PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by gjrip

160-64 N 2nd demo has started. That was fast.

Passing the site this morning, all the buildings appear to be down.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Northeast of center city is going through a total transformation; literally going from empty lots to an entire new city with density, shopping, restaurants, etc. Watching the speed of the Del Ave, Frankford, Front St, and American boom is mindblowing.

I was in Fishtown and South Kensington on Saturday. I don't get out there as often anymore, as I now live in the Northwest. Taking a walk through that area made my head spin! Buildings are rising on American Street, new homes and duplexes/triples/quadraplexes are going up as far north as Huntingdon Street, there are a shrinking number of vacant lots along Front Street, the area surrounding York-Dauphin is nearly filled in, and new businesses are continuing to pop up further north along Frankford Ave, among many other things I noticed. Who could have pictured all of this, even a few years back??

While on the El a few months ago, I spotted a new building rising near D and Cambria in Kensington. It will take a while, but development will seep into the broader Kensington area. We're already seeing a ton of new things rising on the streets between Frankford and Aramingo (the Port Richmond/Kensington border is arguably the rail line that runs along Trenton Avenue), so I wouldn't be surprised to see developers increasingly building between Kensington and Frankford Avenues.

Originally Posted by DeltaNerd

I wonder how long is it going to be when places like Juniata, Kensington, North Philly at Broad is going to change.

IMO, Juniata has always been relatively stable and attractive given its location. I think Frankford will see new development before Juniata, as the latter has an attractive housing stock.

As for North Philly, I'm seeing new buildings going up as far north as York Street when I take the Regional Rail into/from the office. There is already a lot of action in that area. When I was a Temple student, you did not want to live east of campus due to the lack of anything in Ludlow. Now, the tide has changed and the pace of development continues to march north. Furthermore, if 2700 North Broad and the North Station District can get going (which they absolutely should, being marketed as life sciences space with close proximity to Center City, Temple University, and even NYC via Amtrak at North Philadelphia Station), then living near/on/above Lehigh Avenue will suddenly become attractive.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

I was in Fishtown and South Kensington on Saturday. I don't get out there as often anymore, as I now live in the Northwest. Taking a walk through that area made my head spin! Buildings are rising on American Street, new homes and duplexes/triples/quadraplexes are going up as far north as Huntingdon Street, there are a shrinking number of vacant lots along Front Street, the area surrounding York-Dauphin is nearly filled in, and new businesses are continuing to pop up further north along Frankford Ave, among many other things I noticed. Who could have pictured all of this, even a few years back??

How is the development looking?
Nice solid infill or a lot of cheapness with a few nice projects here and there?
Genuinely asking, I haven't deeply explored Fishtown / NoLibs since Nov, 2019! Back then, it was a mix of good and bad, and also some nice conversions. My friend actually just sold his house on Howard Street across from the massive apartment building under construction, which will look great.
http://www.rising.realestate/103-uni...ks-el-station/

I'm in Center City / U City often and the development and general energy are impressive.

I'm excited to make a visit to Stateside Vodka bar / tasting room soon though, on N. Hancock Street. (it finally re-opened, great vodka!).

[PHLtoNYC]

Interesting statistic.

Philadelphia's surge in investor home purchases leads the nation, and it isn't even close

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-homes-q1.html

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Interesting statistic.

Philadelphia's surge in investor home purchases leads the nation, and it isn't even close

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-homes-q1.html

Worth noting however that Philadelphia still has a slightly lower than average share of investor sales at 19% vs the national average of 20% per the article.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Worth noting however that Philadelphia still has a slightly lower than average share of investor sales at 19% vs the national average of 20% per the article.

Presumably, the city is still somewhat recovering from the pandemic urban exodus.

The stat seems to be reflecting a remarkable surge during the first half of 2022 that’s leading the nation. Not exactly sure how or why but it is interesting…

“…total number of investor-purchased homes dropped nationally by 11.5% quarter-over-quarter to 77,829 in the first three months of 2022, while Philadelphia's investor activity soared. The 55% increase locally was almost triple the next closest metro — Newark, New Jersey with a 21% increase.”

[TempleGuy1000]

Here is the direct link for the Biz Journal article:
Investor Home Purchases Slump 17% From Pandemic Peak as Interest Rates Rise

To me, the bigger story is simply Investor's bought absolutely nothing here in 2021 lol... Even if you add Montgomery County back into Philadelphia's total the amount is less than what was invested in Jacksonville, Florida.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

Here is the direct link for the Biz Journal article:
Investor Home Purchases Slump 17% From Pandemic Peak as Interest Rates Rise

To me, the bigger story is simply Investor's bought absolutely nothing here in 2021 lol... Even if you add Montgomery County back into Philadelphia's total the amount is less than what was invested in Jacksonville, Florida.

All good points. I guess it’s better than nothing or further retraction this year lol

[TempleGuy1000]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

All good points. I guess it’s better than nothing or further retraction this year lol

Well NIMBY's use information like this to further their point by saying things like "it's not that we aren't building enough, it's that corporations are buying all the houses for sale! Look Philly saw the largest increase!"

Which in some places in the south maybe true, but not in Philadelphia. The truth is Philly didn't build enough houses in the last decade to match the increase in population, which in turn drove up the cost of everything. Not investors buying 'all the houses'.

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

How is the development looking?
Nice solid infill or a lot of cheapness with a few nice projects here and there?
Genuinely asking, I haven't deeply explored Fishtown / NoLibs since Nov, 2019! Back then, it was a mix of good and bad, and also some nice conversions. My friend actually just sold his house on Howard Street across from the massive apartment building under construction, which will look great.
http://www.rising.realestate/103-uni...ks-el-station/

I'm in Center City / U City often and the development and general energy are impressive.

I'm excited to make a visit to Stateside Vodka bar / tasting room soon though, on N. Hancock Street. (it finally re-opened, great vodka!).

Old Kensington, East Kensington, and Norris Square have basically turned into what NoLibs was 10-12 years ago. It’s worth a drive from Girard to Lehigh on Frankford, and then back up Front and then over to American. It’s almost like an entirely new city section over the past 5 years.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Old Kensington, East Kensington, and Norris Square have basically turned into what NoLibs was 10-12 years ago. It’s worth a drive from Girard to Lehigh on Frankford, and then back up Front and then over to American. It’s almost like an entirely new city section over the past 5 years.

Totally agree with this assessment!


Also, with new construction single-family and multifamily buildings pushing further and further north, it probably won't be too long until we see new construction on Lehigh Avenue west of Kensington Ave. Additionally, I wonder when we'll reach the point where people start buying in Fairhill. If people are buying new construction homes as far north as Huntingdon Street, it stands to reason that some people won't have an issue buying immediately north of Lehigh. At some point, there will be very little difference buying immediately north or south of Lehigh, except for a discount in price to be realized immediately north.

[gjrip]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Passing the site this morning, all the buildings appear to be down.

Thanks for the heads up. From my walk at lunch:

[Redddog]

Holy sh!t, that was fast.

[mcgrath618]

Hated what was there before, and what's replacing it is only an improvement in function--not form.

[gjrip]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Hated what was there before, and what's replacing it is only an improvement in function--not form.

I def agree the newest design is the worst proposal so far for the lot (particularly the gross gray fin on the west face) but it's a massive form improvement over the tiny little kitchen equipment relic and its parking lot, no?! I feel like the rounded windows will look much better IRL than in the renderings and the gray color might look pretty nice next to Bridge on Race with it's sorta matching color scheme. Race-facing street level is a let down, can't deny that. Hopefully Race Street Cafe is able to spruce it up with more outdoor seating like during covid.

But considering I walk by this all the time and live nearby it could be argued that this is just wishful thinking lol idk. As I've said before I won't mind this project in the long run if we can get something good to fill up the lot directly east of Bridge on Race.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Hated what was there before, and what's replacing it is only an improvement in function--not form.

Agreed. What a shame. Why is it so hard to get these guys to do the right thing?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by gjrip

I def agree the newest design is the worst proposal so far for the lot (particularly the gross gray fin on the west face) but it's a massive form improvement over the tiny little kitchen equipment relic and its parking lot, no?! I feel like the rounded windows will look much better IRL than in the renderings and the gray color might look pretty nice next to Bridge on Race with it's sorta matching color scheme. Race-facing street level is a let down, can't deny that. Hopefully Race Street Cafe is able to spruce it up with more outdoor seating like during covid.

But considering I walk by this all the time and live nearby it could be argued that this is just wishful thinking lol idk. As I've said before I won't mind this project in the long run if we can get something good to fill up the lot directly east of Bridge on Race.

Read what I said carefully: It's an improvement in function and not form. It represents a higher use of the land, but ultimately is a design that will look dated and tacky in about 10 years.
Compare that to some of the other beautiful, contextual projects going up in Old City (like that surface lot between Market and Chestnut on 2nd) and it's no question that those will stand the test of time, while this will (hopefully) be torn down for something better in a decade or two.

[gjrip]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Read what I said carefully: It's an improvement in function and not form. It represents a higher use of the land, but ultimately is a design that will look dated and tacky in about 10 years.
Compare that to some of the other beautiful, contextual projects going up in Old City (like that surface lot between Market and Chestnut on 2nd) and it's no question that those will stand the test of time, while this will (hopefully) be torn down for something better in a decade or two.

Totally understood and agreed long-term. It's not even close to the ideal form for the location, that's for sure. But even in the short term I do still think it's an improvement over what's there in both function and form. That old building was just such a ragged POS. But yeah when something better comes along I will def have no problem cheering on the wrecking ball either

[gjrip]

My defense of the building stops here tho lol it's a bad design and i acknowledge that

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

Totally agree with this assessment!


Also, with new construction single-family and multifamily buildings pushing further and further north, it probably won't be too long until we see new construction on Lehigh Avenue west of Kensington Ave. Additionally, I wonder when we'll reach the point where people start buying in Fairhill. If people are buying new construction homes as far north as Huntingdon Street, it stands to reason that some people won't have an issue buying immediately north of Lehigh. At some point, there will be very little difference buying immediately north or south of Lehigh, except for a discount in price to be realized immediately north.

It’s so hard to predict what’ll be the next areas with major development. It could go north on the Broad St Line. I think the area between Old City and NoLibs and down to Del Ave is one of the most potentially desirable locations, if I were making a bet. If the city would create a new square block park in there, we’d see that area boom with massive development.

I also think Del Ave could be very desirable from a quality of life standpoint. If they put some small marinas, mid to high rises with pools on top, and beef up commercial— there’s def a demographic who’d want that waterfront living. It’s a market niche that Philly doesn’t have yet.