PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[summersm343]

Major Mixed Use Building To Replace Lou Wolff Auto on East Girard



Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...on-east-girard

[Kfmcshan]

NY developers buy site next to Penn Treaty Park for $7M

With the purchase of a 1.5-acre parcel along the Delaware River waterfront, work on a 19-townhome development near Penn Treaty Park is set to begin immediately.

New York-based developers Gotham Bedrock LLC announced that it has bought the land at 1143-51 N. Delaware Avenue from Shovel Ready Projects for $7 million and plans to begin construction on the turnkey project immediately. Originally called marketed as Penn Treaty Views, the development parcel and its design plans and permits first hit the market in March for $6.5 million.

The Gotham Bedrock project is being called The Views at Penn Treaty, and will include four-story townhouses ranging from 3,800 to 5,500 square feet. Each townhouse will come with a two-car garage, an elevator, and a roof deck.

...

"The reality of New York is that the cap rates are insane and in Brooklyn there is a major scarcity of supply," said Halimi in a statement. "Looking nearby it's tough because in New Jersey the taxes are too high. So Philadelphia is very attractive.”

He also noted that the energy of Philadelphia reminds them of Brooklyn, and that the 10 percent tax abatement rate also factored into their purchase, which was handled by the Cohen Team of Keller Williams Realty.

READ MORE

https://philly.curbed.com/2017/6/19/...community-sold

[blart]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Major Mixed Use Building To Replace Lou Wolff Auto on East Girard



Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...on-east-girard

Nice... another surface lot will disappear.

[Knight Hospitaller]

On the highway cap:
https://billypenn.com/2017/06/19/phi...ans+going+nuts

[Boku]

U.S. Rep Brady slams tax credit for Philly hotel in letter to Treasury

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170620.html

U.S. Rep. Robert Brady has written the Treasury Department that he is “deeply troubled” that a hotel in a relatively affluent part of his district in Philadelphia has received a subsidy meant for projects in disadvantaged communities.

The conversion of the Liberty Title building at Broad and Arch Streets, just north of City Hall, into a 179-room hotel received $15 million in New Market Tax Credit support although it “is neither located in a low-income community, nor will its benefits accrue to the residents of the surrounding neighborhood,” Brady, a Democrat, wrote.

...

The development team also received a $2 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the state and a $10 million award of federal historic tax credits, and is expected to receive about $6 million in city tax abatements for new construction, according to the letter.

Wow.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Boku

U.S. Rep Brady slams tax credit for Philly hotel in letter to Treasury

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170620.html



Wow.

Yeah...methinks SLS is going to get zilch in the way of aid. There is no political will for it. And really there shouldn't be. This is not an appropriate target for RACP funding.

[Kfmcshan]

Thomas Paine Plaza to Become 2,000-Square-Foot Urban Garden

Thomas Paine Plaza is getting a major makeover.

Next summer, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will transform the plaza into a temporary 2,000-square-foot urban garden, thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

PHS plans to plant a “Farm for the City,” where they hope to attract visitors with gardening workshops, large-scale community dinners, poetry and storytelling performances and interactive panel discussions held throughout the summer.

The plaza, located outside the Municipal Services Building, is a popular protest and skateboarding site, just steps from Dilworth Park and City Hall. It’s currently home to “Your Move,” a 20-year-old art installation featuring massive dominoes, chess, bingo and parcheesi pieces.

PHS wants to use the garden – and its location in a heavily trafficked public space – to encourage conversations about food access, urban agriculture and community revitalization.

The “farm” will be equipped with raised garden beds, which will grow an estimated 1,000 pounds of produce over the course of four months. Produce will be donated to Broad Street Ministry, a nearby community service organization dedicated to serving the homeless.

“We are extremely grateful to The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage for supporting the creation of this extraordinary project,” PHS President Matt Rader said in a statement. “We hope it will bring together Philadelphians from diverse backgrounds and points of view to work toward food security for everyone. We also believe it will demonstrate the power of horticulture to transform communities and lives.”

The garden at Thomas Paine Plaza will open in the summer of 2018 and close in the fall.

Source: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/0...-urban-garden/

[br323206]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

I wonder if, because Center City is so dense that buildings would have smaller foot prints but still push the height limits, or even, should be pushing the height limits. It's not like were going to spread out beyond Center City with it's density because there already exists urban fabric, neighborhoods, beyond Center City. A pretty unique Philly problem. It's not really a city where there is much room to spread out with out removing existing fabric. This is why I have such faith in 30th St Station development.
Basically, would building taller help to preserve?
Is there a section of Center City that the only height restriction that exists is market demand?

The question to your last question, as someone else pointed out, is no.

Specifically, CMX-5 has a max FAR of 1200% (or 1600% on certain lots in Center City/University City) and you can get an additional FAR of 800% with bonuses. So the very maximum on the densest lots can be 2400% FAR.

So if you occupy half the lot that's 48 stories, or 720 feet if you assume 15 feet per story.

BUT if someone wanted to build a thousand footer there and occupy half the lot I'm sure that they would get the necessary variance to do the project. There's no way the city would deny that.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Kfmcshan

Thomas Paine Plaza to Become 2,000-Square-Foot Urban Garden




Source: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/0...-urban-garden/

Great! Bleak, inhospitable plaza. I hope they find a way to make this permanent!

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Great! Bleak, inhospitable plaza. I hope they find a way to make this permanent!

Agreed.

Not for nothing, PHS has to be making mad bank with all of their beer garden revenue. Is there not an accounting of where and what they are spending this influx of money on? I mean, did they really need a grant for $300k from Pew to kick a project like this off?

[SEFTA]

Originally Posted by br323206

The question to your last question, as someone else pointed out, is no.

Specifically, CMX-5 has a max FAR of 1200% (or 1600% on certain lots in Center City/University City) and you can get an additional FAR of 800% with bonuses. So the very maximum on the densest lots can be 2400% FAR.

So if you occupy half the lot that's 48 stories, or 720 feet if you assume 15 feet per story.

BUT if someone wanted to build a thousand footer there and occupy half the lot I'm sure that they would get the necessary variance to do the project. There's no way the city would deny that.

Thank you.

[arnaz]

Very amateur pics of the Hale Building restoration.
I Will grab better pics tomorrow. I work across the street...

[PHL10]

^^^ Love it! Thanks for posting.

[reparcsyks]

I never thought I'd see Hale Building (or Divine Lorraine) (or The Gallery) restored in my lifetime. Sometimes I am astounded at how far Philly has come in 20 years.

[Kfmcshan]

Filling a forgotten Delaware River pier building with art and beer

Now, the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. is thinking small once again, but this time with an eye on the long term. The agency plans to install a year-round, arts-themed, Harbor Park spin-off at Pier 9, an early-20th-century maritime warehouse that has been vacant since the early 1960s. Part makers space, part art gallery, part beer garden, the project would finally open Pier 9’s soaring interior to the public. If properly programmed and managed, it is even possible to imagine Pier 9 becoming the visual arts adjunct to the Fringe’s performance venue.

Unlike the more ambitious proposals we’ve seen for the waterfront, Pier 9’s conversion is likely to happen fast; the schedule calls for artists to move in next spring. The waterfront agency has raised all but a small portion of the $4 million needed to make the structure habitable, said vice president Joseph A. Forkin, and next week it will begin seeking approvals from the city’s Historic and Art Commissions.

http://www.philly.com/philly/columni...-20170622.html


^this looks amazing!

[SEFTA]

Great plan

[Urbanthusiat]

Love what's happening in the Delaware. This, Penn's Landing capping, port expansion, airport renovations, navy yard development (BSL extension PLZ)...

[summersm343]

Salvation Army building update: Construction underway on apartment conversion

After languishing on the market for years, the old Salvation Army building at S. 3rd Street and Willings Alley in Society Hill is now showing some signs of life.

A recent visit to the site revealed that scaffolding has gone up around portions of the hulking stone building, a sign that construction, or at the very least facade work, is underway to convert it into 14 apartments.

That’s been the plan, at least, since late 2015, when zoning notices went up at the property. Architecture firm Canno Design confirmed to Curbed Philly that those plans are still in place.

Meanwhile, construction has been ongoing for months now right next door, where a collection of four high-end townhomes are being built under the name Estates on 3rd. These four-story homes, with starting prices at $2.65 million, have replaced the Salvation Army’s former daycare and cafeteria.

Both projects were designed by Canno Design. Here’s a rendering of the Estates on 3rd. The firm tells us that there are no renderings currently available of the proposed apartments.

https://philly.curbed.com/2017/6/22/...s-society-hill

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Love what's happening in the Delaware. This, Penn's Landing capping, port expansion, airport renovations, navy yard development (BSL extension PLZ)...

I'd actually zero in directly on this area over the past few years. Race Street pier development, now this pier 9 development, Fringe Arts beer garden, Race St. sidewalk under 95, and the Bridge.

[summersm343]

Philadelphia Housing Authority breaks ground on $45M headquarters in Sharswood

The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) broke ground yesterday on its planned $45 million new headquarters at 2013 Ridge Avenue.

The multi-phase project, known to some as Sharswood-Blumberg, will first bring a six-story building to the site that will be the new home of the PHA. Later phases will include mixed-use buildings, retail, and residential units to the triangular site, as well.

The groundbreaking comes after a somewhat rocky response from the design community last year. The PHA presented its design proposal for the six-story building twice to the Civic Design Review. The committee hoped for a design that was less suburban, and commented on the lack of communication between the two city agencies.

PHA says the hope is that its new headquarters will be an economic driver for the revitalization of Sharswood. The North Philly neighborhood is currently in the middle of a $500 million redevelopment transformation that aims to bring 1,200 residential units and a retail corridor along Ridge Avenue to the area. In addition, PHA recently acquired the local Vaux High School, which is set to re-open this year.

Construction on the PHA headquarters is expected to finish up in the fall of 2018.

https://philly.curbed.com/2017/6/22/...king-sharswood