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

[1487]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Great for the area, but I am curious how they attract and retain talent when they are so far out. I hope they have some type of shuttle from the R5 line for reverse commuters.

I hired a few people (age ~25) to work at the Navy Yard and after the fact they seriously said they were skeptic about the location because of being outside of the city. They've since said they enjoy/don't mind it, but I certainly don't think they'd go for something out in Malvern.


I'm glad that they recognize the area around KOP is completely not walkable and surrounded by a bunch of auto centric speedways. Now let's see what they do about it.

there is a shuttle, but I dont think that makes it much better. Vanguard just refuses to break with tradition in terms of their "campus". It's absurd to think they need a mega campus in one location given current technology. I'd bet 10-20% of their workers would prefer to be in Philly- at least.

[Scottydont]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Great for the area, but I am curious how they attract and retain talent when they are so far out. I hope they have some type of shuttle from the R5 line for reverse commuters.

I hired a few people (age ~25) to work at the Navy Yard and after the fact they seriously said they were skeptic about the location because of being outside of the city. They've since said they enjoy/don't mind it, but I certainly don't think they'd go for something out in Malvern.

If a 20 somethings want city like living in the suburbs, West Chester or Phoenixville are good runner ups.

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by Scottydont

If a 20 somethings want city like living in the suburbs, West Chester or Phoenixville are good runner ups.

Yea, after I wrote my post I thought of mainstays like Conshohocken and the resurgence of places like WC and Phoenixville that can be living alternatives for jobs out in the suburbs like Plymouth Meeting, Horsham, KOP, Malvern.

I was up in Princeton this week for work amidst the sprawling Pharma office parks. Despite a lot of hotels/restaurants along Route 1, it feels a bit isolated to me.

After doing work in the Navy Yard the positives that people have to say:
1.) Never more than ~15 minutes from the airport

2.) Proximity of Restaurant(s). The old Lo Spiedo and Urban Outfitters are popular places to get away from the same old cafeteria food. If there is a team dinner you can pick a great "local" spot anywhere in Philly rather than the inevitable chain place in the suburbs

3.) Same for Happy Hour. A place across the street makes it easier for everyone to even spend 30 minutes. If you need to get in the car and drive any further than 10-15 minutes I find that a good amount of people rather just go home.

Work is obviously much more than dinners and happy hours but I get the sense that the younger workforce want the work place to be much more social and not the get in at 9, eat lunch at a desk 75% of the time, leave at 5.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Yea, after I wrote my post I thought of mainstays like Conshohocken and the resurgence of places like WC and Phoenixville that can be living alternatives for jobs out in the suburbs like Plymouth Meeting, Horsham, KOP, Malvern.

I was up in Princeton this week for work amidst the sprawling Pharma office parks. Despite a lot of hotels/restaurants along Route 1, it feels a bit isolated to me.

After doing work in the Navy Yard the positives that people have to say:
1.) Never more than ~15 minutes from the airport

2.) Proximity of Restaurant(s). The old Lo Spiedo and Urban Outfitters are popular places to get away from the same old cafeteria food. If there is a team dinner you can pick a great "local" spot anywhere in Philly rather than the inevitable chain place in the suburbs

3.) Same for Happy Hour. A place across the street makes it easier for everyone to even spend 30 minutes. If you need to get in the car and drive any further than 10-15 minutes I find that a good amount of people rather just go home.

Work is obviously much more than dinners and happy hours but I get the sense that the younger workforce want the work place to be much more social and not the get in at 9, eat lunch at a desk 75% of the time, leave at 5.

+1, and if you are 20 something and single, and live in the suburbs, it's basically social suicide.

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by 1487

there is a shuttle, but I dont think that makes it much better. Vanguard just refuses to break with tradition in terms of their "campus". It's absurd to think they need a mega campus in one location given current technology. I'd bet 10-20% of their workers would prefer to be in Philly- at least.

I know 4 people who work out there and 3 of them started sending out resumes as soon as they hit that 2-3 years of experience mark. The 4th is looking at relocating out of the area.

To iheartphilly's point, my one friend who actually lives out there said, "yeah the Tinder game in (town he lives in) is pretty weak. It's all 19 year olds at West Chester."

[iheartphilly]

Brandywine's Conshy project called Metroplex 2:

http://www.showcase.com/property/300...ylvania/297870

[summersm343]

^^11 story office building for Plymouth Meeting?? I'll take it!

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ I like it. Reminds me a bit of the tower that was originally proposed for Market b/w 21st and 22nd.

[jonesrmj]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Why can't we get buildings like this in Wilmington? I don't necessarily mean the height, but the futuristic design of the building rather that the boring rectangle Residents at Midtown park design.

[El Duderino]

jones, i hate to say it, but i knew your post was going to be whining about "why not wilmington?!" before i even got to the text. i'm sure plymouth meeting fans would be happy to trade their "skyline" for wilmington's; be happy with some of the handsome projects that are going up in key areas in your neck of the woods B-)

[Trich]

I used to live behind the Metroplex off Gallagher and I'm very happy this is in the pipeline. Besides the central location (476, 276, four miles from 76) Chemical Rd is built to support the traffic already. It'll look gorgeous as you hit mid-county toll. This and Sora are reasonable additions to that area in my opinion.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Why can't we get buildings like this in Wilmington? I don't necessarily mean the height, but the futuristic design of the building rather that the boring rectangle Residents at Midtown park design.

Unfortunately, there is just more demand in Philadelphia and in Montgomery County, PA right now than any other area of the Delaware Valley Metropolitan Region.

A lot of companies are moving to or expanding/growing in Philadelphia and Montgomery County, with few companies leaving. On the flip side, some companies seem to be downsizing or leaving (i.e. DuPont) the Wilmington area, which is dumping a lot of office space on the market that will take some time to absorb.

Be patient though, Wilmington will see more highrise construction. It already has a great skyline. There will be a time again where Wilmington has more demand for office, hotel and residential highrises.

And comparing the design of this to Residences at Midtown Park is apples and oranges. Office buildings, hotels and even condo buildings usually have better designs than apartment buildings, because they fetch more money than apartment buildings do. This same thing is true for Philadelphia, where a lot of posters on this thread are consistently complaining about the design of rental apartment highrises built here. Only a handful (i.e. The Alexander/1601 Vine) have been very, very nice.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by 1487

there is a shuttle, but I dont think that makes it much better. Vanguard just refuses to break with tradition in terms of their "campus". It's absurd to think they need a mega campus in one location given current technology. I'd bet 10-20% of their workers would prefer to be in Philly- at least.

Originally Posted by Nova08

2.) Proximity of Restaurant(s). The old Lo Spiedo and Urban Outfitters are popular places to get away from the same old cafeteria food. If there is a team dinner you can pick a great "local" spot anywhere in Philly rather than the inevitable chain place in the suburbs

3.) Same for Happy Hour. A place across the street makes it easier for everyone to even spend 30 minutes. If you need to get in the car and drive any further than 10-15 minutes I find that a good amount of people rather just go home.

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

+1, and if you are 20 something and single, and live in the suburbs, it's basically social suicide.

Originally Posted by Parkway

I know 4 people who work out there and 3 of them started sending out resumes as soon as they hit that 2-3 years of experience mark. The 4th is looking at relocating out of the area.

To iheartphilly's point, my one friend who actually lives out there said, "yeah the Tinder game in (town he lives in) is pretty weak. It's all 19 year olds at West Chester."

I don't agree with much of this and things have changed considerably in the 'burbs. Not to take away from the city's revival and I am really happy to see it and support it fully but it's not putting a dent in what is going on in the immediate suburbs.

[Frontst17]

I agree with you EastSide, the amount of homes, apartments shops and restaurants that have gone up within a 5-10 minute drive of vanguard is crazy. There's pretty acessable bus service, train is right there, bike trails galore. They're slowly expanding pedestrian access but within malvern borough, Phoenixville, Paoli now KOP etc there's so much to do. I talk to dozens of people from vanguard, most of them are young and are fully aware they live in the suburbs but almost all frequently go into the city. On top of that with Uber there's really no transportation issues at all. It doesn't help city development per say, but these towns have also been around for hundreds of years and any development they receive can only benefit the metro area... also his tinder game is weak then because there's plenty of young attractive people haha.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by 1487

there is a shuttle, but I dont think that makes it much better. Vanguard just refuses to break with tradition in terms of their "campus". It's absurd to think they need a mega campus in one location given current technology. I'd bet 10-20% of their workers would prefer to be in Philly- at least.

I'm glad that Vanguard has opened a small outpost in the City, and it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in a year or so to find out how that is working out for them. I have a pretty high level of doubt whether Vanguard would ever make more then a token play about having a real meaningful outpost in CC.

Although I think you are correct about a goodly number of their employees wishing to be in the City, the opposite is probably even more true-----if Vanguard were to pack up and move at least 50% of their operations into CC, my guess is more then 20% of their office workers would be complaining. "where am I going to park, I don't like the street people, why is it so dirty, where's my mommy"

My dream wonder be for them to take maybe 10 floors in a new building and then every couple years add a couple more floors to their footprint. But I know very little about how their business works and if a 'campus' actually does have any advantages to them.

[stormkingfan]

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[stormkingfan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

[B



[]

The scaling is right in relation to the other buildings, existing and planned. This building would fit right in.

[Brandywine Rocks]

They are doing gangbusters with that new Town Center in King of Prussia.

Took awhile to get going but they are going full throttle on this one. Looks good.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by City Wide

Although I think you are correct about a goodly number of their employees wishing to be in the City, the opposite is probably even more true-----if Vanguard were to pack up and move at least 50% of their operations into CC, my guess is more then 20% of their office workers would be complaining. "where am I going to park, I don't like the street people, why is it so dirty, where's my mommy"

Yeah you are so much cooler if you are living in the new up and coming Hipster part of the city and the parents are paying most if not all of your rent.

Reality is if one is living and working in the 'burbs and they go to working in the city their expenses go up, that is a legitimate grievance.

[jonesrmj]

Walked by the STAR Tower in Newark. The framework has made it to 10 floors high!

[IMG]STAR Tower (7/31/17) by jonesrmj, on Flickr[/IMG]