domodeez]

Nice (and fitting) to see Wilmington on this list

Best Small Cities in America to Move to Before They Get Too Popular

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nat...ies-in-america

You may know Wilmington as that magical place where hundreds of thousands of businesses can fit into a single PO box, but Delaware’s biggest city (which clocks in a hair above our 70K population limit, but we just couldn’t resist) has undergone massive changes in the last decade thanks to a booming job market and massive investments in the city’s cultural landmarks. Major financial institutions -- J.P. Morgan, Barclays, BlackRock -- have shifted jobs to Wilmington, sending an influx of young professionals (and their salaries) that has breathed new life into the city’s cultural landmarks like the Queen Theater and the iconic Hotel du Pont.

The city and state, meanwhile, have committed to fostering entrepreneurship and co-working spaces like The Mill and Start It Up Delaware, a public-private partnership aiming to bring tech talent to the First State. “The city really checks off a lot of boxes,” says Wilmington native and local entrepreneur Matt Van Belle. “The cost of living is cheap, you can walk everywhere, you have access to major metros via train or a short drive, some of the best beaches on the coast are an hour away.” Plus, the mad beer geniuses at Dogfish Head are only a short drive away, which means the crew at Washington Street Alehouse are always getting kegs you won’t see anywhere else.

[domodeez]

Went out Sunday and grabbed some shots:







^ three cranes right now on the site

[mcgrath618]

I didn't have a camera on me but One Ardmore has made MAJOR progress, they're starting on the core

[mcgrath618]

There is now a 200' tower crane at the One Ardmore Site! Will grab picks tomorrow