PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by City Wide

I believe that the I-95 cap will be part of PDOT's rebuilding of the highway, and that section isn't on the schedule for a number of years. Does anyone know if PDOT has started having public meeting about their process? That would be a great time for the public to press for a smaller highway and supporting a rebuild that includes making Delaware Ave much more urban and user friendly to users who aren't in a car.
I hope the City is pushing for the plans to done in such a way that would easily allow the intersection between I-95 and I-676 to be buried if monies for that ever become available in the future. Also the planning for the I-95 rebuild should take into consideration the possibility of somehow extending mass transport to the riverfront.

They in the middle of a 10 year project to ADD capacity to 95 north of center city. According to an article written last month, they will turn their attention to the southern leg in Philly after this. They are not going to reduce the capacity on 95, if anything they may decide just to maintain existing lanes south of 676 as opposed to adding as they are on the northern end.

[cardeza]

The CDR proposals for Feb are online. 1 Dock Street (sheraton) is on the list for next month.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by cardeza

They in the middle of a 10 year project to ADD capacity to 95 north of center city. According to an article written last month, they will turn their attention to the southern leg in Philly after this. They are not going to reduce the capacity on 95, if anything they may decide just to maintain existing lanes south of 676 as opposed to adding as they are on the northern end.

http://www.philly.com/transportation...-20181221.html

http://95revive.com/

It sounds like 'the cap' work might start next year!

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by cardeza

They in the middle of a 10 year project to ADD capacity to 95 north of center city. According to an article written last month, they will turn their attention to the southern leg in Philly after this. They are not going to reduce the capacity on 95, if anything they may decide just to maintain existing lanes south of 676 as opposed to adding as they are on the northern end.

Hopefully they get rid of the South Street exit while they are at it. Left hand exits are horrible for traffic flow.

[Yurkek]

01/28/19 Took some photos of the Aramark building. I think it turned out really nice.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

I’ve heard good things about the Catholic Church site

Recently? Do tell....

[McBane]

Re that proposed overbuild on South 16th Street next to Monks. I'm curious why this building is getting the overbuild treatment to begin with. The OFC article says it was built in the 1980's. It's certainly nothing that anyone would fight to preserve. Why not demo and start from scratch? Is it really that much cheaper?

[Jawnadelphia]

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

I’ve heard good things about the Catholic Church site

This post escaped my eye. Really? I originally thought that since the Catholic church was in some deep feces that they probably wouldn't be looking to expand, but now that I think about it they could be selling the lots to make capital.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by McBane

Re that proposed overbuild on South 16th Street next to Monks. I'm curious why this building is getting the overbuild treatment to begin with. The OFC article says it was built in the 1980's. It's certainly nothing that anyone would fight to preserve. Why not demo and start from scratch? Is it really that much cheaper?

It is demo and starting from scratch. It's not an overbuild. But the building design needs to be approved by the Historical Commission because it sits in a historic district. They are the ones who pushed for setbacks. It supposedly stemmed from the desire to make a distinct break from the more traditional base of the building with the floors above. I think that's a questionable decision, but it will yield some nice terrace space (at the cost of interior space for the two top floors). I emailed with the architects and developer on this and will be talking to them. I'm potentially interested in buying here.

[McBane]

That's not how the Catholic Church site is going to work. It was never planned to be developed by the Church itself, so their financial difficulties is a non-factor. And I don't think they were ever planning on selling the land either. I believe they were looking to sign one of those 99 year lease agreements with a developer who would be responsible for designing, financing, and building.

And back to the building next to Monks - I have to then say the design is terrible. Why would anyone intentionally design a building to look like an overbuild? If you're going to build a certain style - be it modern/glass or traditional/brick - commit to that design 100% of the way. I personally never cared for the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde trend.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by McBane

And back to the building next to Monks - I have to then say the design is terrible. Why would anyone intentionally design a building to look like an overbuild? If you're going to build a certain style - be it modern/glass or traditional/brick - commit to that design 100% of the way. I personally never cared for the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde trend.

Agreed. Interestingly, the Architectural Committee recommended denial of this design too, but the full Commission approved it. It's always interesting to read the minutes of the various meetings to get at the nuances in their thinking (or sometimes over-thinking).

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Agreed. Interestingly, the Architectural Committee recommended denial of this design too, but the full Commission approved it. It's always interesting to read the minutes of the various meetings to get at the nuances in their thinking (or sometimes over-thinking).

I agree it looks bad. But I do want a terrace...or 2...

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Recently? Do tell....

Speak of the devil (or maybe not in this case)! Hopefully this sheds some light.

Archdiocese moves closer to developing property near cathedral

A $100 million to $120 million apartment project is being proposed for a portion of property the Archdiocese of Philadelphia owns near its Cathedral Basillica of Saints Peter and Paul in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.

A block encompassing the archdiocesan pastoral center, its Holy Family Center, and the cathedral has been viewed for potential development by the church. Of those sites, the one closest to being realized as a development is located on the southeast corner of the church property along Race Street.

Nothing is finalized and it’s still early in the process, though a proposed apartment project with 240 units is envisioned for that corner. The building, which is being designed, could total about 250,000 square feet.

While smaller in scale, the project would be similar to one the archdiocese was involved in at its Newman Center at 3720 Chestnut St. in West Philadelphia and would follow the same sale and investment strategy. There, investors from Singapore bought the Chestnut Street site for $18 million and are funding the remainder of the $160 million project, which involves building a 30-story apartment tower with 420 units.

More: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

[Jawnadelphia]

^Very cool. I am hoping for a tall, slender, glass tower here on the corner-- it would look cool against all the other architectural styles on Logan Square.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Speak of the devil (or maybe not in this case)! Hopefully this sheds some light.

Archdiocese moves closer to developing property near cathedral



More: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

Just to get people stirred up---some of the drawings are nice. The so called Cathedral Square. I hope the need and the ability to go tall is there, not just alittle stump of a building

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=225593

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Speak of the devil (or maybe not in this case)! Hopefully this sheds some light.

Archdiocese moves closer to developing property near cathedral



More: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

Thanks...Urbanthusiat.

Two additional things to note from the article:

(1)The project involves the smaller parcel on the corner and it is 240 units and approx. 250,000 sq. ft. This project is still 2-3 years out as they are seeking international investor(s) to take a stake in the project.

(2) Two other parcels near the Basilica could eventually come into play and could accommadate 900k square feet.

So, it doesn't seem as imminent as the PBJ title states.

[Kfmcshan]

Another lowrise proposal on Delaware Ave between Sugarhouse and Penn Treaty Park - 60 townhomes. Not sure why they do not pursue high density here.

Link to Full PDF

[summersm343]

^^I'm ok with this. I would prefer to see more high density here also, but I can understand why some developers are shying away from higher density developments with ground floor retail. Need more people living on the waterfront before more retail/commercial makes sense.

[Urbanthusiat]

All things considered, those townhomes are still fairly high density and a big improvement over what's there currently. Having more homeowners in the city can never really be a bad thing IMO. Adding supply will keep homes in Philly relatively affordable in the long run compared to other cities like NYC, Boston, and DC, which have major supply issues for single-family homes. High homeownership is one of the things that's great about Philly. Streamline has been working on developing the parcel across the street with the Edward corner building, so there will hopefully be some additional multifamily density here in the near future as well.