PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

I would like to see low lying flowering plants in the median. Perhaps a continuous bed of day lilies, azaleas or mountain laurel, the state flower. I would actually like to see beds of flowers, like in Spring there would a continuous bed of tulips then day lilies. Cobblestone edging. Like they do in DC. $$$ I like being able to look down Broad to City Hall. Trees in the median would block it but definitely more trees where possible along the sidewalk. Decorative pedestrian-friendly intersections

In fact back sometime in the 80s the median in a few blocks north of city hall had plantings for about a minute. I'm not clear on what led to their demise.

[PhillyEngineer]

Originally Posted by New2Fishtown

Hours have been posted on all of the doors (fairly typical of retail establishments, no later than 8-9pm). This necessarily means that there will need to be dedicated entrances to reach the 3rd floor entertainment venues when the rest of the complex is closed. Last I saw renderings, the dedicated AMC entrance is the one being built on Filbert just east of 11th (there is a large marquee-ish looking sign taking shape on Filbert, but no logo or AMC yet). My guess is that this will be the only one in in the evenings, but that during other hours one could find their way to the 3rd floor from anywhere in the complex. I believe the prominent corner entrance on the NE corner of 11th and Market would be for whatever large retailer takes that groundfloor corner space (last rumored to be Primark, though the lack of announcements on that front means they may have backed out or haven't signed).

Many spaces inside are being framed. One that isn't is the one at the NW corner of 10th and Market. Peering in the doors along 10th Street there is a tiny sign hanging over that unimproved space that, as best as my eyes could determine, is a piece of cardboard with the Yard House logo on it. I had previously seen Yard House listed as a tenant on other promotional materials inside the building. So this means either a) that Yard House will eventually occupy the 10th and Market corner across from H&M (a welcome F&B addition in my opinion), or b) that Yard House has pulled out of the project. The fact that it wasn't announced with the slew of other tenants this week means that, at best, they are still negotiating a lease. Having Yard House or a similar concept at street level would be nice synergy with City Winery and with Iron Hill down the street.

The space once rumored for Eataly, and then later rumored as a second Apple store location - the interior of the Strawbridges building at the east end - has had no work done on it in at least a year beyond C21 giving back a portion of its 1st floor space. It has the fewest and least recent permits pulled if you look on Atlas, and I've heard nothing to indicate they've made any progress on signing anything in that space. This to me is in many ways the most disappointing or critical piece only because of the architectural significance of the building and its location closest to tourist stuff on Independence Mall. On the other hand, it doesn't feel particularly cohesive with the rest, and many probably won't even realize it's supposed to be part of the larger FDP. In any event, it would be great to see them land something significant here. This piece may be too tough for retailers to wrap their heads around with the huge Disney hole vacancy across the street (remember, most retailers are lemmings with no ability or interest in imagining being the pioneers in a location they can't immediately see as successful). This observation is probably fair for the project overall: if the south side of Market were stronger (or at all palatable in the slightest anywhere between 8th and 11th), PREIT would have had a much easier time leasing this project up. Will be interesting to see if having large mainstream retailers open in FDP accelerates movement of leasing and redevelopment on the south side of the street.

In the transcript of PREIT's Q2 earnings call released today, they mentioned grab and go food options with alcohol for Jefferson Station commuters. This is interesting only because we can't tell from public materials which floors/areas any of these F&B vendors are going, and not many of the ones they've already announced sound like the kind that would offer booze to commuters a la places in Grand Central Station. It would be great to be pleasantly surprised by the mix of food vendors in the concourse level. That would do a lot to liven the place up.

I was on East Market late Saturday afternoon.....and it is still a mess. There were two separate religious groups, one in front of the PCC and one in front of Macy's screaming at people and starting shouting matches. A street performer set up in front of the AT&T store and was blaring his stereo so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. There is now a barrier in front of the pedestrian walkway between District Taco & Iron Hill, presumably to keep street people from wandering into the walkway. I don't see how the FDP is going to change any of this and I don't see any restaurant opening onto Market. I think there is a reason that City Winery and AMC will have their entrances on Filbert.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by PhillyEngineer

I was on East Market late Saturday afternoon.....and it is still a mess. There were two separate religious groups, one in front of the PCC and one in front of Macy's screaming at people and starting shouting matches. A street performer set up in front of the AT&T store and was blaring his stereo so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. There is now a barrier in front of the pedestrian walkway between District Taco & Iron Hill, presumably to keep street people from wandering into the walkway. I don't see how the FDP is going to change any of this and I don't see any restaurant opening onto Market. I think there is a reason that City Winery and AMC will have their entrances on Filbert.

i dont know about the religious groups (haven't seen that) but the Wawa at 12th and Market is a mess- although they try to maintain having two security guards on site now. Much more of a concern than the fact that our precious tourists and CC dwellers may encounter "locals" at the FDP. The Wawa at 13th and Chestnut is just as bad- major stopover location for people coming from whatever clinic is on Locust street. Constant loitering inside and out- and they aren't teens....

At least FDP is 3 blocks long and has a unified look and unified control. I am much less worried about how that will end up vs Market from juniper to 11th Street. The north side of market isn't really that bad, its' the south side that is the problem. And its largely due to homeless and kensington types loitering and/or patronizing Wawa, amongst other places.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Almost every other city in the world has a landscaped median along an important thoroughfare - have you ever visited NYC? I'm sure we can figure this out.

How about the Parkway? Lots of medians, lots of grass and planters. In fairness- the landscaping along east market is MUCH better than even a few years ago thanks to whats been installed in front of FDP and East Market. Brickstone also lined the entire south side of 1100 block of chestnut with planters.

[cardeza]

Didn't see any press on this:

http://www.senatorfarnese.com/sen-fa...-redevelopment

Looks like another hotel is coming to the Navy Yard and the Family Court Hotel got MORE state money

[Boku]

Originally Posted by cardeza

Didn't see any press on this:

http://www.senatorfarnese.com/sen-fa...-redevelopment

Looks like another hotel is coming to the Navy Yard and the Family Court Hotel got MORE state money

Aramark, Venice Innovation Island among Phila. projects receiving $56M in state funds

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ong-phila.html

Philadelphia was the big winner when it came to the most recent round of funding from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program with 34 projects receiving a total of $55.7 million.

The amount is just a fraction of the nearly $500 million in state funds that was sought by developers, museums, universities and other entities to give their Philadelphia projects a financial boost. In all, 101 projects in Philadelphia had applied to receive RACP funding.

RACP is a discretionary fund Pennsylvania’s governor has at his disposal to help support developments throughout the state. Governors typically will allot money for projects that will spur additional economic development activity. Not every project that applies for RACP money will receive funding and those that do receive the grants don’t always receive the full amount requested.

That wasn’t the case for Aramark Corp., which received the full $8.5 million it wanted for relocating in 2018 its headquarters to 2400 Market St. from 1101 Market St. in Philadelphia. Other projects in Philadelphia that received significant funding include:

The Merriam Theater received $4 million to restore seven floors of the building at 250 S. Broad St. that houses the theatre;

E. Smith Properties, a Dallas real estate company led by former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, received $4 million to transform a 31-acre former paper plant in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia into what it is calling the Venice Innovation Island. Last year, it received $1 million in RACP funds for the redevelopment that includes the adaptive re-use of nearly 500,000 square feet of existing space, new construction of several commercial buildings including apartments and public access to two miles of Schuylkill River waterfront;

Rhoads Industries received $3 million to renovate building No. 57 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as a space to manufacture components for ships and submarines;

Ensemble Real Estate Investments received $2 million to convert a former barracks at the Navy Yard into a 230-key hotel that will also involve expanding the 120,000-square-foot building by 88,500 square feet. The hotel will feature an 8,500-square-foot restaurant along with 10,800 square feet of meeting space; and

Peebles Corp. received $2 million to help in the renovation and conversion of the former Family Court Building at 1801 Vine St. in Philadelphia into a hotel;
While projects in other counties received a smattering of funding, Sora West, a development underway in Conshohocken in Montgomery County, and AmerisourceBergen Corp. came out with a total of $10 million in RACP money. AmerisourceBergen Corp. will relocate its headquarters into Sora West, a $325 million mixed-use project Keystone Property Group is developing.

The company, now located in Chesterbrook Corporate Center, received $8 million for its eventual move into a 429,000-square-foot office building that Keystone is developing on Fayette Street at Elm Street as part of Sora West. In addition to office space, the project will include a 160-room hotel, retail space, an outdoor plaza and the conversion of an historic fire house into a restaurant. An entity affiliated with Keystone received $2 million of $16 million that was requested for the development of a 1,505-space parking structure that is part of the Sora West.

Lastly, King of Prussia District received $1 million to support the second phase of the 2.6-mile First Avenue linear park that is running through Moore Park in King of Prussia.

It's enraging that the two Fortune 500 companies received the most money.

[cardeza]

agreed. Being paid to relocate within the state is a waste

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by cardeza

Didn't see any press on this:

http://www.senatorfarnese.com/sen-fa...-redevelopment

Looks like another hotel is coming to the Navy Yard and the Family Court Hotel got MORE state money

Good find, also the Equal Justice building (I'll re-post in that thread).

----

The Civic at 1600 W. Girard Avenue will have residents move in next month, the rooftop views are killer.




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[Larry King]

Peebles receives 2 million for family court building? As far as I can tell, they still haven't even closed on that property. What's their deal with the city? It's been like 5 years.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Peebles receives 2 million for family court building? As far as I can tell, they still haven't even closed on that property. What's their deal with the city? It's been like 5 years.

I think that the realities of the site mean that no one can develop this into a hotel and make a profit without subsidies. Starting over would probably push things back by years and this is a minority owned company so I think the state and city REALLY want to see this thing happen. To be fair, I think they made it clear long ago what it would take financially to make the deal work.

[Larry King]

Originally Posted by cardeza

I think that the realities of the site mean that no one can develop this into a hotel and make a profit without subsidies. Starting over would probably push things back by years and this is a minority owned company so I think the state and city REALLY want to see this thing happen. To be fair, I think they made it clear long ago what it would take financially to make the deal work.

It's probably a tough project but not closing for 5+ years is ridiculous and probably should be looked into, wonder if that's on anyone's radar in city council. Allan Domb stepped into the inquirer deal and 4601 market and voiced his opinions, would be nice to hear his thoughts on this one because the city has been holding this property for a very long time at this point.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Larry King

It's probably a tough project but not closing for 5+ years is ridiculous and probably should be looked into, wonder if that's on anyone's radar in city council. Allan Domb stepped into the inquirer deal and 4601 market and voiced his opinions, would be nice to hear his thoughts on this one because the city has been holding this property for a very long time at this point.

I think the agreement still stands and this developer is the only one that has legal rights to purchase the property after being selected years back. The city isnt losing any money in this- it's just we have a building continuing to sit vacant. It's obvious the City isn't coming up with any new funds for this so it's all on the state. I do believe some of the tax credit laws changed in recent years and are less favorable than they once were- likely a factor in the numbers not working.

[Larry King]

Originally Posted by cardeza

I think the agreement still stands and this developer is the only one that has legal rights to purchase the property after being selected years back. The city isnt losing any money in this- it's just we have a building continuing to sit vacant. It's obvious the City isn't coming up with any new funds for this so it's all on the state. I do believe some of the tax credit laws changed in recent years and are less favorable than they once were- likely a factor in the numbers not working.

Ok it's a 250,000 square foot building being sold for 4.5mm. That's $18 a square foot. People buy buildings in Kensington for a higher PSF price. Plus they haven't even closed on the favorable price years later. The more I think about it, this deal does not seem good for the city at all. If the city terminated this contract and auctioned the building off tomorrow, I bet it would go for at least double the price Peebles is under contract for.

[phishtown]

https://philly.curbed.com/2019/1/25/...801-vine-hotel

According to this article from January they were hoping to start in June.

They also had contracted a company to run the hotel, from this article in April: https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190430.html

I think this could start any month now.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Ok it's a 250,000 square foot building being sold for 4.5mm. That's $18 a square foot. People buy buildings in Kensington for a higher PSF price. Plus they haven't even closed on the favorable price years later. The more I think about it, this deal does not seem good for the city at all. If the city terminated this contract and auctioned the building off tomorrow, I bet it would go for at least double the price Peebles is under contract for.

This isnt a conventional deal- one reason for the cost issues is that the developer is constrained by limitations on how the building can be modified. If I recall correctly, one of the applicants wanted to do an addition to the roof to add more space- something the City didn't want. Since a developer can't tear it down or modify it in a way to maximize profit, it's not nearly as attractive of an opportunity as you're inferring. If we were just talking about the site and ANYTHING could be built there I'm sure your figures make sense. A site that has a 90 year old courthouse which is expected to remain largely in tact as its converted to a hotel is a different story.

[PHLJD13]

They were power-washing the upper exterior of the Fashion District yesterday on the 1000 block of Market Street.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by PHLJD13

They were power-washing the upper exterior of the Fashion District yesterday on the 1000 block of Market Street.

My hope is that they plan to actually paint. That power washing is not getting the job done.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by phishtown

https://philly.curbed.com/2019/1/25/...801-vine-hotel

According to this article from January they were hoping to start in June.

They also had contracted a company to run the hotel, from this article in April: https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190430.html

I think this could start any month now.

There've also been zoning notices up along the 19th St side of the building for a while now. It looks like it should (fingers crossed?) start soon.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by cardeza

How about the Parkway? Lots of medians, lots of grass and planters. In fairness- the landscaping along east market is MUCH better than even a few years ago thanks to whats been installed in front of FDP and East Market. Brickstone also lined the entire south side of 1100 block of chestnut with planters.

We need it on Broad. Period. Whether its trees planted in ground or big planters and lots of flowers and shrubs if there are subway and underground issues preventing in ground planting. Like Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

[SEFTA]

Is there any news on Penn's Landing Park?