The Jersey City market is still in very good shape and commands higher rents then Philadelphia. I think you are probably right that it will most likely not happen but to say that JC is nowhere near Philadelphia is wrong in my opinion. It currently has the 12th most downtown office space of any city in the US with 18 million square feet and has been adding a lot of space over the past 20 years. Philadelphia has added basically no additional office space since the early 1990s. They are two different markets with JC being the healthier office market. Also, I would not be shocked to see a supertall go up in Philadelphia over the next 10 years. I think Comcast will continue to expand and if the economy rebounds the way it has historically I think we will see one built. I am not saying it is likely but I could see it happening. The major REITs that have office space in Philadelphia have been selling all of their suburban office space over the past 12 months so I would not be shocked if they move that capital into office space in Center City.

Oh, I had no clue. Thanks for the clarification.

True, no one can predict the future. However, facts and facts and the office market has stayed the same for 30 years...

With several very large blocks coming free in late 2012 through 2014, I would be surprised if we are even able to maintain the space we have. There has been no movement in this area. Smaller companies are moving to the trophy towers and their old space is being switched to condo or apartments. i.e. Five Below.

Add that Urban Outfitters and GSK move/will move 3,000- 4,000 employees from Center City to the Navy Yard.

Center City is becoming a humangous bedroom community for jobs in the suburbs/Navy Yard.

Do you have any links to back up this claim besides the Urban Outfitters and GSK move. 75% of Philadelphia residents work in the city. I do not deny that people commute out to the Navy Yard or the suburbs from Center City but I have a hard time believing that it is the norm or that it happens in that large of numbers. From everything that I could find Center City is the complete opposite of a bedroom community. I agree that there are less jobs then before and more residents but I think it has a very long way to go before it can be considered anything even close to a bedroom community.

I like Bart's proposal. Consider:

1. He's proposing more than just a casino - a hotel, parking (garages), and ground floor retail in a part of town that is very under retailed. Even with the new condos and restaurants and expanded Convention Center, N. Broad is very quiet and light years away from what S. Broad looks like.

2. How many millions has Blatstein invested in the State Office tower, one block away. He's not an idiot - he knows full well that a SugerHouse type slots barn will negatively impact his plans for Broad and Spring Garden. It is in his financial interest to make it more than just a crappy, low-end slots barn.

3. We can't be against proposals because of traffic concerns on Philadelphia's main street, that happens to have a subway underneath it. Except during rush-hour, that stretch isn't really traffic-choked because its a rather desolate area. Suddenly we want our main streets to look more like Rural Route 9 and less like Chestnut and Walnut? When you have shops, restaurants, office buildings, apartments, etc, you're going to have traffic. Pity.

4. This location, makes it a shoe-in to attract conventioneers. Plus, if done right, it will attract people looking for a more AC-type atmosphere, as opposed to the low-end slots barn junk in the existing casinos.

I read an article in the past (and I believe I posted it in this thread...searching for it now) that supports Philly becoming a bedroom community for both its suburbs and to a lesser extent, NYC. While I have no proof and hard data until I locate the article, I do know *MANY* people who live in the city yet work in the 'burbs vs. the opposite (by a long shot, surprisingly). Also, some big players (Wachovia/Wells Fargo, for example) have been laying off due to company restructurings, and many of those folks seem to end up working in the 'burbs out of necessity...this is the picture we need to take into consideration as well, and what are existing tenants up to for the long haul?

I hate to sound like a broken record but until the city fixes its ridiculous tax structure, this will continue. Philly is no wasteland business-wise by any means, but...competition is FIERCE these days and it really needs to get its act together.

Some University City development updates.

1. The new Drexel dorm on Chestnut Street is now officially titled "Chestnut Square."

2. Drexel has plans for another "large" housing and retail development at 34th and Lancaster Ave.

3. UPenn is in the planning stages for the Hill Field Housing development. It will surround Hill Field on all sides so there will still be green space. It development will front the streets with retail.

4. The University City Science Center is planning a "large" new research and office building on the surface lot at 34th and Market that will also have ground floor retail. Let's hope we get a skyscraper/highrise out of this one. :tup:

Link to article (ton of info about Chestnut Square development in here as well)
http://philadelphiaheights.wordpress.com/

According to http://www.dvrpc.org/asp/mcddataNavigator/default.aspx there are a few suburbs that do have more Philly residents that come to them for work then they have residents that go to Philly for work. I have not figured out a way to determine what part of the city these people are coming from. So far the ones that I have noticed are Plymouth Township, Conshohocken, and Lower Merion. There are probably more but I honestly do not know what other townships the major office markets are in over there.

The Planning Commissions monthly meeting Agenda.
http://planphilly.com/event/philadel...onthly-meeting

Question. It mentions an "information only" proposal for a townhouse development at 412 North Front Street. Has anyone heard anything about this?

Why are we all opposed to the city having multiple business districts? That is starting to happen. I am not opposed to that. I'm glad the businesses are staying in the city, there is plenty of room for more office development so let's not worry about old office buildings being converted into residential buildings when there are plenty of surface lots and old low rises that can be replaced with high rise or skyscraper office buildings. I agree we need a friendly business climate in the city and I think we'll see some relaxed business taxes, etc. etc. soon but you guys are discrediting some MAJOR employers in the city. And Philly is certainly no slouch. We are not in anyway becoming a bedroom community.

I really agree with this.

Has anyone ever really gone in a lot of office buildings in Center City? Or almost any older city? Old-school, super-corporatey office tower environments aren't necessarily the kind of places that interesting companies want to be in, and it's not hard to understand why. Most office buildings build in the 70s or 80s just reek of corporateness. The most interesting companies I've seen pop up in Philly are in surrounding neighborhoods like Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Old City, or on Passyunk Ave, and that's why I can totally understand UO moving to the Navy Yard. (Has anyone seen their digs? Not for nothing, but it's awesome. http://www.officesnapshots.com/2008/...outfitters-hq/ I'm a 28 year old software engineer, and I sure as shit wanna work there. I'd rather be in that building than some crappy 70s cube-cave in Center City any day.)

And this is what GSK is building there: "The project’s 'open plan' design, which is consistent with other GSK facilities, is designed to bring employees together to foster better communication and idea sharing."

That sounds cool. If I were an employee is either company, I'd be pretty psyched about the new offices each is putting together.

I really feel that overall, the Navy Yard should be seen as a success story, because it's proven (proven!) to stop companies from throwing their hands up in frustration with the current office offerings in the city, and rather figuring out how to stay within its boundaries instead.

1. Chestnut Square name reminds me of "Sansom Commons".

2. Drexel has a lot of plans coming up, including ones that will eliminate those parking lots on JFK BLVD.


3. I shed a tear over the loss of Hill Field. A lot of memories...

4. Well, this a big change. That space was suppose to be used for a new hotel. Guess that idea is dead and gone.

I'm in a class with a Manager from GSK. GSK is essentially forcing as many people as it can into a very small space at the Navy Yard. 1200-1300 people will work in about 250K feet of space. That's ridiculous. It amounts to something like 4-5 linear feet of (very shallow) desk space for each employee, end-on-end.

The employees are not happy about it. The good news is, according to this manager, some employees are actually moving in from the suburban complexes (plus for Philly). The bad news is, he fears, the space will be miserable (though "open"). It's a huge cultural shift for the local employees, and it doesn't sound like it's going to be very comfortable.

I'd be more psyched about the move IF the building were bigger to accommodate all of those people. It feels like a 500K sf is more appropriate for that number of people.

Here is a render for the GSK building for the Navy Yard

http://www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.c...b-1536x864.jpg

You can see it being built while driving past the Navy Yard on 95. I don't understand why they are completely moving to the Navy Yard. I feel like they should be moving only a few jobs there instead of EVERY job. But oh well.

>_<

Didn't realize that. Fantastic.

Yeah, I don't buy the sky-is-falling-attitude either. The city has been loosing jobs on the whole, but we're a long way away from being a bedroom community. For those who haven't already checked out the 2012 State of the City, it has some good data about this. The number of jobs in the city has grown every year since 2004 with the exception of 2009 (when the economy took a nose dive at the national level.) We are back above the 2004 level and still adding jobs. It's not all roses; we certainly do need to do more to promote job creation in the city. Lowering business taxes and streamlining business regulations should be a priority. But this is no bedroom community. If you try to extrapolate from the past 20 years (always a dangerous thing to do), it looks more like job loss is leveling off and we're starting to see a slight uptick commensurate with the increase in population over the past couple of years.

Cool! This is good news at least.

http://centercityphila.org/news/2012...april-16-2012/

Some updates from Center City District. Looks like the Granary Building has begun redevelopment. :tup:

Significant population growth?
 

I know this has been posted here before but I think it requires a little more attention. From 2000-2010, the city grew by ~8,500. From 2010-2011, the city grew by another 10,000. If this is correct, and the trend continues, it's theoretical that 100k would be added to the city in the next decade... (unless I'm really missing something).

http://www.centercityphila.org/docs/...nsusUpdate.pdf

It's obvious that Philly is growing again and I am very happy about that :banana:

All of the residential construction happening in the city currently is just proof that the city is growing. One step at a time! Next steps will be to fix the businesses taxes, public schools and crime rate :tup:

First is encourage population growth AND lower business taxes, then encourage job growth.

MUCH easier said then done.

In fits and spurts, this is already happening. There are many more public schools that are real options for families than there were even 5 or 10 years ago. Did anyone read the article about Mifflin today in the Daily News?

http://www.philly.com/philly/educati...laneczky_.html

The same thing happened at Cooke-Wissahickon in Roxborough just 5ish years ago. Now, in that part of the NW (Roxborough, Andorra, Manayunk, East Falls), Cooke-Wissahickon and Dobson are so popular that they're at capacity and performing at high levels. Levering, the only school which was struggling, is closing, and I assume, the catchment will be re-drawn so that all kids in that sector of the city go to Cooke-Wiss or Dobson, which are already high functioning, or Mifflin, which is improving quickly. Of interesting note as well from that article is that for the new combined elementary parish school in that neck of the woods, enrollment (which closes Monday) is 200 students BELOW projected enrollment. Where do you think those 200 kids are going? They're not moving to the suburbs. They're going to Cooke-Wiss, Dobson, and Mifflin, or Green Woods Charter, which is high achieving and building a new campus in Roxborough, as well.

It's an exciting time to be in the city. Period. It feels like a lot of things are starting to hit on all cylinders (in spite of the economy). That the SRC spared schools slated to close that are high functioning (Shepard and Stanton). That the poorest performing schools in other areas are closing (Levering), that facilities continue to be proposed and built for other high functioning schools (Masterman, FLC, Parkway NW).

Business taxes too are improving. Maria Quinones-Sanchez and Bill Green have some interesting legislation on the table to stream-line taxes and make them more fair and predictable in the future. They'll likely still be high(er), but start to come down relative to our own past. It should help our competitiveness as a city.

Now. If only I could get a job here so that I could stay here.

This interests me, people are having trouble finding jobs in the Philadelphia area - Yet the population continues to climb (and it's growth is speeding up too).

The business taxes should certainly be lowered, we need some office buildings (preferably 1000ft+) in the city in my opinion, the city really needs to drop those taxes.

But... I'm only a high school student, to be honest with you all. Looking to get into a Philly-area college and major in something that can leave an impact on this city.

Me: Ivy League education. 10+ years experience in Operations Management and Transformation, Strategy, and Project Management. Post graduate coursework (non-degree) in Business, professional certification (PMP). I've managed and successfully transformed organizations with multi-million dollar budgets and hundreds of employees, for a multi-billion dollar company.

I can't find work here in Philadelphia or it's environs. I'm up to 100 resumes submitted. I've interviewed for jobs in Seattle, LA, and Denver. I've had only 4 interviews in the Philadelphia area, one of which I got through 4 rounds, yes 4 full day rounds to ultimately lose out to the other "finalist". I've been unemployed for a year. Spent the first 6 months traveling the world and the last six months looking for a job. I should be employed. I am not.

The fact that I'm unemployed, in my opinion, means there is something seriously wrong with this economy. I've applied for five jobs at Comcast alone, in its Business Operations unit...jobs that I am more than qualified to fill. I've been rejected for 3 of them. I received 1 rejection a day after I hit submit on Comcast's website. The job is still open (it was just re-posted on TheLadders today). I've yet to hear about the most recent two.

I guess Comcast doesn't want me because it would rather fill the job with a Drexel or Temple alum. No offense, but this must be one of the reasons why top grads by-pass Philadelphia for other cities. Because frankly, the employers here don't give them the respect they should garner in the marketplace.

It's very frustrating.

On that note, I'm available for work. So, if anyone has an interesting opening in his/her firm that he/she thinks I might be qualified for, let me know (PM me). At this point, I'd even be willing to come on as a 1099B contractor (which sucks) to prove my worth, hopefully for a full-employee position down the road.

If this persists, it's back to grad school for me (MBA).

Population Growth
 

I would guess that both the residential and the leisure population of this city has grown immensely since 2010. Just walking around the city today, it's rife with people doing god knows what. I walked down Walnut St. today and had to remind myself I wasn't in NYC. Looking forward to the pictures I know will be posted due to this great weather!

Wish you best of luck... advice is to check out some other PA/NJ/DE cities like Allentown, Trenton, Wilmington, Pittsburgh, Erie, Harrisburg. It'll keep you close enough to Philly you can visit it often. I heard that Pittsburgh had a recent job-boom.

Thanks.

Trenton and Wilmington show up in the Philly job boards. As for those other places, I'd rather go ANY major metropolitan city in this country before I went to Erie. It's not worth my sanity.

Haha yeah, from what i've heard Erie is not a great place to work or live.

Attn: 3rd and Brown I put over 3,000 resumes out in Philly and NYC and many times I went down to the final 2 or 3 people. If your looking for the big time job it can take a while.

http://planphilly.com/three-story-to...treet-old-city

Plans for 38-unit townhouses at the corner of Front and Callowhill Streets on the Delaware Waterfront. Looks like the waterfront is starting to see a lot of development. Let's hope momentum kicks up even more for this area :banana:

more CCity housing
 

source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...r_housing.html

LGBT senior housing

Philadelphia Business Journal by Natalie Kostelni, Reporter
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 3:41pm EDT

An affordable senior housing project in Philadelphia that is LGBT friendly.

The new housing will be in the heart of Philadelphia’s downtown lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender neighborhoods, and is considered to be among the first such elder housing facilities of its kind in the United States.

The six-story building will be on 13th Street between Locust and Spruce streets on land that will be bought by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. It will have 56 one-bedroom units which will be available to seniors aged 62 and over who earn less than 60 percent of the Philadelphia median income.

This is very, very, very, very good news!

Since this is one big lot zoned C-4 are these units going to be one big condo project or are they going to be single family?

Anyone heard anything more about this 278' apartment proposal reported in Hidden City Philadelphia?

http://hiddencityphila.org/2012/04/2...-and-chestnut/

http://hiddencityphila.org/wp-conten...l3-660x359.png

It would be a fantastic project to enliven 38th Street. Hope it goes through (obviously).

:previous: hmmm interesting.

Hey PhiLaw...I wouldn't be surprised if a ton of the extra folks you saw walking around that corridor of the city are part of a huge Insurance/Risk Management convention that has taken over the Westin, Latham, Sofitel, and Radison (all on 17th st.). I noticed the same thing the other day, a huge influx of people (many in suits, or look like they sell insurance) wandering around Walnut...as this is on my daily commute the difference in total number of people was impressive. Unfortunately its temporary...if you do that same walk next Tuesday...it will be a little more subdued.

I think it all speaks more to what Center City could always be like if we had just a few more big businesses in town. Those who think that we are big enough to have multiple central business locations--shrugging as GSK takes thousands of workers away--should take heed at just how much more vibrant and alive the city feels with the boost of people.

Ground broken for a new Center City hotel
By Suzette Parmley

Inquirer Staff Writer

The city's first new ground-up hotel since 2000, and the first tailored to support the expanded Convention Center, broke ground Tuesday at 12th and Arch Streets.

Under a cavernous white tent, about 60 feet from the Reading Terminal Market and diagonally opposite the Convention Center, nearly 200 gathered to shovel the first dirt for the $60 million extended-stay Home2Suites by Hilton.

Some say the development may represent a thawing of the lending markets for new hotels here.


http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...ity_hotel.html

Best Places for Hipsters
 

Philadelphia is ranked number 10... lol

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/americ...-hipsters.html

There's obviously no way to tell without reviewing your interview/resume analysis results, but I would guess that potential reasons for your difficulties may be your previous Salary and the "6 months traveling the world". It's usually OK to travel the world right after school, but in your case it may be viewed as somewhat of a lack of dedication to your career, etc.. The salary situation is hard to remedy, other than to possibly state that you will consider a lower salary if the position is challenging and offered significant promotion potential. If it where I, I'd drop the 6 month vacation acknowledgement and just let them assume you have been looking for the entire year. In this economy, that is not likely to be a detriment to the selection criteria. Oh and one other thing, which you probably already know, consider not presenting yourself as "begging for the job" because of the above 2 potential negatives. Going into an interview with the attitude of "I'll take any job at any salary" will likely get you an exit stage right veto.

3rd&brown, I'm right there with you! I do have a job tho -- one that I rue and LAMENT with a passion (as a caregiver barely making enough to cover my living expenses). I have a masters degree in geography and planning, granted not from a top-notch Ivy-league school, but a good one nonetheless, West Chester University. I, too, am having a very difficult time finding employment. I have interviewed with planners and engineers alike. One engineer in Baltimore apparently didn't give a shit that I have been working in a nursing home instead of in my field. What the hell does he expect? Forget recession, we're going through a DEpression. Every 3 out of 4 people under 34 are either unemployed or severely underemployed. (The Philly Inquirer states that roughly half are unemployed, and that may only refer to Philly, but still)

It seems to me that people in this field, to make an NFL reference, are more interested in free agency rather than the draft... In reality, they are writing off not only our generation, but our future. We have new ideas we picked up in college, and how are we putting them to use? Performing custodial duties? Wiping asses? Flipping burgers and asking "do you want fries with that?"

Our country's economy is in peril...

So I may get yelled at for asking this here but maybe you can cut me some slack, all things considered.

I'm starting to see a girl who's moved to Philly in the last 4 months. She's from Milwaukee and so far doesn't really like our lovely city. Two problems. She's not yet 21 and she spends most of her time in CC, (around City Hall mostly), and a small part of Univ C. Obviously, most people would hate Philly if those were the only two places you got to see on a daily basis.

So, I'm going to start taking her around. First up is the Italian Market on sat morning and Sabrina's for brunch. We'll probably walk back through Queen's Village and Society Hill. I was thinking of biking up to the Wisahicken, (or even just up Kelly Drive, I don't know if she's done that yet.). Last weekend we went to Fitler Square which I think she liked that a lot.

We're both artists and like music. I know Union Transfer has a lot of under 21 shows but it's probably a no go for Johnny Brendas or KFNT.

I want to take her places that we all really enjoy and are uniquely our city. Nothing touristy. Hidden parks and neighborhoods with a nice vibe and places eat. Or chill venues like Chris' Jazz Cafe, etc.


I feel like an idiot asking but I just really want to impress her and no one knows our city like we do here on the board, IMHO.

Ninjawho-

First... awesome! hope all goes well:

- Hiking in Wissahickon... technically it's Philly and I love how it feels you transported to another world. As much as I love the city, sometimes you need that change and it's so close.

- First Unitarian Church does a bunch of live shows too... KFNT, Union Transfer and First Unitarian Church are all R5 productions (http://www.r5productions.com/)

- Underground Arts looks cool, but I have yet to go: http://undergroundarts.org/

- With summer coming up... John's Water Ice (9th and Christian) and Caprogiro Gelato (13th and Sansom or 20th and Sansom)

- Arts Garage: Another place that looks cool that I haven't gotten to: http://www.theartsgarage.com/

- The Japanese garden and Tea House in Fairmount Park (http://www.shofuso.com/)

- Mann Music Center for Philly Orchestra summer concerts... get lawn seats, pack a picnic (maybe bring some wine... )

- Take the Market EL (http://www.aloveletterforyou.com/)

- If you run/bike/walk... Schuylkill River trail...

- Brunch... Does this city love brunch or what?!?! (seriously a friend from Portland/San Diego said "I've never seen a place do brunch like Philly") Everyone has their favorites, but Cafe Estelle (4th and spring garden) is one of mine.

- Take the 23... Runs from Chestnut Hill to Broad and Oregon.

(I'm sure I'll think of other things, but this is what's coming to mind now)

Is there a specific thing that she does not like? Our area is very diverse so if you can give us an idea of what she does not like it will be easier to recommend other areas to go to.

As far as music goes I haven't been to a show there is over a year but most music shows are 18+ at The Trocadero www.thetroc.com Not sure what type of music you like but I have always had fun at that place. It kind of reminds me of the 930 club in DC or Webster Hall up in NYC.

Dude if you are over 21 just slip the bouncer a $10 or $20 and say she is with me. If they ask for ID just say she forgot it. Never failed for me back in the day but drink responsibly.

World Cafe Live is a fabulous place to see concerts. Down Stairs Live usually has national acts but Upstairs Live is casual with a lot of talented musicians that play on stage, usually acoustic. Dont believe you have to be 21 to get in but they wont serve your friend alcohol here.

I second the bike ride down Kelly Drive on a nice day. Take it all the way to Ridge Ave, cross over Ridge and that is the Forbidden Drive trail(Wissahickon). Incredible

I can't really speak to your specific field but I can understand to a certain degree why right now would be almost impossible to break into those two fields. I work as an real estate appraiser and given the lack of new projects as compared to the pre 2008s I would assume there is a big glut of qualified people in that field. New projects starts are only like an eighth of what they used to be. If you have a lack of new projects then you are not going to need as many engineers or planning people. Thus they can hire experienced people instead of taking a chance and having to train people.

The company I work for constantly complains about being understaffed but they refuse to even consider training new people. Training people costs money so instead of hiring new graduates they only look at people that have experience. I am optimistic that this attitude will change in the next few months as the amount of work seems to be picking up quite a bit and in order to handle it they will be forced to give in and train people. I would not be shocked if many companies are in the same situation.

Also, I will add that networking is a major factor for young people to get a job. I am 24 and most of my friends ended up getting their jobs because of family friends or their network from college. I am somewhat shocked at that 50% number as most of the people I know my age do have pretty good jobs but I can certainly understand certain industries having bad prospects.

Phila. office buildings being converted into boutique hotel

Natalie KostelniReporter - Philadelphia Business Journal


Two office buildings in Center City are going to be converted into a single 150-key hotel.

The Biddle building at 1217 Sansom St. and the Bailey building at 1218 Chestnut St. will be transformed into Hotel Indigo, said Michael H. Sonnabend of PMZ Realty Capital, which is arranging the financing for the project. The full-service boutique hotel is managed by InterContinental Hotels (NYSE:IHG) and will cost an estimated $35 million. Financing is expected to be lined up by some time this summer.

The eight-story Biddle building totals 40,000 square feet and the 10-store Bailey building has 101,000 square feet.

Not sure if this is good news. The city needs office space badly - but first we need to lower those taxes!

I actually heard about this night at the monthly UCHS meeting. One thing not mentioned in the article is that this would require the demolition of four brownstone houses which are of no particular historic interest. As for the overall design of the tower, it looks like the crappy Penn dorm buildings. Is this really the best they can come up with?

^This would be outstanding^

University City is really buzzing with development.

Come on, man. Take her to Morning Glory for brunch.