PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[mcgrath618]

How about we knock the whole thing down and give East Market a shopping destination more suited for, y’know, a city?

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

How about we knock the whole thing down and give East Market a shopping destination more suited for, y’know, a city?

Yeah, I mean, what's 500 million down the drain between friends?

[cardeza]

Fencing is up around the building to be demoed for East Market on Chestnut

[Redddog]

Oh Yeah. I saw that today too. I still have no idea what they're putting up there.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Yeah, I mean, what's 500 million down the drain between friends?

I was of course exaggerating, but to be fair it was a terrible idea from the get go.

[mcgrath618]

Fusion Arena groundbreaking event is Sept. 25th:

https://twitter.com/fusion/status/11...450546183?s=12

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by cardeza

I do wonder why they announced the formal start date weeks in advance with so much to do. People have already been waiting years- why not delay another month? Considering how much is undone the workforce on site wasn't that big. Perhaps many are working within the retail spaces on fitout work, but in total I saw 20-30 guys max after walking around- including under both "tunnels" i.e. 9th and 10th street. There is now a billboard up for dunkin donuts facing market st.

It wasn't "weeks" - Sept. 19th was announced probably a year ago and that's maybe the issue. PREIT and Coradino have been glad-handing, cost-cutters at every corner for DECADES and here it may finally bite them in the ass.

If this goes off like a wet, fart social media and word of mouth will pretty much kill any momentum it could have - especially out in the suburbs. Had they built a must-see architectural marvel with a ski jump and a mini-roller-coaster or some shit - maybe it would change the game - especially for tourists and suburbanites. But they kinda just slapped white paint on an old toad. Even most of the billboards aren't cool LED digital displays - just static pictures.

If they don't clean up the "vibe" of these blocks I won't even use it to take my kids to the AMC. Who do we even blame at this point, Ed Bacon? Our useless, do-nothing Mayor?

[New2Fishtown]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I’m pretty sure that’s a Chickie’s and Pete’s.

The corner of 10th and Market liquor license could be for Yard House. There had been a sign with that name hanging inside the building awhile back (sort of a placeholder I guess for contractors denoting what would eventually go there). That said, Yard House was not announced as a tenant so perhaps that fell through and now Chickie's and Pete's is the replacement? OR they never announced cause they didn't yet have a liquor license or finished lease, and perhaps we'll hear about it as a future tenant as they try to downplay how mostly-empty it is next Thursday. Either way, very positive news in that booze and experiential concepts will be what drives this to be a busy destination at a wider range of hours.

The recent write-up of City Winery is also promising: while the street level portion looks entirely unfinished, sounds like most of the good stuff is in the concourse, and the fact that they designed a mall-facing bar as part of this CW is smart. Will be a place for commuters to grab drinks. https://philly.eater.com/2019/9/10/2...s-menu-opening

Overall I agree that the exterior execution looks cheap and hideous so far, but the interiors look quite nice. Even just the signage they've hung in the concourse areas at either end of the complex (outside Burlington on the east and outside Cinnabon on the west) are a huge improvement in that they direct people to AMC and City Winery and remind you that there's lots going on inside the compelx.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Londonee

It wasn't "weeks" - Sept. 19th was announced probably a year ago and that's maybe the issue. PREIT and Coradino have been glad-handing, cost-cutters at every corner for DECADES and here it may finally bite them in the ass.

Yep, as I mentioned in another forum, they announced the September 19th date last November.

Originally Posted by Londonee

Even most of the billboards aren't cool LED digital displays - just static pictures.

Are you sure of that? How did you come to that conclusion? The only static picture I've seen is the temporary banner posted above the 9th St entrance.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Are you sure of that? How did you come to that conclusion? The only static picture I've seen is the temporary banner posted above the 9th St entrance.

Jay i could be wrong, but to my eyes probably 4-5 of them look to be wired for digital display and DON'T have a massive bank of LED lights underneath them. And the rest, probably 5-6, - including the largest and most visible ones mid-block along market street - have huge banks of LED lights underneath them and do not appear to have any additional wiring or inputs.

Here's the bank of LED lights underneath one of the installations. I could be wrong, I just don't understand what else these could be for? Maybe it's some new LED projection technology....

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Jay i could be wrong, but to my eyes probably 4-5 of them look to be wired for digital display and DON'T have a massive bank of LED lights underneath them. And the rest, probably 5-6, - including the largest and most visible ones mid-block along market street - have huge banks of LED lights underneath them and do not appear to have any additional wiring or inputs.

Here's the bank of LED lights underneath one of the installations. I could be wrong, I just don't understand what else these could be for? Maybe it's some new LED projection technology....

Hmm, I see what you're saying now and I too had been wondering about that structure and now lights underneath the display framing. It appears from your second picture (and I could be seeing it wrong) that the business end of those lights point downward toward the street. I'm expecting/hoping there'll be a blitz of screen installations momentarily.

I have mixed feeling about all the video screens, particularly since experiencing the ones already in operation for the past year at East Market. It's a surreal thing to be walking through there before sunrise when the displays simultaneously flip to an ad with a white background — they literally bath the street in light with the intensity of a noonday sun.

[Aaamazarite]

Never mind, posting in the appropriate thread

[Boku]

City Winery readies for its Fashion District debut

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ict-debut.html

Michael Dorf, who came up with the City Winery concept, is ready for the Philadelphia debut of his new two-story, 30,000-square-foot restaurant-concert venue. Located in the revamped Gallery now known as Fashion District Philadelphia, City Winery will open Sept. 19 along with the remainder of the Center City mall. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: PEI) and Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) redeveloped Fashion District and City Winery is one of the its marquee tenants. It will be accessed by 10th and Filbert streets, as well as the concourse level. I spoke with Dorf to see how things were going leading up to the opening.

Are you ready?

We have sold out our first show which is pretty good since we’re not open yet. The space has come out great. This will be the first time for us to have a real street presence. I love the street presence we will have. We will have a row of French barrels that face the mall. Shoppers who want to go to H&M or to transit will be walking by the 200-foot store front of our working winery.

How does this City Winery compare to your other ones?

Right now, it’s one of the best music rooms we have. Between our seven cities, we have 13 stages. I would say our main stage here is the best of all. It was a perfect canvas to paint our picture since it was a column-free room. PREIT and Macerich have given us a good allowance to build something great. It was one of our largest construction budgets to date. It was more per square foot than ever, and a new record for us. We are very proud of the outcome. The room is going to sound really great and the design came out really great.

How do you think it compares with some of the other entertainment venues in the city?

We’ve definitely built a better mousetrap than any other small music room in the city. It’s going to be the place to play. It has 300-seat in main stage area and 150 seats in the smaller venue. The other thing is because we have seven cities we are able to offer artists multiple city tours and that’s a real positive.

Does City Winery host private events?

We do a lot of private parties and large group private parties. It's 25 percent of our business. In Chicago, we did 45 weddings last year. If you think about it...if you’re in a city and you want to do a wedding in wine country but don’t necessarily want to fly everyone you know to California or Italy, this is a great environment. It’s turnkey. One of the design elements we did in Philadelphia is via some large, sliding glass doors we can connect the smaller music room we call the Loft with the restaurant. We can double the capacity for a party. That is a unique development. If someone wanted to rent out the whole thing, we could accommodate up to 1,200 people.

Who is your architect?

The basic design and set up comes from me. I’m a wannabe architect. I applied to Washington University’s architecture program. My portfolio was a bunch of rec rooms I did over a summer in high school. A partner and I did eight of them. In my interview at WashU, the woman said to me: ‘You got people to pay you for this?’ I said: ‘Yeah.’ She then told me the she would strongly recommend I go into the business program at WashU and that the architecture school wasn’t where I was best suited. In the end, I’m designing and building spaces all over the country.

[DudeGuy]

I was just walking on Market Street and there are a bunch of static billboards on the mall from 11th - 9th street. Right now they're featuring Dunkin Donuts. It looks like there is wiring for a more robust display on the corner of 10th street, but otherwise I think we're just looking at signage

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by DudeGuy

I was just walking on Market Street and there are a bunch of static billboards on the mall from 11th - 9th street. Right now they're featuring Dunkin Donuts. It looks like there is wiring for a more robust display on the corner of 10th street, but otherwise I think we're just looking at signage

Well there you have it. Definitely less dynamic and interesting. Cost-cutting? Hopefully someone can snap a photo of it at some point.

Anyone know what's going on at the old-Aramark Tower? I'm assuming they're trying to take the building's lobby out of the early-1980s and bring it into modern day - any renderings? Will they take advantage of the opportunity to put digital displays up there?

[DudeGuy]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Well there you have it. Definitely less dynamic and interesting. Cost-cutting? Hopefully someone can snap a photo of it at some point.

Anyone know what's going on at the old-Aramark Tower? I'm assuming they're trying to take the building's lobby out of the early-1980s and bring it into modern day - any renderings? Will they take advantage of the opportunity to put digital displays up there?

I will likely be in the area today so I'll snap a picture of all the progress (City Winery, billboards, etc.)

As far as the old Aramark tower, it's being turned into offices for Jefferson. Not sure what is happening at the ground level but it looks like they've been gutting the interior of the whole building. I've seen guys working at night in the upper floors.

[blart]

Friday, 9/13
York St, just north of Frankford

[DIESELPOLO]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

Build the towers

FDP6

Where is this proposal from?

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Well there you have it. Definitely less dynamic and interesting. Cost-cutting? Hopefully someone can snap a photo of it at some point.

Bummer! I'd like to think any static displays are placeholders for a delayed shipment of eventual LED screens, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyone know what's going on at the old-Aramark Tower? I'm assuming they're trying to take the building's lobby out of the early-1980s and bring it into modern day - any renderings? Will they take advantage of the opportunity to put digital displays up there?

Here's an image someone posted in UrbanPHL:


…and the UrbanPHL facebook thread for anyone here who is in that group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/grea...3520070670279/

[DudeGuy]

Photos from East Market. There are LED billboards at 9th, and it looks like there is space for one on 10th street as well. Mid-block appears to be billboards only.


9th Street


9th Street


9th-10th


10th Street