PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[summersm343]

Second Tower in the Works at 5th & Spring Garden

Site:

The newest property in question is 416 Spring Garden St., which is currently home to a one-story building and a surface parking lot on a parcel that measures about an acre and a half. The building has been the headquarters of Northeast Treatment Centers since at least the mid-1990s, offering crucial services to the community in terms of mental health, child support, and addiction recovery.

Those developers, per a recent email from NLNA, are planning to demolish the building currently on the site and replace it with a 137′ tower with 330 apartments, 87 parking spaces, and retail on the first floor. For those keeping track of the math, this project would mean a total of roughly 1,300 new units for southern Northern Liberties, with more sure to follow.

Read/view more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...-spring-garden

[mcgrath618]

Apple just announced in WWDC that Philadelphia will be one of 7 cities piloting their new Maps in iOS 15!

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Drexel to keep labs in Center City after Iron Stone buys New College building
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...new-owner.html

This is great news, and sounds like a pretty large future highrise at uCity Square for Drexel?

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by summersm343

This is great news, and sounds like a pretty large future highrise at uCity Square for Drexel?

I'm fairly certain it's the triangular-shaped building in the rendering below. The ground floor retail space has been listed for several months now

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

I'm fairly certain it's the triangular-shaped building in the rendering below. The ground floor retail space has been listed for several months now

I’m fairly certain I recall Drexel saying that one of these buildings would be a dining hall.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I’m fairly certain I recall Drexel saying that one of these buildings would be a dining hall.

I think you're thinking of the Firestone lot. The triangular lot has been envisioned as a Drexel lot for quite some time. Has said so on the site plan for the last year or two.

[iheartphilly]

It's too bad Drexel doesn't get the kind of size and frequency of monetary gifts like UPenn. If they did, they could build out just like UPenn. I'm sure they have a wish list of buildings they want to build but need donor money to get it going.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

It's too bad Drexel doesn't get the kind of size and frequency of monetary gifts like UPenn. If they did, they could build out just like UPenn. I'm sure they have a wish list of buildings they want to build but need donor money to get it going.

That is not completely true. While Penn gets enormous gifts and spends money left & right, Drexel has no shortage of large or mega donations for a University of its size. Drexel's endowment is inching close to $1B (will likely happen in 3-5 years), which is incredible considering it was half that ~10 years years ago.

And Drexel is more confined than Penn, therefore expansion outside its current boundaries is tough. The only area Drexel can expand is East / Northeast near 30th Street, and President Fry is wasting no time on that endeavor. There is also the U Science Center development between Market & Lancaster that Drexel is largely involved in.

As a proud Drexel Alum, I don't think the University gets the credit it deserves, while Penn gets a little too much credit. Plus, Drexel (from my experience) is more respected from the surrounding residential communities than Penn.

(I was at Drexel 2010-2015, and the campus and atmosphere is unrecognizable in a good way from my first tour in 2008).

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

(I was at Drexel 2010-2015, and the campus and atmosphere is unrecognizable in a good way from my first tour in 2008).

Probably because when Daddy Fry found out that his campus was regarded as one of the nation’s ugliest, he went on a massive beautification campaign that included painting individual bricks on buildings like Disque.

That having been said, Disque is one of the ugliest buildings in the city and needs to be demolished. Those chem labs in there are awful.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Probably because when Daddy Fry found out that his campus was regarded as one of the nation’s ugliest, he went on a massive beautification campaign that included painting individual bricks on buildings like Disque.

That having been said, Disque is one of the ugliest buildings in the city and needs to be demolished. Those chem labs in there are awful.

I agree with 100%. One of the few buildings that is really out of place today, and huge. At least the nice new park in the "quad" takes some of the attention away from it.

Interesting article today about Drexel's approach to luring more students from outside the Mid-Atlantic as demographics shift. I predict a lot of smaller universities will be in trouble in the coming years (or they will attach themselves to larger universities like Drexel or Temple).

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...s-demogra.html

[iheartphilly]

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...oney-than.html

And, Upenn's endowment is over $14 billion.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...oney-than.html

https://www.facilities.upenn.edu/map...&search=&glid=

I like to see the Drexel numbers and construction projects over the past 10 years.

[The Best Forumer]

Originally Posted by Aaamazarite

I'm fairly certain it's the triangular-shaped building in the rendering below. The ground floor retail space has been listed for several months now

Hey... not bad... looks good.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...oney-than.html

And, Upenn's endowment is over $14 billion.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...oney-than.html

https://www.facilities.upenn.edu/map...&search=&glid=

I like to see the Drexel numbers and construction projects over the past 10 years.

What is your point about Penn's endowment? We all know Penn is exceedingly rich, but it is not the only school transforming U City or Philadelphia.

Below is Drexel ongoing projects website and master plan PDF. Master Plan is a little dated, but notes several substantial projects planned or now completed, still missing things though.

https://drexel.edu/facilities/design/currentProjects/

https://drexel.edu/~/media/Files/str...lan.ashx?la=en

[mcgrath618]

418 Spring Garden

[summersm343]

12-story, 329-Unit Building Planned at 5th and Spring Garden

Rendering:


Rendering:


Current site:


Site plan:

Let’s add the southeast corner of 5th and Spring Garden to the mix. Southern Land Company, the developer behind The Laurel condo tower that is under construction on Rittenhouse Square and the 298-unit tower plan at 1620 Sansom Street, is planning a 12-story, 137 foot tall building with 329 residential units, 87 car parking spaces, 111 bicycle stalls, and roughly 15,000 square feet of commercial space at 418 Spring Garden Street.

Read/view more here:
http://www.rising.realestate/12-stor...spring-garden/

[iheartphilly]

^
My point goes back to the amount of money and philanthropy that Penn gets. Money gets things done after a concept is developed, and in the world of buildings get built...Penn has plenty of donors to contribute to the pot to get building built that they want. I've walked around both campuses and definitely see more new buildings on Penn's campus.

Like I said, if Drexel had more donors and more philanthropy, I'm sure they would put more projects into motion. Like the Firestone site that's been sitting there now and has not seen a shovel in the ground.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^
My point goes back to the amount of money and philanthropy that Penn gets. Money gets things done after a concept is developed, and in the world of buildings get built...Penn has plenty of donors to contribute to the pot to get building built that they want. I've walked around both campuses and definitely see more new buildings on Penn's campus.

Like I said, if Drexel had more donors and more philanthropy, I'm sure they would put more projects into motion. Like the Firestone site that's been sitting there now and has not seen a shovel in the ground.

Why are we comparing these two schools? Outside of being neighbors, there aren’t many similarities. Drexel is historically a small, private technical school expressly designed to give people a gateway to industry. Penn is Ivy League. Of course, Penn has a huge endowment that dwarfs Drexel.

[iheartphilly]

^
If you follow the thread, it will explain it. It's in the context of buildings get built, like making a large monetary gift donation for naming rights, to jump start a new building construction project. Not comparing the academics, programs, prestige, etc per se.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^
If you follow the thread, it will explain it. It's in the context of buildings get built, like making a large monetary gift donation for naming rights, to jump start a new building construction project. Not comparing the academics, programs, etc per se.

Gotcha....seems like a no brainer that Penn would have several orders of magnitude more funding for capital projects.

[TK2001]

Philadelphia skyline by Philly SkyGuy, on Flickr