PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[1487]

Originally Posted by TellTheTruthPhila

My opinion is that it's a Philadelphia deal.!

The BIG problem that I see (from afar) is that if the City Commerce department is the driving force behind the presentation, Philadelphia has no chance. They are not the best and brightest marketing, real estate development, corporate leaders for the region, although they think that they are. Mayor Kenney likewise is a hack. One shakedown effort by the polls, and Amazon walks out the door.

Having dealt with big city pols from the corporate side, I know exactly how they approach these kinds of deals. Hands open for kickbacks through their personal attorneys. Mayor asking for one thing, City Council asking for something else.

Against all odds, I hope that I'm wrong.

city council has almost ZERO role in crafting incentive packages for employers. Totally under Commerce Dept and PDIC. So no, there is no big meeting in which elected officials are allowed to ask Company A for kickbacks in exchange for tax breaks or whatever. Generally speaking, the deals just take advantage of existing state/local incentives and then may throw in some low interest loans or infrastructure improvements (like Comcast's tunnel extension).

[Khantilever]

Originally Posted by TellTheTruthPhila

Many cities justify throwing massive incentive packages at new employers on the theory that they will then attract new businesses, creating spillover benefits. For the country it’s zero sum but for a city it can be positive sum. A study co-written by Mr. Moretti shows that when a large plant locates in a county, productivity at neighboring plants also rises, reflecting the spillover benefits.

This is actually a mischaracterization of the academic view of these subsidies. To the extent that the spillover benefits are not internalized by the firm and vary by location, if cities which expect greater spillovers offer larger incentives it is not a zero-sum contest for society. Instead, this contest nudges firms to locate where they benefit society most.

There are certainly decent arguments against these incentives, particularly for the advantage it provides large and politically-connected firms, but there are benefits which need to be considered as well. Cities like Philly for whom this would be a transformative event can and should offer more than cities that are practically indifferent to Amazon's presence (or even opposed, as in places like Portland).

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by thisisforreal

Did just the Police abandon the insurance building near Market and 46th or did the other intended uses bail as well?

That building is 623,000 sq ft and is wrapping up a, what, $50mm renovation? In case they want to move in in a few months instead of the first 500,000 by 2020...

I have no idea how they're gonna fill it now that Kenney's white elephanted that thing. Pretty bad move all around IMO; much more interesting redevelopments could've gone into the Inky building.

[Nova08]

Well we can add Bensalem to this nonsense. They announced their intention to bid for Amazon. I'd love to know if other regions (Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Chicago) have this similar small mindedness when it comes to their proposals.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Well we can add Bensalem to this nonsense. They announced their intention to bid for Amazon. I'd love to know if other regions (Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Chicago) have this similar small mindedness when it comes to their proposals.

Ask and ye shall receive:

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

I think it's interesting that all of these different locales in the area are "planning on submitting a proposal to Amazon" when the metro/state leaders have made it very clear that there will be a "single coordinated bid" to represent the Denver region, with official blessing from the governor, as unambiguously stated in this article:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/12...essons-boeing/

Therefore, the Auroras and Stapletons out there may plan on submitting a bid internally in hopes they get picked to be the site chosen to represent the Denver region, but I don't think they will be submitting their proposals directly to Amazon; otherwise, doing so would be a mark against them in the eyes of both Amazon and the region/state leaders as a "rogue bid."

Key quotes from the article:

"“We are working very closely with our partners at the state and metro regional level to jointly submit a single coordinated, strategic, and intentional response representing the Denver MSA,” said Derek Woodbury, a spokesman for the Denver Office of Economic Development."

"Although Amazon is allowing one proposal per metro area, any communities that go it on their own would lose the backing of the state, limiting what incentives they could provide."

[Boku]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Well we can add Bensalem to this nonsense. They announced their intention to bid for Amazon. I'd love to know if other regions (Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Chicago) have this similar small mindedness when it comes to their proposals.

Jesus Christ, what is the point of that other than further showing we can’t coordinate with a single voice to benefit the entire region?

[Mr Saturn64]

Originally Posted by Boku

Jesus Christ, what is the point of that other than further showing we can’t coordinate with a single voice to benefit the entire region?

Exactly. Camden, Wilmington, and apparently now Bensalem can take a back seat to Philly and maybe reap some benefits if Amazon does come to Philly.

[MikeNigh]

If Amazon wants an actual top tier truly cosmopolitan urban lifestyle for their employees then Philadelphia, San Francisco and New York are their only choices. Also amazon loves to poach employees. It would be insanely easy for anyone from DC, New York, Pittsburgh and Boston to move here and they would love to do it. The cost of living is insane for what you get, they just need the job to move here. And if they buy their own tower they'd make out ten fold. Philly is already booming, once the lots for towers are up then the prices will skyrocket.

They would get top talent from UPenn in business and tech and could work with their research departments. They would basically siphon from the whole region and north east. The attraction wouldn't just be them, but the whole city they'd be moving in to. I don't think any city would give Amazon more brand recognition than "Seattle and Philadelphia". It'd be like setting up in the capital city in hunger games, no other city gives it a big city / big region presence.

[1487]

Originally Posted by thisisforreal

Did just the Police abandon the insurance building near Market and 46th or did the other intended uses bail as well?

That building is 623,000 sq ft and is wrapping up a, what, $50mm renovation? In case they want to move in in a few months instead of the first 500,000 by 2020...

No- the $50M number has been offered as total investment to date. A lot of that was likely spent on design, programming studies, remediation and some limited construction. The project should've been much farther along by now but its obvious Kenney's Admin put the brakes on the project a LONG time ago. What you have now is a building with new windows, a new roof, no asbestos and a restored facade. It is nowhere near being a habitable office building.

[summersm343]

Bensalem joins regional rivals in fray for Amazon HQ2

This is getting fucking ridiculous honestly. Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington and Bensalem need to come TOGETHER on this... they shouldn't be competing with each other... and no offense to anybody that lives there, but what the fuck does BENSALEM have to offer besides being a completely soulless suburb with nothing to offer aside from a soulless suburban casino?? This multi-bid crap from our region could doom Philly from getting the Amazon HQ2. Can't these people in South Jersey and Bensalem realize that a win for Philadelphia is a win for them too? Why can this region not come together on anything aside from sports? Why does this region not work together? Why is this region always trying to take away from the city? It's ridiculous.

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170921.html

[summersm343]

Amazon HQ2 RFP asks for just one bid per region, so Philly submits three

...now four with Bensalem. This is a problem that could effect Philly's chances.

Read more here:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2017/...-submits-three

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Amazon HQ2 RFP asks for just one bid per region, so Philly submits three

...now four with Bensalem. This is a problem that could effect Philly's chances.

Read more here:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2017/...-submits-three

Not likely, IMHO. Camden and Wilmington are their own thing. Wilmington is the biggest city in Delaware, and they are very touchy. Although many Philadelphia residents do work in Wilmington, the City certainly does not see itself as a suburb of Philadelphia. I think it's unrealistic to expect Wilmington to throw behind a Philly bid even though it SHOULD as it's not an independently viable location for Amazon. But the relationship between Philly and Wilmington is more akin to Baltimore and DC (each submitting its own bid) than Chevy Chase -- an incorporated town of less than 3,000 -- and DC. Chevy Chase is coordinating with DC in support of its bid. Pretty sure New York, Newark, and Manhattan are all going to be submitting independent bids.

The Bensalem stuff is just chickenshit. Irritating because it's the same state and Wolf and co. should be able to get them to fall in line, but it seems silly for Amazon to ding us for their dumb bid.

[1487]

Originally Posted by TellTheTruthPhila

snip

No, I said they don't create incentive packages for relocations. If a zoning change is needed for a specific site than obviously the Mayor would need to get the appropriate council person on board. But the incentives and marketing of sites falls under Commerce which reports only to the Mayor. Council controls funds and legislation- but they cannot control a Commerce Dept that does not report to them in any meaningful way.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by 1487

No, I said they don't create incentive packages for relocations. If a zoning change is needed for a specific site than obviously the Mayor would need to get the appropriate council person on board. But the incentives and marketing of sites falls under Commerce which reports only to the Mayor. Council controls funds and legislation- but they cannot control a Commerce Dept that does not report to them in any meaningful way.

Also not true. Not for practical purposes anyway. If David Oh's proposed bill passes, it meaningfully reduces Amazon's tax burden. Particularly in the absence of state action to extend KOIZ zone benefits past 2018. The bill then becomes critically important. Here is the bill: https://phila.legistar.com/Legislati...031&Options=ID And here are -- verbatim -- his words on what it does: "Tax incentives is an interesting topic and a bit complicated so I'd like to provide some background. KOZ's, KOEZ's and KOIZ's were created by state law. They were enacted to stimulate development of abandoned, unused and underutilized land and buildings through tax benefits, specifically exemptions from:State taxes (Corporate Net Income, Capital Stock & Foreign Franchise, Personal Income, Sales & Use, Mutual Thrift Institutions and Insurance Premiums) and City Taxes (Business Income and Receipts, Net Profits, Real Estate, Sales & Use). KOZ's and KOEZ's expired on December 31, 2010. KOIZ's expire on December 31, 2018. Further state legislation in 2009 and 2012 authorized extention of those terms, especially for unoccupied parcels and adding a limited number of additional properties under certain terms and conditions that will expire at the latest on December 31, 2025. To my knowledge, no new properties were approved for Philadelphia in recent years. In addition, it appears unlikely that the state legislature will approve KOZ type incentives in the future for Philadelphia. However, they might or the Governor may be able to offer an incentive in Philadelphia. My bill may not matter if the state takes action but that is uncertain. The total city taxes that Amazon will pay over 10 years, if it starts off with 50,000 employees and a $5 billion facility, is about $11.2 billion. It appears more likely that hiring a workforce over time would result in about $5.6 billion in city taxes. $32 billion in wages, healthcare, benefits, etc. will also yield city taxes. My bill offers a tax incentive by eliminating the Business Net Income Tax, only, and capped at $2 billion over 10 years (or $200 million per year). I have asked a state legislators to consider a state incentive, as well. My bill provides Amazon the ability to locate in any area of the city it chooses, provided the city approves zoning, etc. The RFP is due October 19, 2017. Although it is a proposal, introduction of a bill of this nature indicates serious support for the Mayor's efforts to attract Amazon to Philadelphia."

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Also not true. Not for practical purposes anyway. If David Oh's proposed bill passes, it meaningfully reduces Amazon's tax burden. Particularly in the absence of state action to extend KOIZ zone benefits past 2018. The bill then becomes critically important. Here is the bill: https://phila.legistar.com/Legislati...031&Options=ID And here are -- verbatim -- his words on what it does: "Tax incentives is an interesting topic and a bit complicated so I'd like to provide some background. KOZ's, KOEZ's and KOIZ's were created by state law. They were enacted to stimulate development of abandoned, unused and underutilized land and buildings through tax benefits, specifically exemptions from:State taxes (Corporate Net Income, Capital Stock & Foreign Franchise, Personal Income, Sales & Use, Mutual Thrift Institutions and Insurance Premiums) and City Taxes (Business Income and Receipts, Net Profits, Real Estate, Sales & Use). KOZ's and KOEZ's expired on December 31, 2010. KOIZ's expire on December 31, 2018. Further state legislation in 2009 and 2012 authorized extention of those terms, especially for unoccupied parcels and adding a limited number of additional properties under certain terms and conditions that will expire at the latest on December 31, 2025. To my knowledge, no new properties were approved for Philadelphia in recent years. In addition, it appears unlikely that the state legislature will approve KOZ type incentives in the future for Philadelphia. However, they might or the Governor may be able to offer an incentive in Philadelphia. My bill may not matter if the state takes action but that is uncertain. The total city taxes that Amazon will pay over 10 years, if it starts off with 50,000 employees and a $5 billion facility, is about $11.2 billion. It appears more likely that hiring a workforce over time would result in about $5.6 billion in city taxes. $32 billion in wages, healthcare, benefits, etc. will also yield city taxes. My bill offers a tax incentive by eliminating the Business Net Income Tax, only, and capped at $2 billion over 10 years (or $200 million per year). I have asked a state legislators to consider a state incentive, as well. My bill provides Amazon the ability to locate in any area of the city it chooses, provided the city approves zoning, etc. The RFP is due October 19, 2017. Although it is a proposal, introduction of a bill of this nature indicates serious support for the Mayor's efforts to attract Amazon to Philadelphia."

If your point is that the mayor can provide incentives without action by Council, that is true to some degree. But it's wrong to say that Council doesn't create incentive packages for relocations. It certainly can. And more effective ones can be created with Council buy-in than without.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by 1487

No- the $50M number has been offered as total investment to date. A lot of that was likely spent on design, programming studies, remediation and some limited construction. The project should've been much farther along by now but its obvious Kenney's Admin put the brakes on the project a LONG time ago. What you have now is a building with new windows, a new roof, no asbestos and a restored facade. It is nowhere near being a habitable office building.

Correct. $50M is just what had been budgeted to be spent on the project. What has actually been spent is above my pay grade.

The City has talked about "marketing" the building, but I think they know their sitting on a problem. I say give it to the Blackwell family in exchange for her and all her family retiring from City council.

[domodeez]

Hotel sign is up

[domodeez]

Pedestrian bridge is going in (taken about a week ago):





Second building will start moving quickly now:

[domodeez]

Crepes, craft brews & more headed to Wilmington's Market Street

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...eet/657337001/

(Stitch House Brewery owner Dan Sheridan sits in the back of his brewery this week with the $75 million Residences at Mid-Town Park behind him.)

...even as a new wave of spots have opened along the Market Street corridor in recent months — including healthy foods at Wilmington Green Box, ice cream and burgers at UDairy Creamery and a full Caribbean-inspired menu at Bull Bay Cuisine — you've seen nothing yet.

A stream of new restaurants along with a brewery and cidery are plotting launches ahead of the opening of the $75 million The Residences at Mid-Town Park luxury apartment complex, expected to welcome tenants in the spring. It's at the site of the former Shipley Street parking garage that serviced Grand theatergoers.

With its 200 apartments, 12,000 square feet of retail space and a 500-space underground parking garage, it's a massive addition that will make its mark on Market Street even though it's a block away.

Work has already begun to blow out the walkway in between Chelsea Tavern and UDairy, creating a larger natural path connecting the two streets with a casual outdoor beer garden filling the space.

But plenty of newbies will be sprouting on the city's main drag in the meantime.

Here's a look at some of them:

The French addition

The newest major addition to Market Street is slated to come as early as next month in the form of something the city doesn't have: a full-service French restaurant.

Margaux, a restaurant and bar with its own on-site bakery and crêperie, is scheduled to open at 902 N. Market St. below the Residences at Rodney Square at the former home of the Exchange. The doors of the main restaurant could swing open as early as next month with the bakery/crêperie/coffee shop following a month or two later with a separate entrance.

After years of eating and drinking in city establishments, Moroccan-born co-owner Soufiane Lailani says he has learned one thing not to do with a new restaurant: close early whenever business is slow.

"The thing about downtown that always irked me is when [restaurant owners] say we're not open because there are no people here at this time or that time," says Lailani, who moved to Delaware 24 years ago. "My philosophy is different. The reason why no one is going there is because you're not open.

"Look at a place like Kid Shelleen's [near Trolley Square] — you don't have to even think about it. They are open until 1 every day. It's consistent. On some nights is it just you at the bar? Sure, but you know it's always open."

The focus at Margaux will be on classic French dishes and flavors, along with some new creations and a Moroccan dish here or there.

"I'm not Americanizing the French. It won't be watered down," he promises. A bar and lounge area will also be part of the space's new layout with small plates served.

Beer, cider and iron skillets


(Stitch House Brewery owner Dan Sheridan plans on opening up his brewery on North Market Street in Wilmington this fall.)

A few steps down the street you'll find another anticipated new business — and this one is for the beer nerds.

Stitch House Brewery (829 N. Market St.) is about to be only the second downtown Wilmington brewery to produce its own beer in more than six decades when it opens this fall, aiming for a November debut.

The beer tanks have already been delivered to the 160-seat Stitch House, which will also offer a lunchtime sandwich board, along with cast iron skillets served in three different sizes. An in-house smoker will be put to use, picking up from one of Sheridan's other businesses, Wilmington's Locale BBQ Post.

When it comes to booze, there's one other craft alcohol-maker on Market's horizon.

Civil Cider could open as soon as this winter at the corner of North Shipley and West Fifth streets, the former home of the 4W5 Cafe. Alex Sianni and Gretchen Brizendine — the couple behind De La Coeur Café et Pâtisserie in Wilmington's Forty Acres — are the ones bringing that corner of Shipley Street back to life after years of dormancy.

There are several more spots prepping for a Delaware debut in the city.

Italian, Chinese and more

The Italian restaurant Arde Osteria at Seventh and North Market Street, which shares the same owners as Market Street's DiMeo's Pizza, should open by the new year, according to Sarah Lamb, director of design and marketing for developers Buccini/Pollin Group.

Others coming soon include Tom's Dim Sum at 625 N. Market St., 218 Grill at 218 N. Market St. and Mi Mi Teriyaki at 925 N. Orange St.

And when it comes to what we don't know about Market Street's upcoming tenants, attention turns to the upstairs stage and restaurant at The Queen, now under Live Nation management after World Cafe Live left in May.

Unlike World Cafe Live, which operated the upstairs space themselves, offering full meals at both stages, Live Nation's Queen doesn't do dinner.

The concert giant is looking for a restaurant partner to operate the upstairs space with it. No word yet on a confirmed deal.

"We're pretty close, but it's nothing that we could talk about yet," says The Queen General Manager Trenton Banks.

[jonesrmj]

As Wilmington vies to become Amazon.com's next home, Delaware’s elected leaders on Friday touted taxpayers’ quarter-billion-dollar investment in transportation projects in the city – home to the state’s biggest cluster of white-collar workers.

During a press conference held at the Wilmington Amtrak station, state officials said the job-market fortunes of Delaware and its largest city are inextricably tied.

“We have to be ready to compete, whether it’s for a project like Amazon or other proposals,” Gov. John Carney said to a gaggle of influential Delawareans, including elected officials, private developers and investors. “We are all in this together.”

Read more here - http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...nts/693758001/

(Also, how would this attract Amazon?)