PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread - Page 532

PhillyEngineer · #**10621** Posted **Jul 7, 2018, 8:53 PM**

Pics of the FDP taken 7/6/2018:

Century 21 has blocked off a large part of the first floor that used to be the women's shoe department. I hope that is not a sign the store is in trouble.

...and a pic of the expanded gift shop in the Independence Visitors Center:

JurassicPhilly · #**10622** Posted **Jul 8, 2018, 2:04 AM**

I'm sorry to be negative but the Gallery restoration is seriously looking like shit to me. I can't believe they are leaving the top of the building on and they are just going to clean it and put some signs on it. I really hope this project turns out better than it is looking.

iheartphilly · #**10623** Posted **Jul 8, 2018, 3:57 AM**

^^^
The exterior of the building looks so dated with those windows and mismatch color schemes between the old and new. The old concrete type cladding screams 1980s. Like clothing, the building appearance give people the initial impression of your style and possibly socioeconomic background. So far, it’s not oozing with class or something upscale but looking drab. Hope I’m wrong.

jsbrook · #**10624** Posted **Jul 8, 2018, 12:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JurassicPhilly

I'm sorry to be negative but the Gallery restoration is seriously looking like shit to me. I can't believe they are leaving the top of the building on and they are just going to clean it and put some signs on it. I really hope this project turns out better than it is looking.

I don't think anyone disagrees...hopefully it still attracts good tenants and consumers notwithstanding the shitty aesthetic.

JurassicPhilly · #**10625** Posted **Jul 8, 2018, 2:35 PM**

I don't like the large glossy tiles either. It's very 70s 80s looking and they will be immediately caked in grime.

hammersklavier · #**10626** Posted **Jul 9, 2018, 2:56 PM**

There's a demolition notice on the old El headhouse over by Front & Fairmount.

City Wide · #**10627** Posted **Jul 10, 2018, 12:20 AM**

My least favorite tear down artist is at it again. Every since he lost the primary many of his actions have basically been giving the City a good look at his raised middle finger. And when the City shows him no interest in granting his projects a variance or two, I expect he will start his usual show of tears and complaints that life isn't fair.
The bigger and more successful he gets and less attractive his projects get.
This is twice in the last month that he has gone ahead with tearing down an interesting and worthwhile buildings without having permits to build anything new. Scum. What's next, parking garages, CVS's and gas stations? A nice WaWa on Washington Ave. might be the ticket. Maybe he'll realize his calling is in the suburbs. KoP is calling------

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20180709.html

Milksteak · #**10628** Posted **Jul 10, 2018, 1:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by City Wide

My least favorite tear down artist is at it again. Every since he lost the primary many of his actions have basically been giving the City a good look at his raised middle finger. And when the City shows him no interest in granting his projects a variance or two, I expect he will start his usual show of tears and complaints that life isn't fair.
The bigger and more successful he gets and less attractive his projects get.
This is twice in the last month that he has gone ahead with tearing down an interesting and worthwhile buildings without having permits to build anything new. Scum. What's next, parking garages, CVS's and gas stations? A nice WaWa on Washington Ave. might be the ticket. Maybe he'll realize his calling is in the suburbs. KoP is calling------

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20180709.html

So I agree that tearing down this beautiful, old church for seemingly no reason is ridiculous, but shouldn't the historical commission be stepping up their game? Developers are out to make money, and from what I understand, saving this church would be quite expensive. I do believe Ori did a bait and switch here, so I'm not defending him. Rarely do I push for MORE government intervention, but something needs to be done so this stops happening...these buildings need to be protected so tearing them down with no plan isn't a viable option.

Also, there's really no need to shit on the burbs to make your point.

City Wide · #**10629** Posted **Jul 10, 2018, 4:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milksteak

So I agree that tearing down this beautiful, old church for seemingly no reason is ridiculous, but shouldn't the historical commission be stepping up their game? Developers are out to make money, and from what I understand, saving this church would be quite expensive. I do believe Ori did a bait and switch here, so I'm not defending him. Rarely do I push for MORE government intervention, but something needs to be done so this stops happening...these buildings need to be protected so tearing them down with no plan isn't a viable option.

Also, there's really no need to shit on the burbs to make your point.

You are correct on both points----the cities so-called Historic Commission certainly needs to majorly change, top to bottom. Presently they seem very disinterested in saving old building-----unless it's Independence Hall---and the Mayor makes his mouth move but doesn't do much beyond that (Note, funding for the HC has increased, which was needed, but still what they do and don't do is deeply troubling)

you are also correct about the suburbs, there are some nice places out there that I would hate to have Ori trash, and there are many places in the City where gas stations and CVS's and fast foods joints are the norm. Those are the places, in the City or in the burbs, where Ori could build his trash and most people would to glad for the up grade.

McBane · #**10630** Posted **Jul 11, 2018, 4:00 PM**

I'd love to see the city grant some sort of overlay zoning for endangered churches that allows the congregations, developers, and the community to come to terms more quickly. Something that struck me about this church was a prospective sale was sidelined due to zoning issues. Often times, when churches are facing demolition, they are in really bad shape; the congregations are looking to cash out and move; and the developers want to move their project along. Timing is key.

I'd like to see a mechanism for speeding up these issues so we can see fewer demolitions. Also, NIMBYs will have to come to terms and accept the reality that the best way forward to save these churches are residential development.

Larry King · #**10631** Posted **Jul 11, 2018, 4:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by City Wide

You are correct on both points----the cities so-called Historic Commission certainly needs to majorly change, top to bottom. Presently they seem very disinterested in saving old building-----unless it's Independence Hall---and the Mayor makes his mouth move but doesn't do much beyond that (Note, funding for the HC has increased, which was needed, but still what they do and don't do is deeply troubling)

you are also correct about the suburbs, there are some nice places out there that I would hate to have Ori trash, and there are many places in the City where gas stations and CVS's and fast foods joints are the norm. Those are the places, in the City or in the burbs, where Ori could build his trash and most people would to glad for the up grade.

I don't understand how funding is the problem. Historic Commission could've designated this building and less than a majority decided to designate. According to them it's not a historic building. Apparently they didn't realize that a majority of all members not just members that are present need to vote to designate for the building to be deemed historic, that's not a money problem they just stupidly didn't know their own rules and some of the members didn't think it was historic. Maybe replace the voting members with people that understand the rules and are willing to designate buildings like this?

Londonee · #**10632** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:13 PM**

Philadelphia has 2,172,896 parking spaces. So how come you're still circling the block?

You just need to limit the # of on-street permits available per-household or unit to 2 and make rare, special exceptions if more are needed (Or, similarly, escalate the price to $500/permit for anything beyond 2). Anyone who knows anyone who lives in South Philly has heard at least several stories of people on a particular block who have 5-6 cars for their house - most of which just sit there (or they strategically use to hold multiple spots, some of the stories are just crazy).

I'd rather see that than raising the prices to $250 - to deter folks - which, in effect, would just become another urban-only tax (free parking in the suburbs).

They mention using the additional revenue for neighborhood beautification purposes but I'd rather they just use the PPA revenue to do that. If anyone remembers the old block sweeping system (when you actually had to move your car for one day a month, gasp!!) - they'd actually have a PPA employee drive with the sweeper and ticket the 2-3 cars that inevitably did not move from the block. Why not take that approx. $90 in ticket revenue per block and apply it directly to the street-sweeping and beautification costs? It's just too logical and un-bureaucratic for it to ever work here.

mcgrath618 · #**10633** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Londonee

Philadelphia has 2,172,896 parking spaces. So how come you're still circling the block?

You just need to limit the # of on-street permits available per-household or unit to 2 and make rare, special exceptions if more are needed (Or, similarly, escalate the price to $500/permit for anything beyond 2). Anyone who knows anyone who lives in South Philly has heard at least several stories of people on a particular block who have 5-6 cars for their house - most of which just sit there (or they strategically use to hold multiple spots, some of the stories are just crazy).

I'd rather see that than raising the prices to $250 - to deter folks - which, in effect, would just become another urban-only tax (free parking in the suburbs).

They mention using the additional revenue for neighborhood beautification purposes but I'd rather they just use the PPA revenue to do that. If anyone remembers the old block sweeping system (when you actually had to move your car for one day a month, gasp!!) - they'd actually have a PPA employee drive with the sweeper and ticket the 2-3 cars that inevitably did not move from the block. Why not take that approx. $90 in ticket revenue per block and apply it directly to the street-sweeping and beautification costs? It's just too logical and un-bureaucratic for it to ever work here.

I honestly think that garages should remain paid, but surface lots should be free to encourage owners to sell the land to a developer as quickly as possible.
I know this wouldn't work for a multitude of reasons, but I'm just saying.

Londonee · #**10634** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I honestly think that garages should remain paid, but surface lots should be free to encourage owners to sell the land to a developer as quickly as possible.
I know this wouldn't work for a multitude of reasons, but I'm just saying.

Just simply tax parking lots at a dramatically higher rate based on potential usage. Remember, parking lots pay the city revenue/sales tax generated by the lot which accounts for $$millions in tax revenue - so in the short term you wouldn't want to affect that revenue stream, and you'd also collect more $$ due to the higher tax burden. In the long term, lot-squatters like the Zuritsky's would find themselves selling/developing their properties much more quickly as the higher tax burden works to disincentive lot ownership.

iheartphilly · #**10635** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:33 PM**

Someone try to get a hold of that study. The number sounds far-fetched and seems to be more of a headline grabber. Are they talking about the entire Philadelphia County or just parts of it. What were the parameters of the study, if any? How did they calculate the spots? What were the inclusion/exclusion factors?

mcgrath618 · #**10636** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Someone try to get a hold of that study. The number sounds far-fetched and seems to be more of a headline grabber. Are they talking about the entire Philadelphia County or just parts of it. What were the parameters of the study, if any? How did they calculate the spots? What were the inclusion/exclusion factors?

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say they just counted every single public parking space in Philadelphia County.

iheartphilly · #**10637** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 5:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say they just counted every single public parking space in Philadelphia County.

To me, the most densely parts of the city will not have enough spots. That's a no brainer, and have been a constant complaint of people living in various neighborhoods.

Mr Saturn64 · #**10638** Posted **Jul 12, 2018, 9:55 PM**

You can see this on top of the gallery. Isn't there a big movie theater coming in there or something like that?

Londonee · #**10639** Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 12:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Someone try to get a hold of that study. The number sounds far-fetched and seems to be more of a headline grabber. Are they talking about the entire Philadelphia County or just parts of it. What were the parameters of the study, if any? How did they calculate the spots? What were the inclusion/exclusion factors?

Read the article. The parameters are in there.

iheartphilly · #**10640** Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 12:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Londonee

Read the article. The parameters are in there.

"Philadelphia has 2,172,896 parking spaces. So how come you're still circling the block?"

ok, the headline is misleading. I've underlined what I consider relevant and need further research and analysis by the analysts below. To me, it's obvious that certain blocks in certain neighborhoods have no public garages and people must rely on street parking only. or certain neighborhoods with lots of business activities (e.g. bars/restaurants) during peak hours may see a surge in street and garage parking and availability to residents or visitors may be reduced or unavailable. and street and garage parking is always in constant flux from people visiting the city from the burbs or out of state and hence will affect street and garage parking availability. and, private driveways are not the norm in downtown philly.

excerpts:
So plentiful, in fact, that he estimates there are 2,172,896 parking spaces across Philadelphia’s 134 square miles — a number that includes public parking garages, surface lots, on-street parking, and private driveways. Put another way, nearly 1.4 parking spaces are available for every one of Philadelphia’s 1.5 million residents, or 3.2 spaces per household.

Unlike other cities that Scharnhorst studied, Philadelphia’s parking is distributed widely across the city. There are clusters of high-density parking in obvious areas — Center City and South Philadelphia near the stadiums — but also plenty of spots in the the Northeast and North Philadelphia. Most of Philadelphia’s 2.1 million spaces, Scharnhorst found, are in off-street surface parking (including private driveways) –68.4 percent. On-street parking represented 20.4 percent of spaces, he found, and parking garages, 11.2 percent.