PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread X

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I emailed PENNDOT and asked years ago why our highways and off-ramps are routinely covered in piles of sh*t. Nothing says welcome to this world class city like litter-strewn roadways….

Anyways, their response - and I’m paraphrasing a bit - was something like: 50% of their annual highway sweeping budget goes to the Philadelphia-area, despite the Philadelphia Area only representing like 2% of the total road area/length that they are responsible for.

Now, there’s a million things wrong with this logic - but I also do blame the city for not screaming at the top of their lungs about this at the state level. At the end of the day, it’s our city that looks like sh*t and the bureaucrats responsible live 150 miles west and don’t give a flying fu#$.

I remember reading an article stating something to this effect.

Here's the thing. I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

Where are the receipts? Where are these elusive street cleaners? Literally, there have been a few sightings in YEARS and they're like we spend half our budget on the Philly area.

Bullsh*t.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

I remember reading an article stating something to this effect.

Here's the thing. I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

Where are the receipts? Where are these elusive street cleaners? Literally, there have been a few sightings in YEARS and they're like we spend half our budget on the Philly area.

Bullsh*t.

you may want to read what he said. PennDOT is saying they already spend a wildly disproportionate amount of their budget for street sweeping and shoulder cleaning in this area. At the end of the day each of these states decides on various priorities- there are online surveys PennDOT does to gather input on funding priorities and you get to chose how you would allocate funding but of course when you add money to X less is available for Y. The point is in this state shoulder cleaning is not seen as more important that other aspects of the budget- and its also very possible that other states have better funding for their transportation systems. Having major roadways being tolled is a huge advantage because it means state tax dollars are not needed to maintain that tolled ROW and thus you have more money to spend on the "free" highways.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Depends on your route but at the time the route I used I did not pay anything (I83).

Since we were talking about 95 I mentioned 95 in DE and MD- both of which are not free and have less debris than PA highways. Also, it goes without saying the less congested and more rural a highway is the less likely its going to have the significant debris issues we see on urban highways. I76 through montco is generally much cleaner than 76 or 95 through the city or 95 running through the dense parts of DELCO.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I don’t even know why I’m bothering…..but 95% of the PA turnpike passes through lightly used rural areas with miles and miles between anything resembling civilization. There’s a lot of reasons why there’s not a ton of litter on these stretches.

The highways and off-ramps encircling the city see thousands of cars every hour - the sheer volume and density creates more instances of collisions and accidents resulting in tires/car parts, etc. as well as good old fashioned litter; the massive amount of construction in the region creates industrial debris from trucks; etc. etc. etc.

It's very simple - they have millions dedicated to one highway and they keep it clean. Have you ever been on I78, Route 22 or I80? You will see dead animals, tire treads and debris on the shoulders- its not as bad as SE PA but its still an issue. The NE extension and PA turnpike are just as clean as roads in other states. Let me ask you a question- if you are arguing that toll roads do not use revenue to maintain the actual toll road what do you think the money is for exactly? If a toll road is NOT in better shape than an interstate funded from general tax dollars something is amiss. Density does lead to more trash and debris but the reason for the vastly superior conditions on the turnpike is 100% related to dedicated funding.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

It's very simple - they have millions dedicated to one highway and they keep it clean. Have you ever been on I78, Route 22 or I80? You will see dead animals, tire treads and debris on the shoulders- its not as bad as SE PA but its still an issue. The NE extension and PA turnpike are just as clean as roads in other states. Let me ask you a question- if you are arguing that toll roads do not use revenue to maintain the actual toll road what do you think the money is for exactly? If a toll road is NOT in better shape than an interstate funded from general tax dollars something is amiss. Density does lead to more trash and debris but the reason for the vastly superior conditions on the turnpike is 100% related to dedicated funding.

We're citing plenty examples of roads that aren't toll roads.

It must be exhausting to have such low expectations and for your first instinct about everything be about why it can't happen or why something is not possible. I work in change management and process improvement. When I come into an organization, people like you literally never make it. And when people like you do leave, whether voluntarily or not...I assure you there is always an immediate improvement in output. Even when nothing else changes.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

you may want to read what he said. PennDOT is saying they already spend a wildly disproportionate amount of their budget for street sweeping and shoulder cleaning in this area. At the end of the day each of these states decides on various priorities- there are online surveys PennDOT does to gather input on funding priorities and you get to chose how you would allocate funding but of course when you add money to X less is available for Y. The point is in this state shoulder cleaning is not seen as more important that other aspects of the budget- and its also very possible that other states have better funding for their transportation systems. Having major roadways being tolled is a huge advantage because it means state tax dollars are not needed to maintain that tolled ROW and thus you have more money to spend on the "free" highways.

You think because "they" say it its true it is true? Where's the audit? Why do we almost never see street cleaners but they somehow spend millions of dollars on them. When there is smoke there's fire.

They don't maintain the highways they say they do. Period.

I'm watching these PennDot employees work on the "improvements" under 95 every single day. Literally people are walking around these jobs sites 8 hours a day past trash laying all over the place and no one is inclined to pick it up to put it on the dumpsters on site? Where's the foreman or site superintendent? Shouldn't there be an expectation that every day you leave the site and it's clean?

Sometimes you just need to set a standard in order to see something through. There are no standards. Very few expectations. You can go to work every day and do your 'job' easily when literally nothing is required and there are no set expectations. I'm sure they're spending all that money they say they're spending. Who knows on what because I see hours and hours a day wasted on people literally standing around. Wouldn't be so difficult to just say, hey guys, one of you has to walk the perimeter of this job and make sure its spotless.

You're laughable.

[summersm343]

Lubert-Adler buys the Bellevue, plans to invest $100M for apartments, new restaurants, rooftop pool and skating rink

Lubert-Adler Partners has acquired the Bellevue, one of Center City’s most historic and prominent properties, and plans to spend $100 million to make an array of renovations to the building including converting the office space into apartments as well as installing a rooftop skating rink and swimming pool to create an "urban oasis."

The 19-story, 885,365-square-foot building at 200 S. Broad St. has 272,792 square feet of office space, a 172-room hotel and 55,000 square feet of retail space that had once included a food court, Tiffany & Co. and the Palm, a popular steakhouse. A 93,000-square-foot space housing the Sporting Club fitness facility is also part of the building.

Nearly all of the retail space is vacant and the Palm, which had been in the building for three decades, closed in March 2020.

The seller was entity affiliated with the late Ronald Rubin and members of his immediate family, which had owned the property for nearly 40 years. The sale price wasn’t disclosed. The building was purchased through a $650 million fund established by Lubert-Adler to buy distressed real estate assets.

The renovation seeks to kick start the rebirth of not only the building but a future renaissance of Broad and Walnut streets for a post-pandemic period, Adler said.

The vacant office space will be converted into a mix of furnished and unfurnished apartments. There will be 200 to 300 units built out over time.

The plan also calls for opening up all of the retail space as one expansive floor, taking it back to its 1904 roots. It will have three restaurants on the first lobby floor. The restaurateurs weren’t disclosed though they will be “Philadelphia’s best local operators.”

The hotel will be upgraded with Parisian flair and remain under the Hyatt flag. The Sporting Club will undergo a $10 million renovation that will combine fitness, wellness, medical and nutritional programs. Coworking will be incorporated into the space once occupied by Tiffany’s. The rooftop will turn into what Adler described as an “urban oasis” with a swimming pool, bar and restaurant, ice skating rink and garden.

“It’s the integration of the three components — upscale apartments, 100,000 square feet of wellness and private and elegant coworking that provide the lifestyle and competitive edge,” Adler said. “This is perhaps the most exciting redevelopment opportunity in our 40-year history as the Bellevue has been one of Philadelphia’s most iconic assets.”

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ladelphia.html

[summersm343]

Life sciences incubator B. Labs at Cira Centre leasing up

BriaCell Therapeutics Corp., a publicly-traded Canadian company, and Ceptur Therapeutics Inc., a New Jersey company developing gene-based medicines, are among those tenants leasing space at Brandywine Realty Trust’s B. Labs incubator at Cira Centre.

Half of the 50,000-square-foot incubator has been leased, according to the real estate company. Other tenants include: Leal Therapeutics, which is a newly established biotech working on therapies for diseases affecting the central nervous system; Tmunity Therapeutics Inc., a Philadelphia company working on T-cell therapies is in the process of potentially becoming a tenant; and Vitara Biomedical Inc., a Philadelphia company working on technology that helps premature infants survive.

B. Labs was created by converting office space in Cira Centre into life sciences space. It was established in partnership with the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center and Matthew F. Burkhardt was named last month as its first director.

B. Labs is scheduled to open in January 2022 and contribute to incubator space growing by 300% during the first quarter of next year, according to a new report by Colliers. In addition to B. Labs, the expansion of the Cambridge Innovation Center and new BioLabs space at the CIC is contributing to that increase.

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=1#cxrecs_s

[PHLtoNYC]

Great economic news to finish off the week!

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Lubert-Adler buys the Bellevue, plans to invest $100M for apartments, new restaurants, rooftop pool and skating rink



Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ladelphia.html

Incredible news.

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Lubert-Adler buys the Bellevue, plans to invest $100M for apartments, new restaurants, rooftop pool and skating rink



Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ladelphia.html

Good, I was wondering what was going on with the Bellevue. Seemed like it had been left behind a bit over the last few months as the rest of Center City was coming back to life. The rooftop stuff they talk about must be going on the parking garage/Sporting Club building though, since there's no way they would be able to put it on the roof of the Bellevue itself.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

Good, I was wondering what was going on with the Bellevue. Seemed like it had been left behind a bit over the last few months as the rest of Center City was coming back to life. The rooftop stuff they talk about must be going on the parking garage/Sporting Club building though, since there's no way they would be able to put it on the roof of the Bellevue itself.

Idk, the roof is apparently deceptively large. At one point an airstrip was planed for the roof.



http://philaphilia.blogspot.com/2015...rt-of.html?m=1

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

Good, I was wondering what was going on with the Bellevue. Seemed like it had been left behind a bit over the last few months as the rest of Center City was coming back to life. The rooftop stuff they talk about must be going on the parking garage/Sporting Club building though, since there's no way they would be able to put it on the roof of the Bellevue itself.

Well, as a matter of True Fact® the Bellevue-Stratford had rooftop skating in its earliest years, per this tweet from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia with an article from the February 1906 edition of "Indoors and Out": https://twitter.com/PhilaAthenaeum/s...90878931079171

Our post of this news yesterday at P.I.C.H. is our most read and shared post in recent memory: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Phil...3547447600554/

[bigfish]

I have been on the roof of the Bellevue. It is definitely large enough to hold everything in the plan but the roof would need major rearranging. The roof also has great skyline views as well.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

We're citing plenty examples of roads that aren't toll roads.

It must be exhausting to have such low expectations and for your first instinct about everything be about why it can't happen or why something is not possible. I work in change management and process improvement. When I come into an organization, people like you literally never make it. And when people like you do leave, whether voluntarily or not...I assure you there is always an immediate improvement in output. Even when nothing else changes.

a lot of talk around the initial claim- that tolls have nothing to do with road conditions. One of the dumbest things Ive ever heard on here- and that includes a lot of mind boggling statements from people who are dead set on making a point or demeaning anyone who questions their self proclaimed mastery of every subject. You said plenty of non toll roads were named when in fact most of the examples people offered are toll roads. And then you say tolls have nothing to do with road conditions its really all about the competence of the local politicians.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

You think because "they" say it its true it is true? Where's the audit? Why do we almost never see street cleaners but they somehow spend millions of dollars on them. When there is smoke there's fire.

They don't maintain the highways they say they do. Period.

I'm watching these PennDot employees work on the "improvements" under 95 every single day. Literally people are walking around these jobs sites 8 hours a day past trash laying all over the place and no one is inclined to pick it up to put it on the dumpsters on site? Where's the foreman or site superintendent? Shouldn't there be an expectation that every day you leave the site and it's clean?

Sometimes you just need to set a standard in order to see something through. There are no standards. Very few expectations. You can go to work every day and do your 'job' easily when literally nothing is required and there are no set expectations. I'm sure they're spending all that money they say they're spending. Who knows on what because I see hours and hours a day wasted on people literally standing around. Wouldn't be so difficult to just say, hey guys, one of you has to walk the perimeter of this job and make sure its spotless.

You're laughable.

PennDot isnt rebuilding 95- they are just paying the bills. That is a private contractor- the fact you dont even understand that speaks to your mastery of the subject matter. State DOTs do not build or even repave highways in most cases- this is all done by private companies. Look it up- if you can be bothered to do so. I know that doesn't happen much since you already have all the answers stored in your head. Sometimes you need to set a higher standard for accuracy- here's a hint - just because you make it up doesn't make it true. Let's try a little more due diligence- it will improve your posts. You may also want to look up the difference between capital funding and operating funding- cleaning shoulders would be operating funds, rebuilding 95 would be capital- often different funding sources and the feds are much more involved in the latter than the former. 95 is being rebuilt with mostly federal funds.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

PennDot isnt rebuilding 95- they are just paying the bills. That is a private contractor- the fact you dont even understand that speaks to your mastery of the subject matter. State DOTs do not build or even repave highways in most cases- this is all done by private companies. Look it up- if you can be bothered to do so. I know that doesn't happen much since you already have all the answers stored in your head. Sometimes you need to set a higher standard for accuracy- here's a hint - just because you make it up doesn't make it true. Let's try a little more due diligence- it will improve your posts. You may also want to look up the difference between capital funding and operating funding- cleaning shoulders would be operating funds, rebuilding 95 would be capital- often different funding sources and the feds are much more involved in the latter than the former. 95 is being rebuilt with mostly federal funds.

You're so dense. Of course I know the difference.

Here's another analogy you fwit. It's like installing brand new hardwood floors in your house and never cleaning or polishing them. Or new carpets and never vacuuming them. What do you think is going to last longer? Something that's maintained or something that's not maintained. What do you do? Buy a car and drive it until the oil burns off and the engine blows up? Oh well. As stewards of tax dollars, we should care that these capital expenditures are treated with such wonton disrespect.

[summersm343]

OK I think I’ve heard enough about highways. Let’s move on before this further devolves into insults, suspensions and the likes.

[SEFTA]

[mcgrath618]

December CDR should be coming out tomorrow, no?

Expect to see the big projects we expect like Two Cathedral Square, along with others we don’t know about yet trying to get going before the year ends and/or the abatement is altered.