PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Nova08

I think you are spot on and Philly is gaining a ton of momentum as a result. It's like the Philly players in gene therapy were left in the corner for a while, people knew what they were doing, interested, but not ready to believe that Philly was the place to be for it...now it feels like everyone is like, man we need to be in Philly yesterday.

NOBODY puts Philly players in gene therapy in a corner...

[Jawnadelphia]

[ok-ez]

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190613.html

United By Blue, the homegrown outdoor-outfitter, is moving its corporate offices into a former tannery building north of Center City, validating its soon-to-be landlord’s efforts to revamp the once-industrial area into a new business district by laying a groundwork of hip bars and restaurants.
The company plans to move late this year from its current home in Old City into an 8,000-square-foot space at 444 N. Third St., north of Callowhill Street, to accommodate a growing staff and consolidate its operations, cofounder Mike Cangi said...

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by ok-ez

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190613.html

Great news! Maybe those Callowhill towers can get built now.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by Redddog

NOBODY leaves Philly players in gene therapy in a corner...

Yeah Baby

[El Duderino]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Great news! Maybe those Callowhill towers can get built now.

Those Callowhill towers were to go exactly in this spot. The updates 444 N. 3rd are nice, but I hope Arts and Crafts does something with the small surface lot on the SW corner of the site.

Good for UBB, though - their current office was woefully undersized...and the Amazon box trash they kept in the front window wasn't exactly on-brand, so hopefully this will help.

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by El Duderino

Those Callowhill towers were to go exactly in this spot. The updates 444 N. 3rd are nice, but I hope Arts and Crafts does something with the small surface lot on the SW corner of the site.

Good for UBB, though - their current office was woefully undersized...and the Amazon box trash they kept in the front window wasn't exactly on-brand, so hopefully this will help.

Nothing's happening at that corner lot until they are able to move the cell tower next to it. A few years ago I was dealing with someone who wanted to buy 444 N 3rd and redevelop the whole site so I had conversations with Crown Castle about it. They need a site within a quarter mile radius with no buildings over a certain height nearby. That tower is placed there to serve I-95 and 676 and has to stay within certain parameters of height. Sucks that a cell tower has had such tight control over what happens in that area but it was put up in a time when no one thought that pocket would ever be redeveloped.

[El Duderino]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

Nothing's happening at that corner lot until they are able to move the cell tower next to it. A few years ago I was dealing with someone who wanted to buy 444 N 3rd and redevelop the whole site so I had conversations with Crown Castle about it. They need a site within a quarter mile radius with no buildings over a certain height nearby. That tower is placed there to serve I-95 and 676 and has to stay within certain parameters of height. Sucks that a cell tower has had such tight control over what happens in that area but it was put up in a time when no one thought that pocket would ever be redeveloped.

Thanks for the update, but that's a bummer to hear. The periphery of that site is a bit rough of the eyes, so hopefully they can at least spruce things up. Even the minor upgrades that have been made in that chunk of the world (2nd to 6th, Vine to Spring Garden) have had a big impact, so hopefully the momentum continues

[tsarstruck]

The University of Pennsylvania will move forward with the next phase of Pennovation Works and spend $35 million renovating an existing building into lab space.

The four-story, 73,400-square-foot structure will have 35,000 square feet of wet lab, office and flex space. It will cater to growing and next stage companies with 10 to 25 employees that need from 2,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet.
[...]
This fall will mark the third year Pennovation Works has been open and it has progressed as anticipated. The three-story, 58,000-square-foot industrial building is the cornerstone to the 23-acre hub geared for innovation, research and entrepreneurialism. There are 85 companies and more than 350 people working at the center.
[...]
The university also has an agreement with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. to purchase a 1.3-acre parcel at 1201 S. 35th St. that sits directly across from Pennovation Works. An abandoned concrete silo on the property has been taken down and the property has been environmentally remediated. At this time, Penn hasn’t established any plans for the site.

The last time they discussed the grain silo lot, they had indicated they were interested in doing a mixed use project on the site.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...5-million.html

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by tsarstruck

The last time they discussed the grain silo lot, they had indicated they were interested in doing a mixed use project on the site.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...5-million.html

Fantastic. This scale of investment in this area is good news all around. I think crossing the street will be a game changer for this Grays Ferry corridor.

[Londonee]

Anyone know if Fashion District is on schedule to open in September? I wandered around the site today a bit and it still feels pretty incomplete. As far as I could see, none of the exterior facing store fit-outs had begun yet and the amount of exterior work on the AMC entrance at 11th seemed intense. The old facade still looks disheveled and untouched. None of the exterior screens/signs are up yet (weren't the east market screens up 6 months before it opened?). September is less than 2.5 months away - and I'm wondering if we'll get another patented PREIT delayed opening press release?

[reparcsyks]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Anyone know if Fashion District is on schedule to open in September? I wandered around the site today a bit and it still feels pretty incomplete. As far as I could see, none of the exterior facing store fit-outs had begun yet and the amount of exterior work on the AMC entrance at 11th seemed intense. The old facade still looks disheveled and untouched. None of the exterior screens/signs are up yet (weren't the east market screens up 6 months before it opened?). September is less than 2.5 months away - and I'm wondering if we'll get another patented PREIT delayed opening press release?

Can we all chip in for a few power washers and volunteer our services to PREIT? The old portions of the facades still look hideous and bush league.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by reparcsyks

Can we all chip in for a few power washers and volunteer our services to PREIT? The old portions of the facades still look hideous and bush league.

I'm down. Hell, I suck with a brush but I'll volunteer to paint it over if necessary.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by reparcsyks

Can we all chip in for a few power washers and volunteer our services to PREIT? The old portions of the facades still look hideous and bush league.

Honestly. If they don't plan on painting the upper level, PREIT is dead to me.

That is terrible.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Honestly. If they don't plan on painting the upper level, PREIT is dead to me.

That is terrible.

I think they've previously said they are painting it. Please, god.

[iamrobk]

A friend of mine works for PREIT doing leasing stuff (I'm not really familiar with the specifics tbh) and has constantly been super enthusiastic about the Fashion District. So at least internally it would seem they're optimistic about how things are going and don't see it turning into a disaster. I know this is super anecdotal but figured I'd pass it along.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

A friend of mine works for PREIT doing leasing stuff (I'm not really familiar with the specifics tbh) and has constantly been super enthusiastic about the Fashion District. So at least internally it would seem they're optimistic about how things are going and don't see it turning into a disaster. I know this is super anecdotal but figured I'd pass it along.

Cool. Could you ask him if they are planning to paint the upper half of that skanky building?

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Cool. Could you ask him if they are planning to paint the upper half of that skanky building?

LOL they're not directly involved with it at all so I doubt they know, but I'll try to ask next time I see them.

[Knight Hospitaller]

It has been posted here before that they plan to at least power-wash the upper portion of the Gallery. Someone wrote to the architect and posted the reply several months ago.

[Capsule F]

There are a ton more stores listed, you can see a list of them in the 9th street tunnel. Can't remember all of them but Primark, Movado, Nike, tons of others we weren't aware of.