PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

I like it except for the blank wall facing the river - what the fuck?... and the lack of retail along Ridge Ave. This may get shredded by the CDR lol

[jmj]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Yes, I see a lot of momentum moving into Mt Airey and I believe in Germantown in the long run. I'm not sure about rentals there right now due to it's location and focus on more families (that's a much more cautious group of gentrifiers unless there's an amazing new school catchment ala Penn Alexander), but it's definitely on the upswing. If they would bring back the trolley, I think that would do wonders for the neighborhood as well. It's a pity SEPTA is so staunchly against the service.

There is already lots of rehab action going on in germantown and Weinstein is leading charge to put $12M into Wayne Junction area. It's not a future thing, its's already happening. A few years ago finding a renovated home in Germantown was like needle in a haystack. Now they are commonplace.

Trolley will not come back and for anyone commuting downtown its not practical anyway. THe train is the best bet from that area. Depending on where you board the ride is 15-25 minutes. CHW takes longer due to its routing.

[jmj]

Where is the Meckey Company Building? THe state awarded the project $200k for conversion into a charter school but I can't find the address anywhere. Supposedly a $40M project.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by jmj

Where is the Meckey Company Building? THe state awarded the project $200k for conversion into a charter school but I can't find the address anywhere. Supposedly a $40M project.

Still looking for the address, but here are specifics on the PA Tax Credit.

Meckey Company Building – Philadelphia – Rehabilitation of National Register listed industrial building into a charter school. $150,000 tax credit allocation, $39,189,127 in estimated construction expenditures

https://pahistoricpreservation.com/s...credit-update/

EDIT: From The Inquirer of Mar 31, 1914, under Building News: "Ground will be broken today for a five-story factory building on the north side of Allegheny Avenue, west of Seventeenth street, for the A. Meckey Company, to cost $26,000 exclusive of the site. It will be of brick, 110 feet by 98 feet 7 inches."

Looking at some hiring classified ads on Newspapers.com, I see A. Meckey listed at 1705 W. Allegheny Ave, "YOUNG MAN wanted in paint department of toy factory for puttying and painting" in June 1916.

[jmj]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Still looking for the address, but here are specifics on the PA Tax Credit.

Meckey Company Building – Philadelphia – Rehabilitation of National Register listed industrial building into a charter school. $150,000 tax credit allocation, $39,189,127 in estimated construction expenditures

https://pahistoricpreservation.com/s...credit-update/

it's crazy that a)the official press release doesn't have an address and b)Google turned up nothing useful.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by jmj

it's crazy that a)the official press release doesn't have an address and b)Google turned up nothing useful.

See the updated info added to my previous post, but, yes, there sure is a dearth of info. You've piqued my interest and I'll try to find more. The building can be found on atlas.phila.gov as 1711 W. Allegheny Ave.

Here's a zoning file with interesting details for proposed Cristo Rey High School:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/lni-zoning-pdfs/27-294419.pdf

[jmj]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

See the updated info added to my previous post, but, yes, there sure is a dearth of info. You've piqued my interest and I'll try to find more. The building can be found on atlas.phila.gov as 1711 W. Allegheny Ave.

Here's a zoning file with interesting details for proposed Cristo Rey High School:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/lni-zoning-pdfs/27-294419.pdf

oh so this is the project that has been underway for many months. Oh well.

thanks.

[Jayfar]

-delete-

[jmj]

Not sure if people have seen this video (view our progress) but it has some good behind the scenes construction footage and renderings of FDP, some of which appear to be different from what has been circulated already. If definitely shows what the final facade finishes will be- nothing is staying except for the concrete on the office space.

http://www.fashiondistrictphiladelph.../Redevelopment

Also, in the last PR it says another "entertainment operator" is joining AMC in the section that will house the theater. Wonder what that will be.

[nemesisinphilly]

Originally Posted by jmj

Also, in the last PR it says another "entertainment operator" is joining AMC in the section that will house the theater. Wonder what that will be.

My guess is Dave and Buster's as the current location on Delaware Ave was sold and that lease expires in 2020.

[jmj]

Originally Posted by nemesisinphilly

My guess is Dave and Buster's as the current location on Delaware Ave was sold and that lease expires in 2020.

that would be great. A much more central location. Also, the video clearly shows a render with a residential entrance on Filbert. Seems like that component is definitely happening. They also have renderings (video) of the City Winery exterior.

[Leviathant]

Originally Posted by nemesisinphilly

My guess is Dave and Buster's as the current location on Delaware Ave was sold and that lease expires in 2020.

On a somewhat related note, the marina north of D&B was ripped up and cleared out in the last month or two.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Leviathant

On a somewhat related note, the marina north of D&B was ripped up and cleared out in the last month or two.

I have a boat at the marina in front of Morgan's Pier. The dock master told me that they have no plans on changing Morgans and the marina. But They thought D&Bs was gonna be a goner. Talk of a tower there.

(Though completely unconfirmed in every way possible.)

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by jmj

it's crazy that a)the official press release doesn't have an address and b)Google turned up nothing useful.

Turns out the correct spelling is Mecky after all. The PA press release misspelled it as Meckey, as did a few very old newspaper references, but much more is found searching on Mecky.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by jmj

Not sure if people have seen this video (view our progress) but it has some good behind the scenes construction footage and renderings of FDP, some of which appear to be different from what has been circulated already. If definitely shows what the final facade finishes will be- nothing is staying except for the concrete on the office space.

http://www.fashiondistrictphiladelph.../Redevelopment

Also, in the last PR it says another "entertainment operator" is joining AMC in the section that will house the theater. Wonder what that will be.

If Dave and Busters were to move here that would be a good fit; the tourist trade would like them.

I got a kick out of the video. With all the recent discussions on the importance or lack of importance of the exterior on the over all success of this project, I found it interesting that the video highlights the exterior changes. And no, I'm not passing any judgement on those changes---they are a improvement, but could be a lot better, time will tell.

[Baconboy007]

The cladding that they are putting up around the movie theater on 11th is really nice. If they just took down the old shitty siding on the rest of the untouched parts of the building and put the new cladding up there it would be a tremendous improvement. I can't understand why they are holding on to the rusted out shitty siding that's 30 years old and just pretending that people won't notice that as they approach the building. It makes the entire project look cheap and if I was a major fashion brand I would not want to associate myself with a cheap image.

[jmj]

Originally Posted by Baconboy007

The cladding that they are putting up around the movie theater on 11th is really nice. If they just took down the old shitty siding on the rest of the untouched parts of the building and put the new cladding up there it would be a tremendous improvement. I can't understand why they are holding on to the rusted out shitty siding that's 30 years old and just pretending that people won't notice that as they approach the building. It makes the entire project look cheap and if I was a major fashion brand I would not want to associate myself with a cheap image.

There are multiple renderings showing that the finishes will be different. I don't know why there is still consternation about this. Only the office portion will remain as you see it today. My guess is they don't even have all the new cladding material and likely wont start replacing it until they have all of it. Also, they likely will need to close 9th and 10th streets to replace the cladding on those pedestrian bridges.

[Jawnadelphia]

Fashion District - decorative stuff going on





Lincoln Square:
Sure the design and materials are quite generic, and sadly, representative of the times, but scoring - the Sprouts, Target, Pet Smart, Starbucks, and Sprint store is impressive. The Sprouts looks great.

[iheartphilly]

^

The rail shed looks nothing short of awesome.

[eixample]

Originally Posted by TallCoolOne

Lincoln Square:
Sure the design and materials are quite generic, and sadly, representative of the times, but scoring - the Sprouts, Target, Pet Smart, Starbucks, and Sprint store is impressive. The Sprouts looks great.

I like the Sprouts Market from the outside but the one thing I can't get over is how the rectangular entry extends just a tiny bit over the triangular line of the rail shed roof line. I'm not a designer but this seems off to me. Couldn't they have just made the new part of the building one foot narrower so it just touched the slope of the roof instead of going a tiny bit over? Anyway I am curious to see the inside. The truss of this building was remarkable from an engineering perspective so I hope it is exposed and they didn't put up a drop ceiling.

The movie theater exterior looks nice. That westernmost block of the Fashion District really doesn't look bad at all in person - sure there are a jumble of materials and they may not all look high end but with digital signage and store windows to draw people's attention I don't think anyone will complain. I am much less worried about the exterior of this building then most people here. Even the worst stretches of Market and Chestnut in this area would be fine if only they get decent retail with minimal vacancies and landlords who will simply clean their building exteriors, replace broken windows, etc.