PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^ Agree. Can't get my knickers in a twist over the one story box on a brutalist plaza. I don't see some skinny CMX-5 tower going up next to the old state office building. Maybe they could've been a little taller or more creative with the retail box, but that intersection is just starting to happen. Knocking down the urban equivalent of a small strip center, and replacing with something more ambitious, will easily happen when the price is right.

I just hope the development across the street picks up.

[Skintreesnail]

Didn't see this 3rd and poplar project posted yet:

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...ggie-style-vet

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ Like!

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I just hope the development across the street picks up.

That's where the real impact will be.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Look, it's nice, but it's sat there vacant for years with an empty lot next to it. I think that its one of those times where we have to bite the bullet for the sake of development.
My point is, if the resulting building doesn't equal or supersede this building in terms of architectural quality, I will feel as if this is a loss.

It almost sounds like you're 'blaming' the building for being empty. Sometimes a building will be so specialized that its not easy to adapt it to another use, like hospitals, but this fine looking place doesn't look like it would be so hard to reuse.
My point is that as long as there are empty lots to build on in this area, and they're plenty to go around, good old buildings like this one shouldn't be torn down.

[Skintreesnail]

https://philly.curbed.com/2018/4/27/...microtel-modus

Developer Modus Hotels, a DC-based hotel group, broke ground on the hotel at 19th and Ludlow streets this week, kicking off a construction project that will likely wrap up next year and will be ready to open in September, 2019.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Skintreesnail

Didn't see this 3rd and poplar project posted yet:

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...ggie-style-vet

Very, very nice. I love how NoLibs is the one pocket of the city where architects don't feel beholden to the city's overall conservative/red brick vernacular. It's like their playground for experimenting with bolder, more modern architecture. I guess when NoLibs first started to gentrify, developers viewed it as a blank slate? Anyway, this development is well designed and adds density without overwhelming the neighborhood, the way in which a straight up high rise would. Now go get the variances and build it.

[ScreamShatter]

Saw this and thought it was interesting because its been on many people's Philly "Wish List" for a long time. This is a little different than the normal Wegman's stores. Wonder if they'll be willing to go more urban...haha


http://www.syracuse.com/state/index....achusetts.html

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Fairmount2Fishtown

Notice of demolition on this building on N. Broad. Any idea what’s going on here?

Yet another fucking travesty, courtesy the Pennsylvania Ballet. They never fully executed their original site plan to begin with. Just sell that thing off to somebody who'll have the sense to preserve the historic façade and redevelop the front of the lot, especially now that its surroundings have greatly improved.

Originally Posted by McBane

^ No. Something like that is an indication that it won't be demolished/replaced in the short term. That's the real solution.

And yea, WTC is a good one. But I think Mandeville was a serious proposal. There's a difference between legit projects that fall through and ones you look at and sorta chuckle and say "yea right."

Brandywine is the owner of that garage and we have a pretty good idea what their pipeline looks like (hint: it's mostly concentrated on Schuylkill Yards). Don't expect plans for that site to surface until they've developed their properties along the 2100 block of Market.

Frankly, the fact that they've been gradually fixing it up since they acquired it from the Rappoport estate has improved the whole block, and by a not insignificant amount, either.

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

That's this plan: http://www.mscretail.com/property-li...spring-garden/

Brochure: http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/...e_NEW_sm-2.pdf

Looks like they have CVS and and Citizens Bank have signed leases, and have proposed Starbucks and Petvalu with an additional 8k sqft available. Doesn't look bad in context. It'd be tough to build a tower there because of the Spring Garden BSL stop. being under it. CVS is a nice amenity for the neighborhood and hopefully makes it easier to live in that area. It is kind of funny that the brochure aerial shows the MFL running under Spring Garden street...

Relax guys. Remember this site has always been part of the state office building Blatstein turned into apartments. The plan then showed an annex to the tower -- and a large retail shed along Spring Garden -- as future phases for the site.

What I'm disappointed about here is that the rumor at the time was that they wanted a grocery store, which that part of town needs badly. A CVS doesn't really cut the mustard here. Also I kinda think that filling in the base of the tower would yield a neat space that a café type establishment would love.

[Skintreesnail]

moving slowly on the bottom section.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Large residential and retail project planned for 5th & Bainbridge lot:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...o-south-philly

[El Duderino]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Large residential and retail project planned for 5th & Bainbridge lot:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...o-south-philly

Another takeaway from the article: development agreements are pending on 4 other EZ Park lots, including the Equal Justice Center in Chinatown (finally).

[hammersklavier]

Good. EZ Park lots are among the worst and most blighting in town. It's high time they start to get developed.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by El Duderino

Another takeaway from the article: development agreements are pending on 4 other EZ Park lots, including the Equal Justice Center in Chinatown (finally).

Great to hear! I can't wait for that Equal Justice project to launch. Under-appreciated fact is that it will free up some tenant space in the city when legal organizations move under that umbrella. Bet we get a nice retail spot across from the W when Community Legal Services relocates. https://www.google.com/maps/place/14...!4d-75.1653503

Frankly, I would love to see the CVS move elsewhere, though I'm sure nearby residents find it convenient. That is prime real estate in a beautiful building and a different tenant could showcase it better.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Good. EZ Park lots are among the worst and most blighting in town. It's high time they start to get developed.

One of the lots the article identifies being taken out is at Front and Chestnut: https://www.google.com/maps/place/99...!4d-75.1424619 With Penns Landing Park cap, I expect that will be a great project! Now we just need a luxury mixed-use project to take out this shitty garage at Front and Sansom, which extends all the way back to 2nd....https://www.google.com/maps/place/11...9!4d-75.143254 A home will need to be found for the Ritz if construction disrupts it.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^ Like!

Yep! IMHO, Atrium is the best design group in town right now. Their projects are all first rate.

[Nova08]

3.0 University Place to move forward, developer partners with 1776

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...developer.html

In the early 2000s, Scott Mazo started to assemble properties around 40th and Market streets with a plan to eventually develop a cluster of green office buildings in that part of West Philadelphia.

Mazo’s vision still hasn’t come to full fruition but inroads have been made. Mazo’s University Place Associates anticipates breaking ground in December on 3.0 University Place, a roughly $80 million, 180,000-square-foot office building at 41st and Market streets where a Pep Boys use to be. The design is still being tweaked but the building will have 25,000 to 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

The building is precertified LEED platinum and will be a companion to 2.0 University Place, a LEED platinum building Mazo completed at 30 N. 40th St. in 2013 and sold three years later for $41.25 million, or $438 a square foot. With his plans nearly two decades in the making, 3.0 University Place will do much to move Mazo’s vision forward. “It has taken some patience,” he said. “One can never truly know.”

Mazo is encouraged by what he has seen happen in the area surrounding 2.0. West Philadelphia isn't the same as it was 20 years ago let alone 10 years ago. Investment from institutions and private developers has been robust and not just adjacent to the universities but in the neighborhoods. Areas that were once considered no man’s land are now mainstream. “The energy here is different from Center City,” he said.

While the area has changed, Mazo believes the way people work has also changed and he’s trying to address that with 3.0 University Place. Mazo enlisted 1776, a Philadelphia-based coworking operator, to take a floor, about 35,000 square feet, in the new building as coworking and amenity space that can be accessed by tenants of the building.

This is a new area for 1776, which continues to evolve and seek ways to differentiate itself from other coworking operators and to provide value to landlords. Under a management agreement with University Place Associates, a tenant who signs a lease to occupy space in the building would be also joining 1776 and have access to the coworking space in the building as well as 1776’s other locations and its programming. For 1776 and University Place Associates, the arrangement is meeting a new need that has emerged in the office market.

“The way people work is just changing and we want to be ahead of where the trends are,” said Jennifer Maher, co-CEO of 1776. Maher believes that in the future, landlords need a separate entity to help foster a sense of community within a building for tenants as a way to attract and retain tenants and for tenants to do the same with employees.

Maher also sees it as a value-add proposition for tenants. They have the ability to provide a mix of work spaces — and at different locations — to their employees and this in turn can help attract and retain talent. In addition, the entrepreneurs, freelancers and others toiling away in the coworking space are a potential employee pipeline for other companies in the building.

“We foster talent retention, provide more innovative space to work out of, and an opportunity to work out of other spaces all along the Northeast corridor in other 1776 locations,” Maher said.

Mazo has other projects in the pipeline. He controls a site where a Rite-Aid now stands at 41st and Market Street where 4.0 University Place would go. He continues to look for properties between 39th and 42nd streets for future office, retail space and possibly residential development.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by Nova08

3.0 University Place to move forward, developer partners with 1776

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...developer.html

Nice!



We're definitely starting to see more development West of 40th creeping north towards Market. This is a good sign. The intersection at 40th and Market is awful.

[jsbrook]

^ So great! I moved my office to 2.0 University Place for the KOZ tax benefits earlier this year. Will really be great to have something else there. It can get a bit bleak/feel far from everything even though there is development only a few blocks away.

[Daario]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Nice!



We're definitely starting to see more development West of 40th creeping north towards Market. This is a good sign. The intersection at 40th and Market is awful.

This is incredible to say the least. I used to walk by this block almost every day when walking from my high school to 30th St Station. It was always pretty bleak and depressing walking along this section of Market. I hope this does become a reality.