PHILADELPHIA | The Hamilton | 197 FT | 16 FLOORS

[summersm343]

Title: The Hamilton
Project: Apartments, ground floor retail
Architect: BLTa
Developer: Radnor Property Group and the Community College of Philadelphia
Location: 1500 Hamilton St., Philadelphia, PA
Neighborhood: Franklintown/Museum District
District: Center City
Floors: 16 (second building 11)
Height: 197 FT (second building 147 FT)

Community College of Philadelphia plans a pair of new residential towers beside its Spring Garden Street campus to accommodate a hoped-for influx of high-achieving - and higher-paying - international students.

The two-year public college has selected Wayne-based Radnor Property Group to develop the roughly 500-unit, 12-story complex at 15th and Hamilton Streets, with plans for a mix of student- and non-student-housing.

CCP joins a small but growing list of community colleges nationwide that are looking abroad for an antidote to sinking enrollments. Key to their plans are on- and near-campus housing for the newcomers, a shift for what historically have been commuter schools.

"You can't realistically recruit international students without housing," college president Donald Generals said. "I think we are grossly underserving that market, and I think that is a growing market."
School trustees voted Thursday to enter exclusive negotiations with Radnor after vetting multiple proposals for the 1.7-acre school-owned site that's now an industrial building and garage. The deal would have Radnor enter a long-term ground lease for the land and agree to rent a portion of the complex's units to CCP students.

Work on the $130 million project, which will include ground-floor retail and some underground parking, could begin in spring of 2017, with the first tower complete for the 2018 school year, Radnor president David Yaeger said.

It will be the first major construction project project at CCP's main campus since a $56 million expansion of the school's academic and administrative buildings that began in 2008.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...amZFWxrCVyk.99

CDR PDF:
http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/pr...ATION%20sm.pdf

[MikeNigh]

I'm assuming this design saves a lot more money compared to a tower with the same sqft?

[shadowbat2]

Will replace this beauty:
056 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

[Mappy]

This seems like a really stupid departure from the mission of a community college.

If it ends up making money or even breaking even than it is a net win since it looks like good infill, but CCP would be better served renovating existing buildings, hiring more full-time faculty, and updating technology/facilities. Even using that money to lobby against online and for-profit "universities" would be a better use of the money to achieve the stated objective. It just seems like a silly pet-project from the new college president to me.

But again, good looking infill that will likely just be sold eventually as an apartment building.

[mmikeyphilly]

I saw this on CBS3 News last night, (along with a neat clip on 500 Walnut).

Not to sound like a negadelphian, but all of this to attract International Students for a "community" College? Okay.
The design looks nice. Of course, it's not tall enough (cough), much better than what's there now.
I will miss all of that Philly graffiti art work though.
(Did I mention it looks way better than 1900 Arch? )
It still seems like a waste of space.
I had always envisioned a Ball Park here.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by mmikeyphilly

I had always envisioned a Ball Park here.

With a rooftop village . . . . . . . . . . . . . and a Wendy's.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

With a rooftop village . . . . . . . . . . . . . and a Wendy's.

A dumpster alley next to an Eternity Fashion would be good too.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by Mappy

This seems like a really stupid departure from the mission of a community college.

FYI, this would not be the first example of a PA community college adding dorms to their campus. Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA has had on-campus housing since 1982. Also, Montgomery County Community College is planning to add dorms:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...ccc-dorms.html

I agree that it seems like a departure from the mission of a community college, which is to serve the community. I also see why having on-campus housing could benefit CCP. Not only will international students enjoy living on-campus at a cheaper college in Philadelphia, but so will people all across the United States! I would jump at the opportunity to live in a highrise dorm--which will have excellent views of the Philly skyline--with BSL access to Center City at a community college cost.

Regardless, I love the design and added infill! This will be one of the last major parcels to be filled in Callowhill/Spring Garden/Art Museum!

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

A dumpster alley next to an Eternity Fashion would be good too.

Hey, let's not be greedy.

[boxbot]

Renders courtesy of Sim City 2000.

[Urbanthusiat]

Is there even international demand for CCP? I'm glad something is getting built here, and the design is okay (the materials could make it range from bad to good) but I have to imagine CCP is pretty low on the radar for international students, if even at all. Maybe if they attracted then by offering grants to attend, it could work, but otherwise I don't see international students who can afford to go to school in the U.S. and live in a fancy new building choosing CCP.

Edit: ahh I see now it says a "portion" of the building will be marketed to CCP students. Here I was thinking "how the hell is CCP going to fill up 500 units??" Ok, then great, I'm feeling much better about this now! Radnor Property Group seems to have found a successful business model in tapping into underutilized land that colleges seem to have in abundance (like 3201 Race).

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Is there even international demand for CCP? I'm glad something is getting built here, and the design is okay (the materials could make it range from bad to good) but I have to imagine CCP is pretty low on the radar for international students, if even at all. Maybe if they attracted then by offering grants to attend, it could work, but otherwise I don't see international students who can afford to go to school in the U.S. and live in a fancy new building choosing CCP.

Edit: ahh I see now it says a "portion" of the building will be marketed to CCP students. Here I was thinking "how the hell is CCP going to fill up 500 units??" Ok, then great, I'm feeling much better about this now! Radnor Property Group seems to have found a successful business model in tapping into underutilized land that colleges seem to have in abundance (like 3201 Race).

Thanks for reading further than I did. The CCP strategy didn't make a lot of sense to me, but retaining a portion of residential "flex" space and marketing the rest makes sense.

[mmikeyphilly]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

With a rooftop village . . . . . . . . . . . . . and a Wendy's.

with a wheelchair assessable staircase (from the street) to the rooftop village.

It could double as a huge slide from the roof to the sidewalk.

But seriously, from the rendering, it really looks great. A pool is always cool.

[Philly-Drew]

OMG, you guys are cracking me up!


I like it!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

FYI, this would not be the first example of a PA community college adding dorms to their campus. Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA has had on-campus housing since 1982. Also, Montgomery County Community College is planning to add dorms:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...ccc-dorms.html

I agree that it seems like a departure from the mission of a community college, which is to serve the community. I also see why having on-campus housing could benefit CCP. Not only will international students enjoy living on-campus at a cheaper college in Philadelphia, but so will people all across the United States! I would jump at the opportunity to live in a highrise dorm--which will have excellent views of the Philly skyline--with BSL access to Center City at a community college cost.

Regardless, I love the design and added infill! This will be one of the last major parcels to be filled in Callowhill/Spring Garden/Art Museum!

The problem is that the community isn't exactly giving these schools enough cash to meet that goal. I can see the logic here: by courting international students, they can get more money and increase their operating budgets to add other nice things.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Is there even international demand for CCP? I'm glad something is getting built here, and the design is okay (the materials could make it range from bad to good) but I have to imagine CCP is pretty low on the radar for international students, if even at all. Maybe if they attracted then by offering grants to attend, it could work, but otherwise I don't see international students who can afford to go to school in the U.S. and live in a fancy new building choosing CCP.

Edit: ahh I see now it says a "portion" of the building will be marketed to CCP students. Here I was thinking "how the hell is CCP going to fill up 500 units??" Ok, then great, I'm feeling much better about this now! Radnor Property Group seems to have found a successful business model in tapping into underutilized land that colleges seem to have in abundance (like 3201 Race).

You'd be surprised. There's an entire cottage industry of companies helping Asian students get to America to study and (mostly) learn English. The Inquirer recently did an article on all of the Catholic High Schools in the region who were converting old rectories and academic buildings to dorms to house Chinese students who were paying to board so that they could earn high school degrees in America...and presumably have a leg up on Mainland Chinese in terms of applying to US colleges.

This is just an extension of that business model. You know...you would go here for the same reasons Americans do...it's a good place to start out and then transfer to a traditional 4 year college. Not every Chinese student is a billionaire. Quite the opposite. It makes the aspiration of getting a U.S. education more attainable for even middle class Chinese who can get two years under their belts and then get that 4 year degree in 2 for half the price. Not to mention, competitive colleges are much more lax in their admission of transfer students than they are newly matriculated high school students. The reason being, of course, that those statistics (scores, etc) don't get tracked and reported in the same way they do for traditional matriculants. That's a huge selling point for someone (i.e. a foreigner) who wants a pedigree from a top school but might not be strong enough to get in at the first pass.

In essence...it will serve as a prep school of sorts for foreigners aiming to move on to other schools, IMO.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

The problem is that the community isn't exactly giving these schools enough cash to meet that goal. I can see the logic here: by courting international students, they can get more money and increase their operating budgets to add other nice things.

i wonder if changing the school's name might help draw more foreigners? "community college" does not convey much in the way of status.

[jsbrook]

I agree on the motivation behind the building. Not sure how this would work. How many international students come to the U.S. to go to community college? But more to point for these forums, I like the design. Maybe even better than a tower in this location. It fills the lot better than a taller, narrower tower would. Should get use since it won't be limited to students of the college.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

You'd be surprised. There's an entire cottage industry of companies helping Asian students get to America to study and (mostly) learn English. The Inquirer recently did an article on all of the Catholic High Schools in the region who were converting old rectories and academic buildings to dorms to house Chinese students who were paying to board so that they could earn high school degrees in America...and presumably have a leg up on Mainland Chinese in terms of applying to US colleges.

This is just an extension of that business model. You know...you would go here for the same reasons Americans do...it's a good place to start out and then transfer to a traditional 4 year college. Not every Chinese student is a billionaire. Quite the opposite. It makes the aspiration of getting a U.S. education more attainable for even middle class Chinese who can get two years under their belts and then get that 4 year degree in 2 for half the price. Not to mention, competitive colleges are much more lax in their admission of transfer students than they are newly matriculated high school students. The reason being, of course, that those statistics (scores, etc) don't get tracked and reported in the same way they do for traditional matriculants. That's a huge selling point for someone (i.e. a foreigner) who wants a pedigree from a top school but might not be strong enough to get in at the first pass.

In essence...it will serve as a prep school of sorts for foreigners aiming to move on to other schools, IMO.

So, Step 1 of a two-step plan to then attend a 4 years U.S. college. Hmm...interesting.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

i wonder if changing the school's name might help draw more foreigners? "community college" does not convey much in the way of status.

Agreed. Maybe Philadelphia College or City College/University of Philadelphia. Otherwise you are selling Delaware County Community College (a fine place, but hardly an international magnet) without the trees. If they go with City College of Philadelphia, they could keep the CCP initials.