Brown Hill Development inches closer to constructing the 197' condo towers at 205 Race Street. First District Councilman Mark Squilla introduced a bill in the City Council Thursday that would amend the Center City Zoning overlay to allow larger construction projects in the area surrounding the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The bill adds a "Bridge Approach" area to the Old City subsection of the Center City Overlay. The new area is bounded by Race Street, 4th Street, and Interstate 95.
Article on this today from PlanPhilly. Looks like this may end up being taller. OCCA is still having a hissy-fit about it.
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According to Squilla and Greenberger, the developers have negotiated with Keystone since withdrawing their zoning application earlier this year, and have agreed to make some changes to the design. The project will keep 128 residential units, but the portion fronting on Race Street will be lowered, according to Squilla, and the tower will be slightly raised. Greenberger said the design changes will—and our fingers resist even transcribing the phrase—“open up the view corridor to the billboard.”
Representatives of Brown Hill Development and their attorney were not immediately available for comment. An attorney for Keystone Outdoor Advertising could not be reached Tuesday morning.
Richard Thom, chair of Old City Civic Association’s developments committee, said it isn’t about how nice the design of the project is—he likes it—but about the purpose of zoning.
Wow. Its too bad the Old City Civic Association didn't spend as much time fighting that hideous billboard as they have this beautiful growth spurring project.
An article by Inga in yesterday's inquirer about the holdup with this project. I'm usually against haphazard changes to the zoning code (the recent parking and lot size changes come to mind, passed by our city councimbeciles). But, in this case, it seems to make sense.
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Any number of obstacles can kill a high-rise project in Philadelphia. Usually it's money. Construction costs can run as high as New York's, yet rents remain much lower here, the margins smaller. Tall towers frequently get ensnared in politics, especially when a neighborhood group is nervous about having more people around.But the forces that have delayed the construction of a much-praised skyscraper design at Second and Race Streets are of a different sort entirely.
This time, the building is being held up by a billboard.
Wow. Its too bad the Old City Civic Association didn't spend as much time fighting that hideous billboard as they have this beautiful growth spurring project.
Only in Philadelphia. Richard Thom is such a putz. He doesn't even live in Old City.
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve Councilman Mark Squilla’s bill that would add a small subset to the Old City zoning overlay, allowing for larger and denser projects in the area surrounding the approach to the Ben Franklin Bridge.
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The bill provides size and density bonuses to projects in CMX-3 lots in the area between I-95, Race Street, New Street, and 4th Street.
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The bill was conceived as a response to the proposed development at 205 Race Street, a 16-story, 128-unit mixed-used apartment complex.
Excellent news! This seems like it will allow 205 Race to be constructed by right without any threats from $%&^%*& billboard companies. The usual suspects spoke out against this bill, but if you look at the overlay, it really does make sense. It's a confined area of about three blocks right around the bridge. There's almost no way you could expect lower density buildings to be developed from scratch there given that they would be adjacent to the bridge approach. It just doesn't make sense to expect those three blocks to be filled in by row homes.
A City Council committee today agreed to relax zoning restrictions in a portion of Old City near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
The current zoning regulations for Old City include a 65-foot height limit and limits on the density of properties.
But developers led by Jeffrey Brown say that because of those limits, it is very challenging to develop in the area neighboring the Ben Franklin Bridge.
“It makes you build a building that is below the bridge structure, and that’s not very appealing to people as a place to live,” he says.
Brown hopes to build an apartment building at Second and Race Streets, but he would not discuss the specifics of his proposal.
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Philadelphia City Council’s Rules Committee approved changes to the zoning regulations that lift the height limit and ease the density requirements within that area, from I-95 to 4th Street, and from New Street to Race Street.
Philadelphia City Council passed a measure allowing for larger, more dense structures to be built near the Ben Franklin Bridge. Structures can encompass an entire lot without leaving room for side yards. Those rules are different than the rest of Old City.
The bill is a response to a 16-story, 128-unit mixed-used apartment complex proposed for Old City.
After nearly a year of silence, this is coming back to life!
Will only have to go through the Historical Commission and the Civic Design Review because the building can be built by right now thanks to the new overlay.
So glad to hear this! Now that this is by right it should be a done deal. The rendering from the PlanPhilly article has a different facade texture which is a bit of a bummer. I really liked the original one. But the new rendering still looks like it will be a terrific building!
Construction on the long-vacant lot at the corner of 2nd and Race streets in Old City should begin by the first quarter of next year, according to Jeffrey Brown, one of the developers who has planned a 148-unit apartment complex at the site.
So glad to hear this! Now that this is by right it should be a done deal. The rendering from the PlanPhilly article has a different facade texture which is a bit of a bummer. I really liked the original one. But the new rendering still looks like it will be a terrific building!
I think this rendering looks lame... like all the other boring modern design work going up in neighborhoods....but it really pisses me off to think that they might have scrapped the previous facade due to cost associated with fighting for years for the right to build this!