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  #2401  
Old Posted Jan 31, 2018, 5:31 PM
Milksteak Milksteak is offline
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Originally Posted by ePlanningPhila View Post
I really wish we could get some statewide policy changes to incentivize more of this type of development and investment in Pennsylvania's small towns.
Yeah, I live in lower Bucks and they have a redevelopment authority, I attended one of their meetings to 'refurbish' one of the aesthetically unappealing towns in the area...but there is only so much they could do. They had a lot of ideas, some relatively easy to implement (new benches, trees) and some that sound great but they really can't implement without private development (new mixed used projects, restaurants, bars). Outside of assisting in changing zoning, I don't know how much 'power' they really have - that being said, opening up the conversation to the residents and government is a great start.

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Originally Posted by ePlanningPhila View Post
Most likely because these municipalities have their little fiefdoms and the leaders within them have no desire to hand over or consolidate power, and god forbid, loose their 'lifetime' post.
This is a major problem, so many of the tiny boroughs have a high concentration of council members (like 10 for a town of 2000) and they honestly hold up progress. Many surrounding townships have around 5 for areas containing over 30,000 residents. 'The good old days' still exist in their mind, meanwhile, their towns are not progressing or keeping up, and they are aging rapidly (in both population and infrastructure). People bitch constantly about Millennials ditching the burbs for the city and they don't realize change is at their fingertips.
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  #2402  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 1:32 AM
3rd&Brown 3rd&Brown is offline
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Originally Posted by Milksteak View Post
Yeah, I live in lower Bucks and they have a redevelopment authority, I attended one of their meetings to 'refurbish' one of the aesthetically unappealing towns in the area...but there is only so much they could do. They had a lot of ideas, some relatively easy to implement (new benches, trees) and some that sound great but they really can't implement without private development (new mixed used projects, restaurants, bars). Outside of assisting in changing zoning, I don't know how much 'power' they really have - that being said, opening up the conversation to the residents and government is a great start.
Another thing that Philly (and by extension, most big cities) now get is the importance of aesthetics. Design matters, even in the most mundane of decisions, particularly when it comes to public spaces.

A bench isn't just a bench. A street light isn't just a street light. Not all landscaping is the same.

Using the same amount of money, a town could implement truly stellar improvements with relatively little money, which would snowball into private investment. Or they could buy the plastic bench from Home Depot that everyone else has that was spec'd by their cousin Don who got "a contract" with the city because he's well, Uncle Don.

(Most) suburbs most definitively do not have individuals in charge of such decisions that give a rats ass about such things, or even have the ability to appreciate how the subtle differences can add up to create hugely disparate outcomes or experiences. The reason why King of Prussia will succeed in reinventing itself is because it does (and will be the exception).

When I see middling towns (which are solidly middle to upper middle class and by no means poor) like Middletown and Aston and Springfield and Haverford or Plymouth Meeting putting city planners on staff and contracting with firms like Field Operations or Andropogon to create cohesive experiences and or improve the public spaces they already have, then I will know they've finally "gotten" it. Until then, you can meet me for a drink in the urban center.
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  #2403  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 12:53 PM
wcphil wcphil is offline
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West Chester has been pretty good about planning for a dense, urban future. They partnered with a firm to create 5, 10, and 20 year plans for the borough which includes changing the auto centric part of town on the way in into a cbd2. They are working to incentivize building with urban design there instead of sprawling outward. Also have a meeting this month about completely changing the zoning code for the CBD which will assist two major projects proposed in town.
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  #2404  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 1:03 PM
Nova08 Nova08 is offline
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Originally Posted by wcphil View Post
West Chester has been pretty good about planning for a dense, urban future. They partnered with a firm to create 5, 10, and 20 year plans for the borough which includes changing the auto centric part of town on the way in into a cbd2. They are working to incentivize building with urban design there instead of sprawling outward. Also have a meeting this month about completely changing the zoning code for the CBD which will assist two major projects proposed in town.
And out of all of the PA outlying suburbs West Chester seems like the best chance to see restored rail service from Septa. (Excluding Wawa and KOP trolley)
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  #2405  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 1:28 PM
ePlanningPhila ePlanningPhila is offline
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Originally Posted by wcphil View Post
West Chester has been pretty good about planning for a dense, urban future. They partnered with a firm to create 5, 10, and 20 year plans for the borough which includes changing the auto centric part of town on the way in into a cbd2. They are working to incentivize building with urban design there instead of sprawling outward. Also have a meeting this month about completely changing the zoning code for the CBD which will assist two major projects proposed in town.
This is great, it is a trend I think will only continue to gain momentum across PA, starting most specifically within SEPA. What is happening is that these places are starting to realize the towns that are thriving are encouraging, denser development, reinvestment and altering the way they look at planning. For example you will notice at the fringe of many of these towns, the development pattern from the past 20 years was, to promote auto centric sprawl at the edge of the core, rather than promote an extension of that denser, mixed use fabric which is what makes all these places unique, vibrant and appealing. Finally I think the trend is slowly to push back to the traditional way.

Many places are starting to recognize regional trends and say: wait a minute. If it is working for them over there in Media. I think we need to get on board and try this too!

A lot of it is what the other poster said. Many of these small boroughs are over governed and have dated leadership with very little 'vision'.

I will give my hats off to Phoenixville as another great comeback story.

I also agree aesthetics and design are important, and the more they can be valued, the more likely you will see reinvestment really pay off.
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  #2406  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 11:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Nova08 View Post
And out of all of the PA outlying suburbs West Chester seems like the best chance to see restored rail service from Septa. (Excluding Wawa and KOP trolley)
The ones featuring intact and hopefully active rail lines leading to them are all much more likely to see pax service ... assuming the public will is there to put it in. So West Chester, Sellersville/Perkasie/Quakertown, and Phoenixville/Pottstown are all more likely to see service than Kennett Square (the Octoraro Branch has long been ripped up between Wawa and Chadds Ford), Newtown (the Newtown Branch got ripped up), or the Pennsburg/Red Hill/East Greenville area (the Perkiomen Branch is long gone).

Interestingly, the majority of ex-PRSL alignments are still active in South Jersey ... though the majority of them are in atrocious condition and will need significant investment to carry commuter trains again.
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Originally Posted by wcphil View Post
West Chester has been pretty good about planning for a dense, urban future. They partnered with a firm to create 5, 10, and 20 year plans for the borough which includes changing the auto centric part of town on the way in into a cbd2. They are working to incentivize building with urban design there instead of sprawling outward. Also have a meeting this month about completely changing the zoning code for the CBD which will assist two major projects proposed in town.
I would love to see WC Boro pimp for either reactivating the old West Chester Branch or building a spur to it along 202 from the Main Line (which, interestingly enough, seems to itself follow an old West Chester Branch rail alignment). Or possibly both.
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  #2407  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2018, 8:51 PM
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Construction underway on three developments in North Bala Avenue area of Bala Cynwed

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LOWER MERION >> NoBA is coming to Bala Cynwyd

One of the key ingredients to making a trendy neighborhood these days is having a trendy name. Now a section of Bala Cynwyd has one — NoBA.

NoBA is the name a developer is using for the area around Bala and Union avenues where three large development projects are in the works.

“It is short for North Bala Avenue, but it was clearly a signal that fresh ideas are coming,” said Kevin Michals, principal with Cross Properties.

The comments by Michals were made as he was the keynote speaker at the CityAve Futurecast breakfast and networking event hosted by the City Avenue District.

Cross Properties is behind three large apartment projects in the area around Bala Avenue and Union avenues in the Bala Cynwyd section of Lower Merion.

“Our mission at Cross Properties is to create community,” he said. “We do that with our staff. We do that with neighborhoods. We do that with the residents that live in our communities and, of course, with our investors.”

To make way for the three projects, Cross Properties purchased about 20 separate properties over six months, Michals said.

The first project to get approvals from Lower Merion Township was the long-vacant two-acre site at 10 Union Ave. The site had been an empty field for about the past 15 years when an older office building was demolished. Now under construction, it will be a 109-unit apartment building that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The second project is across Union Avenue at Cynwyd Road where they purchased an old office building that had housed a Montgomery County District Court office for the past decade. That site also consisted of former homes that had long ago been converted into businesses along Cynwyd Avenue.

The new building will be a mixed-use structure with 75 units and over 7,000 square feet of commercial space.

Demolition of the old buildings has begun and the project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2019, he said.

Project No. 3 at North Highland and Bala avenues will be a third mixed-use apartment building with about 80 units and 7,000 square feet of commercial space.

According to Michals, Cross Properties recently purchased a liquor license that is expected to be used for a business in the site.

“We grabbed [the license] when we could, and we’ll use it as a chip — an investment in a future restaurateur,” Michals said.


More: http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/mai...fe278b937.html
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  #2408  
Old Posted Feb 5, 2018, 9:46 PM
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For those interested, I've done some work on the Wilmington Skyscraper Diagram on the "Diagrams" part of this site. All the buildings with jonesrmj below them were drawn by me.

Here is the link to the diagram:
http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=231
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  #2409  
Old Posted Feb 5, 2018, 9:55 PM
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El Duderino El Duderino is offline
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Originally Posted by jonesrmj View Post
For those interested, I've done some work on the Wilmington Skyscraper Diagram on the "Diagrams" part of this site. All the buildings with jonesrmj below them were drawn by me.
Very awesome! Love it when the diagrams are more complete and good job on the drawings
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  #2410  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2018, 2:09 AM
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Nomad9 Nomad9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesrmj View Post
For those interested, I've done some work on the Wilmington Skyscraper Diagram on the "Diagrams" part of this site. All the buildings with jonesrmj below them were drawn by me.

Here is the link to the diagram:
http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=231
Nice!
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  #2411  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2018, 6:03 PM
domodeez domodeez is offline
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Wilmington: DuPont Building

A few more details on the food hall and other retail coming to the old DuPont Building (Chemours HQ) on Rodney Square. This came from the February 2018 edition of Out & About Magazine (can't find a link online).

Quote:
By late 2018, Wilmington's downtown will be enhanced by a 12,000-square-foot food hall housing eight chef-driven kitchens that will feature not just mid-Atlantic culinary dishes but a variety of cuisine from around the world. The food hall will be known as DE.CO (an abbreviation for "Delaware Collective") and will be the first of its kind in the state.

The project was born out of a collaboration between developers The Buccini/Pollin Group and Seawall Development, who are hoping to capitalize on what has been a successful trend of food halls emerging in major cities. They believe the project will play a major role in the continued revitalization of Wilmington's downtown area.

DE.CO will be located in the DuPont Building at 10th and Orange Streets. In addition to the new food hall, the $150 million in renovations will include retail shops and artisan boutiques. The developers are hoping the projects will make the building a major community hub.

The DE.CO food hall is currently accepting applications. Interested chefs should contact Peter DiPrinzio at peter@seawalldevelopment.com
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  #2412  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2018, 1:06 AM
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Originally Posted by El Duderino View Post
Very awesome! Love it when the diagrams are more complete and good job on the drawings
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Originally Posted by Nomad9 View Post
Nice!
Thanks! Is this something you guys want me to continue to work on?

Also, are you guys happy I'm not complaining about "why not Wilmington" anymore?
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  #2413  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2018, 1:08 AM
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Originally Posted by domodeez View Post
A few more details on the food hall and other retail coming to the old DuPont Building (Chemours HQ) on Rodney Square. This came from the February 2018 edition of Out & About Magazine (can't find a link online).
I'm confused about this. Is this like a mini mall (like what's in One Liberty Place in Philly), just a food court like what is found in a mall, or like what is in the Hercules Plaza building how they have that atrium with some stores?
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  #2414  
Old Posted Feb 8, 2018, 2:21 PM
jslice jslice is offline
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Originally Posted by domodeez View Post
A few more details on the food hall and other retail coming to the old DuPont Building (Chemours HQ) on Rodney Square. This came from the February 2018 edition of Out & About Magazine (can't find a link online).
I think this could be fantastic for Wilmington. I've been to R.House in Baltimore (ran by same company bringing this to Wilmington) and it is great, with lots of interesting vendors and a nice buzz. Another article says Jose Andres is interested in the project, if true that could be a game changer for downtown wilmington. If you have a happening food hall, next to the new midtown apartments in a revitalized Dupont bldg. with a new brew pub down the street...wow. Wilmington needs to be the main street of the Brandywine Valley. The key in my mind is attracting all the wealth in the valley down to market street for their night outs.
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  #2415  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 2:46 AM
domodeez domodeez is offline
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Wilmington: DuPont Building

A bunch of additional details on the DuPoint Building renovations:

New look for Hotel du Pont lobby, bar
https://www.delawareonline.com/story...bar/312273002/



Quote:
The Hotel du Pont's lobby and its Green Room bar have received a classy "nouveau Victorian-inspired" makeover by acclaimed New York architect and interior designer Campion Platt.

Couches, chairs, loveseats, and ottomans in various hues of gold, blue and green were installed at the downtown Wilmington site at the end of January and earlier this month.

The lobby also has a communal table, different lighting fixtures and new rugs that feature bold, floral designs.

"The idea is to energize the lobby for the single travelers as well as groups, making it a place one wants to stay, sit, talk, drink and work," said Platt, whose design projects have included the Mercer Hotel in New York and the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles which is known for its Old Hollywood glamour.
..
Buccini-Pollin is now beginning to unveil some of the planned $175 million changes that it is making to the historic 1913 building purchased in April 2017.

The building was owned by the DuPont Co. until 2015 when it moved its headquarters to its Chestnut Run site. Chemours, a spinoff company from DuPont, then assumed ownership.

Chemours is now leasing parts of the DuPont Building through a 17-year lease with Buccini/Pollin that runs through 2034.
...
"The Hotel du Pont enjoys a unique place in American hotel design heritage. It was the oldest single family owned hotel in America until recently when purchased by the Buccini Pollin Group," he said.

Platt said his refurbishments to the lobby and Green Room bar were "gentle."
...
Other recent changes at the Hotel du Pont include extended hours and new menus for The Cafe, formerly called the Lobby Lounge, and new menus for the Green Room.

The casual Grille eatery, the cafeteria on the hotel's lower level closed since this past June, will not reopen.

Kies said even more refurbishments could be coming soon.

"We do have future plans for the Green Room," she said. Kies said it is not yet known if Platt will redesign the 97-seat dining room.

The Green Room last received a face-lift in 2004.
...
A new food hall known as DE.CO is expected to open at the end of this year in the DuPont Building. The 12,000-square-foot site at the corner of 10th and Oranges streets will feature eight chef-led kitchens and a bar.
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  #2416  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 3:33 AM
jsbrook jsbrook is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domodeez View Post
A bunch of additional details on the DuPoint Building renovations:

New look for Hotel du Pont lobby, bar
https://www.delawareonline.com/story...bar/312273002/

This looks nice. Nice to see this brought into the 21st century. And Go Eagles!! (Sorry, had to. The last week has been amazing. I am also sad to put on clothes tomorrow; since the NFC Championship, I've primarily worn Eagles gear and pajamas, except when meeting with [certain] clients)
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  #2417  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 4:02 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesrmj View Post
For those interested, I've done some work on the Wilmington Skyscraper Diagram on the "Diagrams" part of this site. All the buildings with jonesrmj below them were drawn by me.

Here is the link to the diagram:
http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=231
Thank you and nice work on the diagrams.
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  #2418  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 6:33 PM
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Urbanthusiat Urbanthusiat is offline
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Main Line Health building $32M health center in King of Prussia

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Main Line Health said Friday that it plans to build a $32 million health center in King of Prussia, including a specialty-care center for women in partnership with Axia Women’s Health.

The 94,000 square-foot facility in the Village at Valley Forge development will offer primary care, cardiology and cardiac testing, endocrinology, neurology, general surgery, orthopedics, imaging, physical therapy, and lab services, Main Line said. The organization did not immediately provide a projected opening date.

Main Line already has similar outpatient centers — seen by health systems as key to offering ever more care in community settings — in Exton, Broomall, Collegeville, Concordville, and Newtown Square.

Axia’s website says it includes 250 clinicians at 100 locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


From: http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20180209.html
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  #2419  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 9:08 PM
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Looks like 1992
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  #2420  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2018, 9:19 PM
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Urbanthusiat Urbanthusiat is offline
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New building planned in Wayne; ground broken on large Del. project

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Old Eagle Associates, an entity affiliated with Lieberman Earley and Co., received preliminary approval to move forward with a fourth building totaling 31,000 square feet at the Meadows office complex at 485-489 Devon Park Drive in Wayne. The Meadows now has three buildings totaling about 105,000 square feet.


From: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...broken-on.html
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