PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[blart]

Besides the Piazza towers, there is a lot going on around 2nd and Girard.
9/17:

[iheartphilly]

Philadelphia school board changes its mind, approves tax break for Hilco refinery redevelopment

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=3#cxrecs_s

Article behind paywall. However, article title suggest a positive step in the right direction. Also, it should be a KOZ too.

[Justin7]

^ That's actually a WHYY article: https://whyy.org/articles/school-boa...ent-tax-break/

And here's the inky writeup: https://www.inquirer.com/business/ph...-20200918.html

[iheartphilly]

^
Thanks for the links to the article.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by blart

Besides the Piazza towers, there is a lot going on around 2nd and Girard.

Thanks for sharing - amazing the scale of development that continues in both Fishtown and No. Libs.

[Boku]

Construction of Philadelphia Fusion esports arena put on Covid halt

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...a-delayed.html

The opening of Comcast Spectacor’s $50 million Philadelphia purpose-built esports arena — slated to be the first of its kind in North America — will be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The highly publicized Fusion Arena was supposed to be finished in 2021, but in a statement to Sports Business Journal, Comcast revealed that the project is now on hold, virtually ensuring that the original opening date will not be met. The venue was only in the early stages of construction — the groundbreaking was last September — so the delay could be significant.

“As we navigate through the many challenges and unknowns that the pandemic has forced upon our ambition to open Fusion Arena in 2021, we have decided to pause the project until we have more clarity. We hope to move forward in the near future,” the company said in the statement.

The venue is situated at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which houses Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and Wells Fargo Center.

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMSCA) remains hopeful that the project will be resumed at some point, but the timing of that remains unclear. In addition to hosting Fusion home games, the venue is being built with an eye toward hosting all sorts of competitive gaming events amid the rise of esports.

[philly_account12]

Originally Posted by Boku

Construction of Philadelphia Fusion esports arena put on Covid halt

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...a-delayed.html

Figured this was going to be put on hold at some point. The Overwatch League that the Fusion play in has struggled this year. For those that don't follow OWL, this is the 3rd year the league has existed and the first season where they made the switch from all of the teams playing in one location in LA to each team having a home arena and operating like professional sports leagues. They got about 1/4 of the season done before Covid obviously put a stop to all of that. They also switched from streaming on Twitch to YouTube this season and viewership numbers are way down so they're struggling across the board. Comcast has the money to build a stadium though so maybe they decide to move forward at some point

[summersm343]

South Philly’s Washington Avenue gets city approval for major transformation beginning in summer 2021

Sweeping safety changes to improve chaotic Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia are on the way after a stamp of approval from city officials.

A redesign upgrading the dangerous corridor’s layout to three driving lanes, two parking lanes, and two parking-protected bike lanes has already gained favor among residents. Now it’s the city’s official plan to make Washington Avenue safer for pedestrians, bikers, and drivers, the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability (oTIS) announced Monday. Construction is expected to begin next summer.


Re-timed signals will better manage traffic flow while new loading spaces are expected to remedy double-parking problems. A change in parking regulations would mean fewer cars taking up the same spots for hours. The plan also benefits SEPTA’s Route 64 bus riders by incorporating “floating bus islands," or a designated area to safely board and exit buses, at each stop.

Read more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20200921.html

[summersm343]

1700 N Howard Street

Current site:


Current site:


Rendering 1:


Rendering 2:


Rendering 3:


Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...ding-preserved

[summersm343]

Progress at Cambridge & Corinthian, Plus Renderings







Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...lus-renderings

[summersm343]

Unexciting Adaptive Reuse Planned For Huge South Kensington Parcel

Current site:


Current site:


Rendering 1:


Rendering 2:


Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...sington-parcel

[ScreamShatter]

The Howard proposal looks great!

[PurpleWhiteOut]

I know that OCF article is down on that one story building reuse, and yeah it's short and not a looker, but I personally like to see office space and retail over single family homes. Big parcels won't be around forever, and non residential space is important for the staying power of the neighborhood over time. Live/work is better than a bedroom community and it will be hard to build office space when all the industrial parcels are gone.

Also I LOVEthe Corinthian project. MM partners does great work. I lived around there for a bit and it's near a context insensitive project where a stone church used to be at 869 Corinthian. Glad to see it can be done

[ScreamShatter]

^ Agreed on the commercial space. In general, these neighborhoods in Kensington are being smart to incorporate commercial and office spaces now. Personally, hope we see more of that as I like smaller businesses being part of these communities and not in center city. Makes for a more diverse walkable community where you can live, work, and play.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Proposal for 400-Unit Conversion of International House in West Philly
Includes a new tower and an addition for a grocery store that meets the street.



http://www.rising.realestate/proposa...n-west-philly/

[mcgrath618]

I wish they’d blow the whole thing to smithereens, but this is nice too.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

I know it's a divisive style, but I think it's the best brutalist structure we have in the city, and thankfully has more windows than average structures from the time lol. Making it interact with the street fixes most of its problems from an urbanist perspective, and I wish more midcentury buildings with their awful plazas would consider doing the same.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I wish they’d blow the whole thing to smithereens, but this is nice too.

If they blew it up and started from scratch, the chances the new building would be even half as visually interesting as this project probably hovers somewhere around .0001% and even that may be generous. This looks like a great project.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by allovertown

If they blew it up and started from scratch, the chances the new building would be even half as visually interesting as this project probably hovers somewhere around .0001% and even that may be generous. This looks like a great project.

Exactly. Can you say "metal panels"?

[Justin7]

I wish they would take down bunker on Ludlow, put the grocery there, and leave Chestnut* alone. This proposal ruins the good and keeps the bad.



*The walls along the sidewalk do need to come down.