PHILADELPHIA | 8th & Race | 185 FT | 12 FLOORS | CANCELLED
 

Title: 8th & Race
Project: Residential, office/commercial, hotel, retail
Architect: Wallace, Roberts & Todd
Developer: Pennrose
Location: 800 Race St., Philadelphia, PA
Neighborhood: Chinatown
District: Center City
Floors: 12 floors
Height: 185 feet

https://philaequaljusticecenter.org/...&itok=lbX8nX3e

Pennrose-led group chosen to develop sprawling city-owned site in Chinatown

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...Chinatown.html

PDF:
https://www.philadelphiaredevelopmen...20RFP%29_0.pdf

Excellent project that will add to the vibrancy of the area with some nice new modern architecture.

So there are 180 surface parking spaces? That doesn't sound great.

Also, what's the purpose of the "Open Space" - it seems aimless. You can enter at 8th and Race and walk...where...into the Vine Street Expressway?

This feels more like a mid-20th century "projects" - or flawed urban planning similar to Park Towne Place - where you drop random buildings in the middle of green space. It always comes off as uninteresting and uninviting and ultimately fails.

Could be wrong, but isn't the open space & diagonal walk bc they can't build overtop of the broad st spur? I'm fairly sure the site had engineering limitations affecting the placement of the main structures.

Interesting if that's true, thanks for pointing that out.

This site actually has to deal with 2 tunnels. The CCT for regional rail is under the parking lots to the left of the rendering.

What exactly is the Equal Justic Center?

The office building will have a large amount of space devoted to consolidating all of the legal aid organizations that are currently spread around Center City.

As others have pointed out, this is a real challenging site with a lot of limitations. Overall i think this project addresses them as capably as possible and it looks great. The equal justice center also sounds like a very worthwhile endeavor and a great public asset.

If this gets built exactly as designed, this is a homerun.

Pardon my ignorance, So, its like a legal branch of City Government?

Legal aid organizations are non-profits that provide legal representation to people that couldn't otherwise afford it in circumstances like bankruptcy, divorce, domestic violence, immigration, and landlord-tenant disputes. It is my understanding that most these organizations rely on a mix of paid staff, probono attorneys, and volunteer interns. An example of such an organization is Community Legal Services.

Don't hold your breath on this design. It would be very good if built, but to me, this concept and the proposal that didn't get picked, looks like it got put together with a minimum of costs in a short amount of time. We will see; but this would be a great spot for a couple buildings that stand out, in a good way.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170815.html

not quite breaking news, but the developer behind this appears to have some deeper pockets now. hopefully this partnership will lessen the likelihood of financing snags moving forward.

Any news on this??

A read last week that Pennrose is building a 120-unit apartment complex in Old New Castle, Delaware ... but haven't heard anything regarding this ambitious project since April.

I was just thinking about this project the other day. About a month ago, I spoke to someone who holds a fairly high position in Pennrose. They gave me general information about the project, but nothing groundbreaking. This project is certainly going to happen at some point though. Didn't the RFP call for the developer to have sound financing in place?

This project is going to give the area surrounding Franklin Square a huge shot in the arm. This will be amplified if the city sends out an RFP to redevelop the Roundhouse.

https://www.philabarfoundation.org/e...ce-center-faqs

Some good information here, including a potential construction start: late October 2018. Not sure how updated this is, but based on how specific some of the info is, it seems like it’s definitely in process.

^
hope they can pull the money today. parking by ez park. i'm wondering if that will be a revenue stream for them...meaning they get a cut of the parking fee.

Good news! Looks like this is finally going to Design Review! Doesn't look like the design has changed at all from previous renders.

http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/pr...0626-small.pdf

Is 2018 the year of infills in Philadelphia. Lots of big parking lots going away feels like.

the poor door
 

I was looking over the plans for this so called equal justice building and noticed something interesting, the 'affordable rate' apartments are all on floors 2 thru 4, and the 'market rate' apartments are all on floors 5 thru 12. Each has its own lobby, its own elevators, its own outdoor terrace, and community rooms. For a place with 'equal justice' in it's name, I think this enforced division between the haves and the have less folk is, to say the least, unfortunate. How about brown sink people on floors 2 and 3, black skinned folk on 4 and 5, yellows on 6 and 7, then the so called whites on 8 thru 12. That would never be accepted, but we are willing to divide people along economic lines? If this is really true, then I'm pissed off (plus, they should have at least 1 floor of underground parking)
http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/pr...0626-small.pdf