PHILADELPHIA | 1001 S. Broad Street Phase I | 180 FT | 14 FLOORS

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

This has potential litigation "out the wazoo." It would be funny if the owner gets liquidated damages plus the special exceptions. Not a bad days work when you can turn around and market the property again. No kidding about the ZBA.

You might be right about Johnson and the ZBA not being privy to the details of the sale, but it seems like something they'd have access to if they wanted it. Maybe it's not public until the deal is done.

As for the ZBA, yep, complete joke. Regardless of whether they knew about the expired deadline, this is the organization that granted approval, then took it back the moment they realized they themselves were the ones who pushed it out another two weeks.

It amazes me what kind of people work for the city. They should be scouring SkyscraperPage and PhiladelphiaSpeaks for new hires, you know, people who actually give a crap about zoning and development and the city.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Unreal. Who would waste their own time and money, not to mention the time of everyone else, like that?

He is already or will be the guy known to not get Philly developments built. SMH.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by philatonian

It amazes me what kind of people work for the city. They should be scouring SkyscraperPage and PhiladelphiaSpeaks for new hires, you know, people who actually give a crap about zoning and development and the city.

The ZBA is all about politics - Philly politics, i.e., the worst kind, the kind that only requires a lizard brain and the absence of any sense of morality - not skill, knowledge, or intellect - as you and most of the rest of us know.

I mean, for years the guy who owned Famous 4th Street Deli - his primary expertise being how to make pastrami and 700-calorie cookies - chaired the ZBA and made a point of requiring almost all petitioners to include white vinyl estate fencing in their plans. That was his thing. For years. It's better now, but barely.

[summersm343]

Judge keeps intact Blatstein claim to Broad and Washington site

A Common Pleas Court judge has declined to strike down an assertion by developer Bart Blatstein that he retains a legal interest in the South Philadelphia property where he wants to build a massive apartment and retail complex.

Judge Patricia McInerney's order on Friday keeps intact Blatstein's claim to a stake in the land at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue.

Property owner Hudson Realty Capital L.L.C. had argued that Blatstein's company forfeited its interest in the land after failing to complete its purchase by a March 15 deadline.

The New York-based real estate investment firm is separately seeking a judgment that its contract with the developer is no longer valid, and that it is entitled to damages because the purchase was not completed as scheduled.

Hudson attorney John A. Guernsey had no immediate comment. Blatstein lawyer Ronald J. Patterson did not return a call seeking comment.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...mKd6RRTx8Fe.99

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

The ZBA is all about politics - Philly politics, i.e., the worst kind, the kind that only requires a lizard brain and the absence of any sense of morality - not skill, knowledge, or intellect - as you and most of the rest of us know.

I mean, for years the guy who owned Famous 4th Street Deli - his primary expertise being how to make pastrami and 700-calorie cookies - chaired the ZBA and made a point of requiring almost all petitioners to include white vinyl estate fencing in their plans. That was his thing. For years. It's better now, but barely.

This is true. But it gets worse when you look at the other actors involved in planning. NIMBYs care only about bullshit matters in their little fiefdom, ignoring things like good urban planning, tax revenue, etc. And the City Councilmen only care about lining their pockets and staying in power. Meanwhile the professional planners are in an advisory role. Go figure.

[1487]

looks like this most certainly wont be happening anytime soon.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines..._in_court.html

[boxbot]

Originally Posted by 1487

looks like this most certainly wont be happening anytime soon.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines..._in_court.html

I completely forgot about this comedy of errors.

The neighbors filed to keep Bart from building this tower? Gee, that doesn't play directly into his hand at all.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by boxbot

I completely forgot about this comedy of errors.

The neighbors filed to keep Bart from building this tower? Gee, that doesn't play directly into his hand at all.

This "project" is going to that great village in the sky.

[boxbot]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

This "project" is going to that great village in the sky.

"Aw, gee whiz guys, I really wanted to build this tower. It was going to absolutely happen on this property I definitely own. Oh well." - Bart Blatstein

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by boxbot

"Aw, gee whiz guys, I really wanted to build this tower. It was going to absolutely happen on this property I definitely own. Oh well." - Bart Blatstein

What a shyster.

[summersm343]

Blatstein's S. Broad Street project was to include Target, court records show

The last time Hudson Realty Capital LLC went to court to dissolve developer Bart Blatstein's legal claim to the South Broad Street property it previously had agreed to sell him, a judge declined, saying she had seen no proof anybody else wanted to buy it.

Now, Hudson's lawyers are taking another crack at wresting back control of the South Philadelphia parcel.

Attorney John A. Guernsey said in a recent court filing that Blatstein's claim was keeping Hudson from consummating a sale to New York-based Midwood Investment & Development. The filing also contains letters revealing that Target Corp. had negotiated with Blatstein for space in the project at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue.

Broad & Washington LP, the unit of Blatstein's Tower Investments Inc. that had sealed a purchase contract with affiliates of Hudson, "has no right, title or interest in the property," Guernsey wrote in this month's court petition. He said Broad & Washington’s claim to the site "is an immediate and irreparable harm to [Hudson’s affiliates] by preventing them from marketing their valuable property."

The legal action presents the latest challenge to Blatstein's beleaguered proposal for a 32-story tower atop a large retail-and-parking structure on the four-acre site. In May, zoning hearings on the plan drew vocal opposition from neighbors, one of whom has appealed its approvals.

Guernsey argued to Common Pleas Judge Patricia McInerney in May that Blatstein lost his legal claim to the property after missing a March 15 deadline to buy it. Lawyers for Blatstein held that the purchase agreement should still be considered valid.

McInerney let stand Blatstein's claim to an interest in the property, since Hudson Realty Capital had not demonstrated that it was interfering with another purchaser's interest in the land.

Guernsey's response came in a Sept. 13 filing identifying Midwood as having discussed "a possible agreement of sale for the property."

Blatstein lawyer Rona Rosen said Tuesday that she had no comment.

Included in the filing is a June 10 letter from Blatstein’s lawyers to Midwood president John Usdan threatening legal action if negotiations with Hudson continued.

A separate June 10 letter to Hudson Realty managing director Joseph Morningstar accuses his company of making contact with Blatstein's "proposed anchor tenant at the project — Target."

Larry Steinberg, a senior vice president at real estate brokerage CBRE, said the retailer has likely shifted its focus from Blatstein’s proposal to the Lincoln Square mixed-use project being developed just across Broad Street by a partnership involving Philadelphia's Alterra Property Group.

Alterra managing partner Leo Addimando did not respond to a phone message.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...et-hudson.html

[boxbot]

It included a target for ridicule, so that's something.

[SEFTA]

This was a terrible project from the get go.

[Philly-Drew]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

This was a terrible project from the get go.

You had to bump this thread for that?

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by Philly-Drew

You had to bump this thread for that?

Lol Ikr.

[summersm343]

Target aiming for space in S. Broad St.'s Lincoln Square project, filing shows

Looks like Target was planning a store on the ground floor of this development and are now jumping ship to across the street since this development is tied up in litigation.

Target Corp. is looking to open a store in the Lincoln Square mixed-use complex under development on South Broad Street, as the retailer continues its push into some of Philadelphia's most densely populated neighborhoods, according to a recent court filing.

Target's original aim had been to include a 35,000-square-foot store in a project proposed by developer Bart Blatstein right across Broad Street from Lincoln Square, but it changed its focus after Blatstein's project was delayed by a dispute over the underlying property's sale, according to documents filed last month with Philadelphia's Common Pleas Court.

The Lincoln Square project consists of a new apartment building along Washington Avenue with 322 residential units and lower-floor retail. A separate retail structure along the north of the site incorporates a historic train shed.

Project plans submitted to the city's design-review board show a grocery store in the train-shed structure, implying that Target would likely to occupy space available for large-format retail on the apartment building's second floor.

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

[summersm343]

With litigation settled, Blatstein buys site at South Broad and Washington

Bart Blatstein has settled litigation involving a high-profile site at South Broad Street and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia and subsequently closed on purchasing the property for an estimated $20 million.

The litigation has been going on for over a year and brought plans for the parcel to a half. NH Philadelphia Properties, which is an affiliate of Hudson Realty Capital of New York, brought a lawsuit against Blatstein in May 2016. The suit challenged Blatstein’s legal claim to the property, which he had been pursuing zoning approval for a 34-story, mixed-use development. Blatstein ultimately received the zoning approval but the litigation continued. The project was also controversial because of its density and design.

In response to that NH Philadelphia litigation, Blatstein, who runs Tower Investments Inc., filed his own lawsuit against NH Philadelphia. In the meantime, two neighbors to the property filed an appeal of the zoning case.

“The court determined we still had the right to proceed and Bart closed on the property,” said Ron Patterson, an attorney with Klehr Harrison who represented Blatstein. “As a result of that, the seller withdrew all appeals. We’re left with an approval and the appeal by the two neighbors but I am confident we’ll overcome that.”

A global settlement was reached between NH Philadelphia and Blatstein, clearing the way for the developer to buy the property. Matthew N. McClure, an attorney with Ballard Spahr who represented NH Philadelphia Properties, couldn’t be reached for comment.

With the lawsuits settled and Blatstein now owning the property, the developer is now looking to eventually move forward with the project. At this point, plans call for a tower with 1,000 apartments, some office space and 160,000 square feet of retail space – about half of which would be on the ground floor and the remainder on a rooftop platform in what Blatstein has called a shopping “village.”

The site totals around 195,000 square feet, giving the developer ample room to create a significant project.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to create a special development at the gateway of Center City,” Blatstein said. At this point, Blatstein doesn’t know when he might break ground on the project.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...s-site-at.html

[Boku]

Originally Posted by summersm343

With litigation settled, Blatstein buys site at South Broad and Washington



https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...s-site-at.html

Lord help us.

[Larry King]

Wow good for Bart

[iheartphilly]

I smell a flip...