PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread - Page 164

Nova08 · #**3261** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 1:50 PM**

After bankruptcy, Seven Tower Bridge may have an anchor tenant
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...er-bridge.html

Quote:

About six months after Seven Tower Bridge Associates, an entity that wants to build a proposed office building in Conshohocken, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it may have a tenant lined up to kick off the new development.

Seven Tower Bridge Associates has made a request for $2 million in taxpayer funds from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP. The money would be earmarked for tenant improvements associated with an undisclosed company that would move into the building.

Seven Tower Bridge Associates is affiliated with Oliver Tyrone Pulver, a development company that has constructed the Tower Bridge office buildings in Conshohocken. Don Pulver of Oliver Tyrone Pulver declined to comment on who the prospective tenant might be but several sources believe it’s Hamilton Lane, an investment firm that has its local base at One Presidential Blvd. in Bala Cynwyd.

Hamilton Lane has been in the market for several months looking for a new home and had zeroed in on Conshohocken office space, sources said. It is seeking between 120,000 and 140,000 square feet, enough to anchor and kick off Seven Tower Bridge. Kate McGann, a spokeswoman for Hamilton Lane, declined to comment.

A deal at Seven Tower is significant on several fronts. When Seven Tower Bridge Associates came to terms on its bankruptcy settlement in August 2018, it agreed to a provision that gave it two years to market the property to tenants, secure a construction loan and get the structure built, according to court documents. As an alternative, it could use those two years to market the approved development site to a third party buyer, according to court documents. In other words, time is of the essence.

As designed, Seven Tower Bridge is a $100 million, 14-story, 250,000-square-foot building on 2.3 acres at 110 Washington St. The project has 10 stories of office space atop a four-story parking garage.

“We’re working hard to finish the pre-leasing of it,” Pulver said. “We have made progress.”

Seven Tower Bridge Associates had previously received $5 million in RACP funds to install infrastructure for the office building. Over the last nine years, Seven Tower Bridge Associates invested $22.6 million in site work, designing the building and garage, legal fees, permits and other expenses. All of that was in preparation to secure a tenant for the building and start construction, but it has sat idle.

In March 2018, Seven Tower Bridge Associates voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a maneuver to put a stay on a mortgage foreclosure proceeding that was underway. The settlement was ultimately reached with several contingencies.

Some believe the new headquarters for AmerisourceBergen, which is under development at Sora West, is propelling Conshohocken to another level as an office submarket and will be a catalyst to attract other high-profile firms, such as Hamilton Lane, to the area. Amerisource, a pharmaceutical distributor, will join Oracle Corp., which is in Five Tower Bridge, and Morgan Stanley, which recently renewed its lease for 10 years on 100,000 square feet for a fourth consecutive term at One Tower Bridge, as companies that call the Conshohocken submarket home.

iheartphilly · #**3262** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 1:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nova08

After bankruptcy, Seven Tower Bridge may have an anchor tenant
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...er-bridge.html

Didn't realize besides Amerisource, the other big names in Conshy.

Knight Hospitaller · #**3263** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 2:32 PM**

^Just imagine the impact if (a) the City were more business friendly and (b) certain companies weren't so anachronistically enamored of suburbia. Even so, progress is being made if some find quasi-suburbia (i.e., density greater than an office park) a good move.

Urbanthusiat · #**3264** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 2:34 PM**

If that happens it's a win either way I think. Hamilton Lane is already not in the city so the city isn't losing them per se, but jobs moving to a more urban location near transit makes them more accessible to people in the city and helps SEPTA with ridership. Hope we can see two towers rising in Conshohocken at the same time!

iheartphilly · #**3265** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 2:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^Just imagine the impact if (a) the City were more business friendly and (b) certain companies weren't so anachronistically enamored of suburbia. Even so, progress is being made if some find quasi-suburbia (i.e., density greater than an office park) a good move.

No doubt, business taxes are a big turnoff. Plus residents get hit with all sorts of extra taxes. It all adds up for businesses and consumers. If Philly wants more organic growth, it needs serious tax reforms and responsible fiscal spending. If you and I ran our checkbooks the way big city runs their, we would be bankrupt in a hurry. There was a Philly Inky story on I think Harper with his big payday. If he chose to live in the city where he plays, he would pay more taxes from his wages, than if he lived in NJ. That is why so many high paying ball players don't live in city proper. It is a real issue not just for them but for middle class working folks. You extend that over 10, 15, 20 or more years and it all adds up. Plus buying consumables like tv, furniture cost an extra 2 percent in the city above the State's sales tax.

Knight Hospitaller · #**3266** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 5:35 PM**

^I don't want to take this too far off course, but I live about as close to the city line as I can without crossing, due to the regulatory and tax burden (not to mention higher insurance rates) I'd face as a sole proprietor in the City. The is THE reason we've flirted with an attractive City neighborhood for years without moving in.

Urbanthusiat · #**3267** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 6:40 PM**

Quote:

Boutique hotel in downtown West Chester gets the OK

A boutique hotel in downtown West Chester has gotten the borough's blessing, so travelers will have another overnight option.

The West Chester Borough Council this week in a 5-1 vote amended and restated a settlement agreement with the Stanford and Elsa Zukin Family Trust, Zukin Properties Trust, for a 110-room boutique hotel — Hotel Indigo by Intercontinental Hotels — at Walnut and Gay streets.

More: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel..._news_headline

Site: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9610...2!8i6656?hl=en

mcgrath618 · #**3268** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 8:24 PM**

What a gorgeous building.

EastSideHBG · #**3269** Posted **Mar 26, 2019, 12:14 AM**

Conshohocken Could See Second Large Office Building Under Construction in 2019
https://morethanthecurve.com/conshoh...ction-in-2019/

Jawnadelphia · #**3270** Posted **Mar 27, 2019, 4:29 PM**

Newark City Council gives controversial 7-story Main Street hotel the go-ahead

"The Newark City Council approved a controversial plan to turn a historic Main Street mansion into a seven-story Hyatt hotel and commercial development."

See more here:
https://www.delawareonline.com/story...ad/3271027002/

Nova08 · #**3271** Posted **Mar 28, 2019, 9:34 PM**

I suspect this might ping pong in the courts for a bit...

Car dealer wants to replace Ardmore showrooms and IHOP with town’s largest-ever apartment complex
https://www.philly.com/real-estate/c...-20190328.html

Quote:

The owners of the Acura and Volkswagen dealerships near Ardmore’s commercial core want to redevelop the auto-showroom sites and adjacent land into what would be the largest apartment complex ever to rise in the suburban Philadelphia community.

Piazza Management Co.'s proposal calls for two connected buildings with the 257 apartments, 123,000 square feet of commercial space, and an 840-space, partially underground parking garage, Lower Merion Township assistant manager Bob Duncan said in an interview.

The project would span a block along the south side of Lancaster Avenue between Ardmore and Greenfield Avenues.

Ardmore, traditionally a quiet community of single-family homes, has been attracting developers and apartment dwellers with its walkable scale, increasingly eclectic shopping and dining, and proximity to a rail station serving Center City and New York.

Other projects include Philadelphia-based developer Carl Dranoff’s 110-unit One Ardmore Place, which is scheduled to open next month, and the 158-unit apartment building that Suburban Square-owner Kimco Realty Corp., of New Hyde Park, N.Y., wants to build at its outdoor shopping plaza.

Some in the community welcome the influx of residents, whom they see as helping to invigorate the area’s commercial and cultural life by attracting new businesses.

But others say the big apartment projects are out of sync with what had been Ardmore’s small-town vibe and worry about overcrowding. Opposition to One Ardmore Place, for example, delayed the development for years, as legal challenges to the project went all the way to the state supreme court.

Marie Kramer, president of the Ardmore Progressive Civic Association, a neighborhood group whose sphere of activity includes the development site, said the unfriendliness toward development comes from fears that population growth will overtax area schools and clog roads.

“It might be controversial,” Kramer said of the Piazza Ardmore proposal in an interview Thursday. “I don’t think people want to see more apartments where they feel they’re impacting the schools. And traffic has been very challenging.”

The proposal is tentatively scheduled for consideration by Lower Merion’s Planning Commission on Monday, which could set it up for a hearing before the township’s full Board of Commissioners on April 10, Duncan said.

The easternmost portion of the project would be built on an empty lot at Lancaster and Ardmore Avenues where a much smaller apartment building with a lower-level Target Corp. store had previously been proposed by Bala Cynwyd-based RMC Developments LLC. A Target spokesperson said Thursday that the Minneapolis-based retailer continues to have a signed lease in Ardmore.

RMC’s development site, which also includes a former car wash property, was acquired by a Piazza affiliate for $10 million in October, according to Montgomery County property records. The affiliate, VMDT Partnership, already owned the IHOP restaurant and auto dealerships on the western half of the block, according to the records.

Piazza Ardmore would be completed in phases so the Acura and Volkswagen dealerships can continue operating as the five-story eastern building is constructed, said Duncan, who has reviewed the proposal’s planning documents. The dealerships, which would be displaced by a six-story western building, ultimately may become permanent occupants of the complex’s lower-story commercial floors, he said.

Duncan said 100 of the project’s 840 parking spaces, which will be located underground and in a structure between the two apartment buildings, will be available for public use, with the rest set aside for apartment tenants and users of the commercial space.

A message left with Piazza Management seeking additional details about the proposal was not immediately returned.

summersm343 · #**3272** Posted **Mar 28, 2019, 9:43 PM**

Looks great! Ardmore is on fire!

Looks like this proposal includes the planned apartment building with a ground floor Target on the corner empty lot.

New proposal:

Old proposal:

Urbanthusiat · #**3273** Posted **Mar 29, 2019, 12:07 AM**

Great news! This replaces an auto-oriented use with a walkable TOD. You love to see it. Funneling development into our existing towns near transit is probably the best thing we can do against climate change.

iheartphilly · #**3274** Posted **Mar 29, 2019, 1:07 AM**

^
I like this. But, I can see huge resistance from residents of Ardmore indefinitely. They stalled Dranoff's One Ardmore place for 3 years and took legal action all the way to the State's Supreme Court. And this project is way bigger with garage parking for over 600 vehicles.

mcgrath618 · #**3275** Posted **Mar 29, 2019, 5:14 AM**

I love the continuing density that Ardmore is getting. Not too shabby looking of a building either, especially compared to One Ardmore.

Build it! If LM doesn't want Ardmore to be like this, they should look into moving elsewhere. This is a town on the Mainline based around transit. This was always inevitable.

I think SEPTA should seriously consider restoring the 103 to a trolley. At least some more bus service.

Boku · #**3276** Posted **Mar 29, 2019, 12:06 PM**

Having lived in Ardmore for a few years and following its developments since then, I guarantee everyone will be up in arms about this. Everything is about parking and traffic, of course.

DudeGuy · #**3277** Posted **Mar 30, 2019, 1:15 AM**

Seems like Ardmore could develop similarly to Bethesda, Maryland.

WheresMyKeys · #**3278** Posted **Mar 30, 2019, 2:03 PM**

Not sure what’s happening but this lot on Bridge St in Phoenixville is going to be redeveloped.

https://phoenixvillepa.civicclerk.co...r.aspx?aoid=81

It’s advertised here as a hotel or apartments. It’s 425 Bridge St...

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/425-...e-PA/13828097/

jsbrook · #**3279** Posted **Mar 30, 2019, 10:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudeGuy

Seems like Ardmore could develop similarly to Bethesda, Maryland.

Bethesda is far ritzier than Ardmore, and I expect it always will be. Bethesda is also far larger at around 13 sq miles. But it would be nice to see Ardmore develop along the lines of Bethesda Row and have a nice vibrant strip of higher density condo and apartment housing mixed into the retail along with the existing single family homes. I think Ardmore as a whole is currently denser than Bethesda, but that is because of Bethesda's large stock of very big single family homes. Bethesda Row is denser than Ardmore.

summersm343 · #**3280** Posted **Mar 30, 2019, 11:13 PM**

Phoenixville and West Chester are on fire too!!

SEPTA really needs to reinstate rail service to both West Chester and Phoenixville, as well as a line that runs to Newtown and New Hope in Bucks County.