PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread - Page 48

summersm343 · #**941** Posted **Nov 2, 2012, 4:40 PM**

PA Ballet Construction Updates

http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.c...lets-new-home/

dc_denizen · #**942** Posted **Nov 3, 2012, 11:47 AM**

This proposal makes no sense. Five spanking new public high schools surrounding a redeveloped luxury apartment building????? does Philly need new schools? How is this conducive to creating mixed use neighborhood again?

Cro Burnham · #**943** Posted **Nov 3, 2012, 2:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

This proposal makes no sense. Five spanking new public high schools surrounding a redeveloped luxury apartment building????? does Philly need new schools? How is this conducive to creating mixed use neighborhood again?

i can't see it happening. the school district is absolutely broke.

summersm343 · #**944** Posted **Nov 4, 2012, 9:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

This proposal makes no sense. Five spanking new public high schools surrounding a redeveloped luxury apartment building????? does Philly need new schools? How is this conducive to creating mixed use neighborhood again?

This will move students from other surrounding schools to this new campus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

i can't see it happening. the school district is absolutely broke.

The school district will not be funding the project... therefor they will be able to move to new facilities and sell the old buildings to developers for redevelopment.

ardecila · #**945** Posted **Nov 4, 2012, 10:57 PM**

That doesn't make sense either. Why would the developer build expensive high schools and donate them to the school system?

mja · #**946** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 1:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

That doesn't make sense either. Why would the developer build expensive high schools and donate them to the school system?

I believe the plan is that the district would sell/lease/trade their old buildings/land to Blumenfeld in return for this new campus.

Masterman's current location, for example, would make for a pretty ideal conversion to residential.

dc_denizen · #**947** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 2:27 AM**

You can kiss the revitalization of this area of North Broad goodbye if this plan moves ahead as laid out.

Seriously, this is a lunatic and not a serious plan--there must be some game or catch or political angle here that we're not seeing.

What happened to mixed use? why 5 new schools next to eachother - why not one school, one office, one condo, one rental apartment?

mja · #**948** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 4:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

You can kiss the revitalization of this area of North Broad goodbye if this plan moves ahead as laid out.

Seriously, this is a lunatic and not a serious plan--there must be some game or catch or political angle here that we're not seeing.

What happened to mixed use? why 5 new schools next to eachother - why not one school, one office, one condo, one rental apartment?

I'm not sold on the idea, but I don't think it is completely insane either.

And these aren't 5 "new" schools. There is only 1 new school that seems to be proposed - the Starr School of Hospitality, whatever that would be. The other 4 schools exist. 3 of them are special admit schools. Masterman is the top ranked school in the REGION and one of the top schools in the country. This would just give those schools state of the art facilities and a shared campus.

summersm343 · #**949** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 6:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

You can kiss the revitalization of this area of North Broad goodbye if this plan moves ahead as laid out.

Seriously, this is a lunatic and not a serious plan--there must be some game or catch or political angle here that we're not seeing.

What happened to mixed use? why 5 new schools next to eachother - why not one school, one office, one condo, one rental apartment?

Why are you so against this idea? I think you are looking at this the wrong way. How would this kill the revitalization in the area? What are you talking about?!

summersm343 · #**950** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 6:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mja

I'm not sold on the idea, but I don't think it is completely insane either.

And these aren't 5 "new" schools. There is only 1 new school that seems to be proposed - the Starr School of Hospitality, whatever that would be. The other 4 schools exist. 3 of them are special admit schools. Masterman is the top ranked school in the REGION and one of the top schools in the country. This would just give those schools state of the art facilities and a shared campus.

The Starr School of Hospitality would be a cooking/restaurant management school, etc. etc.

dc_denizen · #**951** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 2:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

Why are you so against this idea? I think you are looking at this the wrong way. How would this kill the revitalization in the area? What are you talking about?!

The plan is not consistent with good mixed use planning principles. This is a classic suburban style campus, in the heart of North Broad, mere blocks from city hall. I wouldn't like an office park, either.

Also...How much tax revenue will these schools generate? How many new jobs will be created? How many new taxpaying residents will these schools attract to live in Philly?

How long will it take to redevelop the former school properties that are vacated? Who will provide capital for the redevelopments? Is there a plan in place or will the area lay fallow for years?

palvar · #**952** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 2:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Also...How much tax revenue will these schools generate? How many new jobs will be created? How many new taxpaying residents will these schools attract to live in Philly?

As he's proposing to relocate existing schools, I expect that (apart from construction) the answers to your questions are none, none and none respectively.

Kidphilly · #**953** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 4:19 PM**

http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.c...iversity-city/

McBane · #**954** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 4:21 PM**

Not sure about anyone else, but I would never ever ever want to live in a building that is surrounded by five high schools. I don't care how smart or gifted the students are, it's still five high schools. From a city standpoint, I don't know why they would want such a high concentration of students in one location. I get it, they are gifted students, but they are still high school kids.

Cro Burnham · #**955** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 7:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

The school district will not be funding the project... therefor they will be able to move to new facilities and sell the old buildings to developers for redevelopment.

i don't think the concept is horrible, but it is fantasy to imagine this happening without the school district contributing big money. i don't care what old schools they toss in as equity. i really don't see it happening. i think the divine lorraine will proceed without the campus.

Phil_North · #**956** Posted **Nov 5, 2012, 7:35 PM**

The entire idea seems a bit fanciful, however perhaps a scaled down version will become a reality. If the developer can somehow manage to pull this entire thing off, then kudos to him. I do find hard to believe that several high schools could coexist on one campus. Is part of the plan to share resources between the schools? I wonder if this has ever been done before.

Lecom · #**957** Posted **Nov 6, 2012, 12:13 AM**

Problem: Abandoned landmark and blighted lots.

Solution: Build schools. Many, many schools. Even it if takes relocating every local school to the site. Build up real estate with schools, so that existing schools may be demolished to make way for real estate in less desirable areas.

Am I missing something?

mja · #**958** Posted **Nov 6, 2012, 2:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lecom

Problem: Abandoned landmark and blighted lots.

Solution: Build schools. Many, many schools. Even it if takes relocating every local school to the site. Build up real estate with schools, so that existing schools may be demolished to make way for real estate in less desirable areas.

Am I missing something?

Yes, those schools are currently in MORE desirable areas. Each of them are in this same general vicinity, only much closer to Center City. The Franklin, FLC, & Masterman properties pretty much run up against one near the intersection of Broad & Spring Garden (with two huge vacant lots on the nw & ne sides, which if I'm not mistaken, this same developer already owns) and could represent a massive development opportunity in and of themselves, with the advantages that they are closer to Center City in the pretty much established Spring Garden neighborhood, where a 3 story 4 bedroom house will set you back ~600K, and not next to housing projects unlike the proposed site. Even Parkway is in an area that has seen a great deal of construction over the last 5 years or so.

This is why this can make sense for EB Realty. I'm still not convinced of the plan, but it isn't insane if you know anything about the 4 schools we're talking about.

Kidphilly · #**959** Posted **Nov 7, 2012, 11:03 PM**

http://www.philly.com/philly/food/20...eet_store.html

asies1981 · #**960** Posted **Nov 8, 2012, 3:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kidphilly

http://www.philly.com/philly/food/20...eet_store.html

I have a hunch on where Whole Foods is going. Monday evening I interviewed Bart Blatstein and he mentioned Whole Foods a few times. I am thinking a Whole Foods could possibly be worked into the Statehouse project at Broad and Spring Garden.