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

[jslice]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Wait so Chemours is leaving Wilmington? Great! Now we've lost another company! A very important one! But then again, parking can be expensive in Wilmington, crime is very high, wage taxes. These are all reasons why business don't want to be in Wilmington, and it's going to hurt. Especially since in order to modernize buildings like the Dupont Building to make them attractable to modern-day tenants, it's just too expensive or some other crap excuse like that. It may be expensive, but you are telling me that you would rather see offices leave and watch the city fail vs spending a good amount and watch the city grow with offices and get that money back through growth. Also focus on the crime hotspots! It's great that they want to add street life to downtown, but I can almost guarantee that if they focus on the crime and actually do something about it, that would automatically make Wilmington more attractable for businesses.

They are not leaving Wilmington. Read the article..research & discovery being relocated from dozens of offices all over New Castle County. In fact Chemours is in middle of a $92 million dollar HQ renovation at the Dupont Bldg.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...ters/96341886/

[Boku]

Target to open small store in planned Ardmore apartment complex

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20171219.html

Target Corp. plans to open a new 31,000-square-foot store as part of an apartment complex planned at the corner of Lancaster Avenue and Ardmore Avenue in Ardmore.

The shop will be the Minneapolis-based retailer’s eighth location in the Philadelphia region to deploy its smaller-format design aimed at urban and densely settled suburban areas, it said in a release Tuesday.

The store, scheduled to open in July 2019, will employ 50 to 70 people, it said. Inventory will include groceries, cosmetics, baby-care and kids’ products, clothing and toys. It will also house a CVS pharmacy.

The store is to occupy the lower two stories of a planned 35-unit apartment building with underground parking, according to a November report by the Main Line Media News that noted neighborhood opposition to the proposal.

The project is being developed by Bala Cynwyd-based RMC Developments LLC, Target said in its release.

Seven small-format Target stores are planned or operating in central Philadelphia, Roxborough and Haddon Township, N.J.

[summersm343]

^^Love the continued densification and urbanization of the small urban towns and cities surrounding Philadelphia. This is a great project.

[summersm343]

Camden has a new development czar, and he feels the stars are finally aligning for the city

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/columni...-20171217.html

[summersm343]

Whoops! Wrong thread.

[domodeez]

Originally Posted by jslice

They are not leaving Wilmington. Read the article..research & discovery being relocated from dozens of offices all over New Castle County. In fact Chemours is in middle of a $92 million dollar HQ renovation at the Dupont Bldg.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...ters/96341886/

Yup... of which I've semi-regularly been posting updates in this thread, most recently in November [link below]

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2064

[Urbanthusiat]

This Huge, Bustling Mall Has a Hole to Fill—Just Not With More Stores

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...er-than-stores

The scene at the East Coast’s largest mall on a recent Friday morning would seem to fly in the face of the doomsday narrative surrounding U.S. retail centers. A steady stream of holiday shoppers walked the lacquered halls, browsing stores from Gap to Gucci. By noon, a line was snaking out of an outpost of the Shake Shack burger chain.

In the background, changes are afoot to ensure the crowds keep coming.

King of Prussia Mall, a 2.8 million-square-foot (260,000-square-meter) shopping wonderland northwest of Philadelphia, is the type of destination center that mall defenders say can defy the rise of online shopping. It’s a sprawling complex that houses stores from all corners of the retail universe, more than 50 food venues and a concierge lounge. Yet it still has to grapple with today’s reality, such as a J.C. Penney that shut down in July and left a hole in a key anchor spot.

Owner Simon Property Group Inc., the largest U.S. mall landlord, sees the closure as an opportunity -- to bet on non-retail uses. For the first time since Woolworth’s and E.J. Korvette opened their doors more than 50 years ago, a sizable chunk of land at King of Prussia will be dedicated to something other than stores and restaurants. Simon is planning a mixed-used development for the 17-acre (6.9-hectare) site of the J.C. Penney and its parking lot, part of an eventual transformation that Chief Executive Officer David Simon has likened to a suburban version of Hudson Yards, the massive complex of offices, shops and residences on Manhattan’s western edge.

“I don’t think people appreciate how dynamic these properties are and how they evolve over a long period of time,” Rick Sokolov, Simon’s president and chief operating officer, said in an interview at King of Prussia.

It’s a sign of the times that even King of Prussia -- which ranks in the top 3 percent of malls in the country, according to Green Street Advisors -- is turning what was once retail space into other uses. With the rise of e-commerce imposing a rapid reckoning on retailers and their landlords, mall owners are turning to everything from restaurants and bowling alleys to apartment buildings and hotels to internet-proof their properties. Retail landlords have spent $8 billion in the past three years on updates that focus on experiences that can’t be found online, according to brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

King of Prussia already is a destination unto itself. The complex sits at the crossroads of four major highways about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Philadelphia. It serves local well-heeled shoppers from the Main Line yet also attracts visitors from northern Maryland to southern New Jersey, Sokolov said. It’s the second-largest mall in the U.S. behind the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to the Directory of Major Malls, though Sokolov said King of Prussia has more pure retail space.

“King of Prussia fits in a unique bucket,” said DJ Busch, an analyst at Green Street. “Every retailer under the sun is at King of Prussia. It’s a catchall, and that has a lot of value.”

Sokolov declined to divulge details of the proposed plan for the mall. On a conference call with analysts in October, CEO Simon said the project could include a hotel, apartments and office space, and had the potential to increase the property’s value from $2 billion to more than $3 billion.

“We’re very excited about the opportunities to implement and add mixed-use components to King of Prussia,” Sokolov said. “We are working with Upper Merion township to come up with an acceptable scope of redevelopment.”

[jonesrmj]

Just a question of interest, why has Tysons, Virginia been seeing a ton of skyscraper development when it has a much smaller population than Wilmington?

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

This Huge, Bustling Mall Has a Hole to Fill—Just Not With More Stores

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...er-than-stores

Interesting. They benefit from the fact that the JCPenny plot is the only anchor store on the north side of the mall. With the loss of JCP there is probably a lot of extra parking they can develop as part of this initiative. Especially after they expanded one of the parking garages as part of the recent expansion.

[Capsule F]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just a question of interest, why has Tysons, Virginia been seeing a ton of skyscraper development when it has a much smaller population than Wilmington?

Because population has nothing to do with it. For one, its a DC suburb and there is no shortage of government and related business in the area. That area will continue to be one of the most recession proof and will survive the culling of MSAs.

It would be more fair to compare Tyson's Corner to King of Prussia, and King of Prussia is doing pretty well.

Wilmington unfortunately has had a lot of bad luck and it is upsetting. For whatever reason it no longer has the strong allure of a niche area to set up shop. Perhaps it was too reliant on DuPont. Also the board and leadership of DuPont messed up. There is absolutely no reason that it shouldn't have had the success of DOW in the long run. Wilmington has suffered from being too close to DC and Philadelphia, much like Philadelphia has suffered from being too close to DC and NYC.

However I see no reason that motivated leadership can't reinvent the city again. It needs to once again be known for something, whether its tax benefits or niche industries. It needs to approach large banks and convince them of what they once knew about doing business there, perhaps pharmaceuticals too. I love Delaware and our family shore house is in Bethany. Southern shore points are a strong spot for Delaware, and its tax climate is pretty fantastic. I believe people just don't know about how easy it is to live, vacation, and work there. The good news is that the city still looks impressive for its size and has tons of potential.

[jonesrmj]

Originally Posted by Capsule F

Wilmington unfortunately has had a lot of bad luck and it is upsetting. For whatever reason it no longer has the strong allure of a niche area to set up shop. Perhaps it was too reliant on DuPont. Also the board and leadership of DuPont messed up. There is absolutely no reason that it shouldn't have had the success of DOW in the long run. Wilmington has suffered from being too close to DC and Philadelphia, much like Philadelphia has suffered from being too close to DC and NYC.

However I see no reason that motivated leadership can't reinvent the city again. It needs to once again be known for something, whether its tax benefits or niche industries. It needs to approach large banks and convince them of what they once knew about doing business there, perhaps pharmaceuticals too. I love Delaware and our family shore house is in Bethany. Southern shore points are a strong spot for Delaware, and its tax climate is pretty fantastic. I believe people just don't know about how easy it is to live, vacation, and work there. The good news is that the city still looks impressive for its size and has tons of potential.

Finally! Someone else on this thread that agrees with me that realizes the mess Wilmington is going through.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

This Huge, Bustling Mall Has a Hole to Fill—Just Not With More Stores

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...er-than-stores

I was wondering if Simon would ever delve into a project like this. Obviously malls are suffering across the US, and Simon owns a TON of them...I'm glad to see they are innovating. KOP is by far the safest place to test the waters, but hopefully this is a sign to come for more regional malls around the area.

I don't think malls will necessarily die, but I do think they need to change if they will survive.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

This Huge, Bustling Mall Has a Hole to Fill—Just Not With More Stores

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...er-than-stores

This could potentially be great news! I hope that Simon will design a complex that conforms to accepted principles of New Urbanism. King of Prussia will probably never become completely urban while stuck between four highways, but any kind of development should at least be walkable. I'm also hoping that this will convince area leaders to fully back the proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line. As much as I think the money could be better spent extending the Broad Street Line to Cheltenham-Ogontz or to the Navy Yard, a large-scale development would greatly benefit from connectivity to the city.

Overall, if this does happen, I hope that suburban companies will ditch their crappy office parks for something newer, more modern, and (hopefully) walkable!

[mcgrath618]

A LOT of structural steel going up for One Ardmore!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

This Huge, Bustling Mall Has a Hole to Fill—Just Not With More Stores

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...er-than-stores

Wait, the KoP JCP's closed? I haven't been up that way in a while.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Wait, the KoP JCP's closed? I haven't been up that way in a while.

Yep. What I call the legacy 80's and 90's department stores are gone by the way.

Macy's, Bloomies, and Nordstrom are still hanging strong.

[MyDadBuiltThat]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just a question of interest, why has Tysons, Virginia been seeing a ton of skyscraper development when it has a much smaller population than Wilmington?

Tyson's has a small population because it's all office buildings built in what was the middle of nowhere not that long ago. It's a hub for lots of government contractors. It's a dead zone after 5 o'clock but they're trying to fix that with new apartments, townhomes, and retail. Wilmington is a real city that evolved over time.

[ePlanningPhila]

Big News. Pennsylvania overtakes Illinois to become the 5th largest state in the Nation with a population approaching close to 14 Million. From a profile perspective this is nothing but VERY GOOD for PA and Southeast PA from a business perspective. It certainly raises the profile of PA.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...ate-in-nation/

[jonesrmj]

Originally Posted by MyDadBuiltThat

Tyson's has a small population because it's all office buildings built in what was the middle of nowhere not that long ago. It's a hub for lots of government contractors. It's a dead zone after 5 o'clock but they're trying to fix that with new apartments, townhomes, and retail. Wilmington is a real city that evolved over time.

That is exactly what they are doing with Wilmington, only, they are not building any skyscrapers and Wilmington has serious crime and loosing offices. Wilmington is not doing good either, but if I say why again, I'm going to get a bunch of hate from everyone on this forum who doesn't realize that it's not all great what's happening here.

[jonesrmj]

Originally Posted by Capsule F

Because population has nothing to do with it. For one, its a DC suburb and there is no shortage of government and related business in the area. That area will continue to be one of the most recession proof and will survive the culling of MSAs.

It would be more fair to compare Tyson's Corner to King of Prussia, and King of Prussia is doing pretty well.

Why would it not be fair to compare Tyson's Corner to Wilmington? Yes Wilmington has a larger population than Tysons, but Wilmington is also having the worst of development out of every city in the Philly Metro (Including King of Prussia, etc). The thing that I don't understand is since Wilmington was founded before Philly, was a major fort back then, and was closer to the ocean and also in the same area, how did Philly out compete Wilmington?