PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by cardeza

quite a bit of upzoning from Blackwell in UC coming soon

https://www.phila.gov/media/20191009...10-15-2019.pdf

One of the bills is an upzoning of Garden Court Plaza to CMX-3, which would allow them to build more towers on their property by-right. They proposed such a plan awhile back and neighbors flipped over it. There is also a downzoning of the 52nd Street corridor to CMX-2 from CMX-3. Lame.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

One of the bills is an upzoning of Garden Court Plaza to CMX-3, which would allow them to build more towers on their property by-right. They proposed such a plan awhile back and neighbors flipped over it. There is also a downzoning of the 52nd Street corridor to CMX-2 from CMX-3. Lame.

Yeah, and it was a great project too. A shame. Post Brothers declined to seek a variance in the face of strong neighborhood opposition. I imagine they will push forward notwithstanding neighborhood opposition if this becomes a by-right project...

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Yeah, and it was a great project too. A shame. Post Brothers declined to seek a variance in the face of strong neighborhood opposition. I imagine they will push forward notwithstanding neighborhood opposition if this becomes a by-right project...

Yup, they'd be foolish no to--- someone just reminded me that the downzoning of 52nd could be very positive-- CMX-3 has that pesky parking requirement which won't work well with those small parcels, CMX-2 and 2.5 will lead to more development there in the longrun.

[Jayfar]

New Philly penthouse listed for a record $25M. But where are the condos for middle-income buyers? | Inquirer.com

Excerpt:
The Laurel’s record-breaking quest comes at a time when Philadelphia is facing challenges on both ends of the condo market. Despite demand for more affordably priced condos, many of the city’s new towers have been designed with high-end Philadelphians in mind.

And while the city’s most recent major projects found huge successes — Tom Scannapieco’s 500 Walnut sold multiple units for more than $8 million and Carl Dranoff’s One Riverside penthouse was claimed for $7 million — ultra-pricey condos elsewhere have lingered on the market. Multiple penthouses at the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton have sat unclaimed since construction finished in 2008, and a penthouse with raw space at 10 Rittenhouse was recently taken off the market to be finished after being listed for $15 million two years ago.

Meanwhile, a 46th-floor condo in Two Liberty Place with a nearly 2,400-square-foot terrace also has struggled to sell. This year, it was relisted for $11.5 million, down 20 percent from 2017.

[snip]

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

New Philly penthouse listed for a record $25M. But where are the condos for middle-income buyers? | Inquirer.com

Excerpt:
The Laurel’s record-breaking quest comes at a time when Philadelphia is facing challenges on both ends of the condo market. Despite demand for more affordably priced condos, many of the city’s new towers have been designed with high-end Philadelphians in mind.

And while the city’s most recent major projects found huge successes — Tom Scannapieco’s 500 Walnut sold multiple units for more than $8 million and Carl Dranoff’s One Riverside penthouse was claimed for $7 million — ultra-pricey condos elsewhere have lingered on the market. Multiple penthouses at the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton have sat unclaimed since construction finished in 2008, and a penthouse with raw space at 10 Rittenhouse was recently taken off the market to be finished after being listed for $15 million two years ago.

Meanwhile, a 46th-floor condo in Two Liberty Place with a nearly 2,400-square-foot terrace also has struggled to sell. This year, it was relisted for $11.5 million, down 20 percent from 2017.

[snip]

I think the article answers its own question at the end. There are plenty of condos for those with more modest incomes. They just aren't new construction in large highrise buildings. For obvious reasons. In addition to the smaller format places ID'd in the article, there are lot of older highrise buildings that have much more affordable condos. As to the top end of the market, I'm not too surprised. It's only a handful people here with the means and desire to buy places that big and that expensive. I think some of this will end up needing to be divided to sell.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

Yup, they'd be foolish no to--- someone just reminded me that the downzoning of 52nd could be very positive-- CMX-3 has that pesky parking requirement which won't work well with those small parcels, CMX-2 and 2.5 will lead to more development there in the longrun.

Good to hear re the downzoning.

[hammersklavier]

CMX-2.5 is meant to be appropriate for neighborhood main streets, and it's been fairly successful on Ridge Ave. in Francisville too. I'm surprised that the 52nd St. bill doesn't just rezone to 2.5 instead of 2 (which is definitely not dense enough for the corridor).

[Milksteak]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/12/glas...-openings.html

We made the list for cities with the highest job growth according to a CNBC article. Here is the breakdown:

2. Philadelphia
Job openings: 112,692

Year-over-year growth: 6.4%

Median base pay: $57,502 per year

Fastest-growing industries: government, media and publishing, restaurant and bars

[Aaamazarite]

Look who got a new permit:

https://li.phila.gov/#details?entity...0CHESTNUT%20ST

[Aaamazarite]

Folks:

This garbage bill increasing parking minimums for many common zoning designations is going to the Committee on Rules tomorrow:

https://phila.legistar.com/Legislati...&Search=160710

Contact your councilmember and remind them that this is an idiotic bill

Here's a list of councilmember contact info:

https://bit.ly/2Mh4UYH

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

Look who got a new permit:

https://li.phila.gov/#details?entity...0CHESTNUT%20ST

Nice.

OWNER
TRS EST STEPHEN GIRARD
MAILING ADDRESS
1101-53 CHESTNUT ST
19107 - 3619


NEW CONSTRUCTION OF 23 STORY STRUCTURE(EAST TOWER) WITH ROOF TOP MECHANICAL PENTHOUSES, USE AS MEDICAL OFFICES GROUND FLR RETAIL. WITH 50 CLASS 1A BICYCLE SPACES NEW CONSTRUCTION OF 24 STORY STRUCTURE(WEST TOWER) WITH ROOFTOP PEMTHOUSES FOR FURTURE USE AS MULTI FAMILY (396 DWELLING UNTS) GRD FLR RETAIL W/135 CLASS A BICYCLE SPACES. SHARED UNDERGROUND ACCESORY PARKING GARAGE 3LEVELS CONTAINING 300 PARKING SPACES (6ACCESSIBLE, 2VAN, AND 15EV) ACCESS TO EXISTING SHARED LOADING AREA ACCESSED FROM 12TH ST(10 SPACES)

[SEFTA]

Oh my. Market East!
23 stories, not bad

I have 2 renderings shown. How relative they are I don't know
1101 Chestnut Street -Market East

2014-0514-Site-Plan_0

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

Folks:

This garbage bill increasing parking minimums for many common zoning designations is going to the Committee on Rules tomorrow:

https://phila.legistar.com/Legislati...&Search=160710

Contact your councilmember and remind them that this is an idiotic bill

Here's a list of councilmember contact info:

https://bit.ly/2Mh4UYH

I doubt that will do anything since they likely have far more people complaining about how parking issues have worsened in their neighborhoods

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Nice.

wow, this is really happening. No wonder the demo finally progressed.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

I doubt that will do anything since they likely have far more people complaining about how parking issues have worsened in their neighborhoods

To be fair (although I don't agree with the bill), far too many Philadelphians need to have cars because far too many of our jobs are in the suburbs. That of course, is the case, because the tax code in the city is prohibitive to creating more jobs in the city.

If City Council was serious about fixing zoning issues, they would be serious about reforming the tax code to take a larger portion of this regions jobs.

If they did, you'd see an immediate decrease in parking demands as more people would be able to use the transportation network that already exists to get to and from work.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

If they did, you'd see an immediate decrease in parking demands as more people would be able to use the transportation network that already exists to get to and from work.

Thank you for speaking the truth.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

To be fair (although I don't agree with the bill), far too many Philadelphians need to have cars because far too many of our jobs are in the suburbs. That of course, is the case, because the tax code in the city is prohibitive to creating more jobs in the city.

If City Council was serious about fixing zoning issues, they would be serious about reforming the tax code to take a larger portion of this regions jobs.

If they did, you'd see an immediate decrease in parking demands as more people would be able to use the transportation network that already exists to get to and from work.

Thats only one reason and changing the tax code doesnt mean alll good jobs would relocate to the city. Many firms do not want to be in the city, period. Many cities that have a disproportionate % of regional jobs downtown have geographic barriers that impede the gradual diffusion of office developments into the burbs. When you look at sunbelt cities that typically dont face such constraints you see less dense CBDs and multiple business center nodes.

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

To be fair (although I don't agree with the bill), far too many Philadelphians need to have cars because far too many of our jobs are in the suburbs. That of course, is the case, because the tax code in the city is prohibitive to creating more jobs in the city.

If City Council was serious about fixing zoning issues, they would be serious about reforming the tax code to take a larger portion of this regions jobs.

If they did, you'd see an immediate decrease in parking demands as more people would be able to use the transportation network that already exists to get to and from work.

Amen to all this.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Amen to all this.

Just don't see this EVER happening.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Just don't see this EVER happening.

It wont and if it did you still wouldnt see mass exodus from the suburbs. In the real world (i.e. where people other than cityphiles live) there are many who prefer office parks to CBDs. There are many who do not want to use public transportation as well. Sunbelt cities have relatively low taxes and yet they do not feature the type of office high rise density as their older counterparts in the NE. Drastic oversimplification to say tax rates solely determine office building development.