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Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 1:55 PM
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hammersklavier hammersklavier is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillyaggie View Post
hammer, always enjoy gawking at all your pics around the city, since i can't see the place myself, obviously. so thanks!

as for Broad & Washington: not sure whether you were active at that time or not, but a couple years ago, there was a huge thread on PhillyBlog regarding a proposal for the Southeast corner of Broad and Washington. The proposal was for a tall tower of mixed-use development, with the street level use being that related to the performing arts. There were some pictorials of a public plaza that could serve as an outdoor theater or just a meeting place. I don't recall all the details, but I do recall a lot of people being upset about this project for its height and how it would ruin the neighborhood (Hawthorne, I guess?).

There was big talk about the fact that the BSL has a station right there at Broad & Washington, so it would be a perfect location for a high-density mixed use development (A TOD concept, almost). There was also a lot of talk about turning Broad & Washington into some sort of a grand entrance with signage and proper development heft that would essentially proclaim a welcome for visitors not only to the Avenue of the Arts but to central Philadelphia city itself...especially if visitors use Broad St exit from I-95 (coming from the airport)...I know I always have taken that route into town.

I think it was championed by Dranoff? Or was it Rimas? May be not.

Anyways, google searching helps.
In fact, here is the WRT design page for the project:

http://www.wrtdesign.com/projects/de...Condominiums/4

I guess at this point, it is essentially dead and buried.


From back in 2007, the NYT did a piece on the Ave of the Arts that sang praises of all the projects along S. Broad. It has this tidbit on Broad & Washington:




http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/re.../17philly.html


Suffice it to say that the Ave of the Arts still has long ways to go to fulfill all the potential and possibilities for all that's good about it.


and lastly, this, from tail end of the NYT article, still rings true:





Nutter, are you listening??
This is the thread you'll want to be checking out, Aggie.

Where the AA is in the traditional CBD it thrives; once it leaves it becomes suburban-esque real fast. To say more development like 777 South Broad is needed is, quite simply, an understatement.
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