Photo from Forum Member TonyTone (Tony V). You can see this one rising under the second tower crane in the background of the photo:

https://i.imgur.com/tLNV8Lah.jpg

Update from NakedPhilly

https://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content...-1536x1030.jpg

https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phil...-to-commencing

Construction Underway At 501 Spring Garden Street

https://phillyyimby.com/wp-content/u...2022-9-8-1.jpg

https://phillyyimby.com/wp-content/u...022-9-8-10.jpg

https://phillyyimby.com/wp-content/u...022-9-8-06.jpg

Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2022/09/cons...ladelphia.html

As this project will include an Amazon Fresh store, an observation on the grand opening of a branch in Broomall: Well stocked and well organized. For some reason it just seemed easier to find things. The biggest feature: using an app to enter and exit, with no checkout. Sensors all over the ceiling monitor what you put in your bag. It was frighteningly accurate except for two blocks of cheese that I examined and returned to the shelf, yet was charged for anyway. It took me 15 minutes of chatting with a customer service rep to get that fixed, because I did not receive a receipt for some hours after the visit and the product were labeled as not returnable.

Yeah, I find the technology neat and cutting edge. But compared to Whole Foods, the pizza wasn't as good as Whole Foods and while they had Kumamoto oysters, they did not shuck them for you in the store like Whole Foods nor were they on ice like Whole Foods. For now, I'll stick with Whole Foods.

What is the cladding on the tower portion? Metal or cast concrete (or similar)?

Looks like pretty standard metal paneling. The white looks fine I guess but that yellow stripe on the top looks so odd to me.

Gotcha. The building looks okay due to the large window openings and general plainness of the design. But yea the yellow is meh.

https://i.imgur.com/LlwjEzvh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KiQLdm9h.jpg

Great shots!
Looks like they have just one more floor to go!
What an improvement over that strip mall. I lived at 4th and Brown from '11-16; that whole area south of me is incredible....yet a restaurant at 5th and Fairmont still can't sustain, that place is cursed!!

I drove by this yesterday and had the circle the block a few times when I was running an errand. One thing that I think is being overlooked about this development is the size of the first floor footprint.

Everyone is focused on the Amazon Fresh...but that will be in the west side of the building in the one floor portion. But the ceilings on the first floor of the main building are really very high and to me, with the exception of what I assume will be an accommodating lobby, it looks as though the rest of the first floor facing Spring Garden will also be devoted to Retail.

Lastly, the developer keeps a super clean job site. I noticed multiple laborers broom sweeping the street (on both Spring Garden and 5th) at the end of the day. It looked better than the surrounding area. Streets Dept take note.

Great shots.
What's happening here just blows me away! :yes:

Almost topped out.

Wait till they start across the street!!

Tower Crane coming down
 

tower crane being dismantled as of this morning...project ahead of schedule!

This project is now called “The Carson” and has officially topped out per MPN
https://www.instagram.com/p/CkePEGzp...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

3 new Philadelphia apartment buildings reach construction milestones

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...s-top-off.html

Some progress shots looking at the lot from the North.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...87d9f192_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...845ebc6f_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e008e028_b.jpg

Great shot!
The Russian Orthodox Church did a fantastic job with the repainting of their dome (not sure what the proper word is). The glittering paint is great!

12/30


https://i.imgur.com/8V5eu0q.jpg

Man that yellow line is so annoying. All white would look so much better.

My god, what an upgrade from the shite that was there before.

I agree. It makes it look kind of childish and cheap, and looks a lot like those newer buildings by CCP on the other side of Spring Garden. I'm still ok with it overall.

This is residential, isn't it?
Really looks like an office building.

I was just in the area yesterday. This entire stretch feels COMPLETELY transformed with these new projects going up. It’s incredible. There’s still some more developable plots along Spring Garden, but from I-95 to 5th street already feels completely transformed. It’s incredible. This building doesn’t have the best design but holy shit what an upgrade over what was there.

For sure.

This, with the crane up at 2nd & Spring Garden and the elevator towers poking out of the ground on the SE corner of 5th & Spring Garden, you can already feel the canyon effect, particularly when driving west from Delaware Avenue.

There is some framing going on in the commercial space but its only in the corner by the entrance/elevator. I thought there were rumors last year about Amazon pulling out of the space in this building. Did we ever get an update about that one way or the other?

Yes I drove by it over the weekend. The building makes a big difference being so close to the street. Impressive size. I lived on 4th and Brown for nearly 6 years until 2016, that whole area south of Fairmont is incredible now.

I never heard that rumor.

From my understanding Amazon isn't pulling out of these spaces, but rather stalling the opening or abandoning them altogether. Amazon is however fulfilling their lease agreements. There is another Amazon Fresh on the Boulevard that just recently finished the buildout and has yet to open. Honestly the construction activity in the Northeast is insane right now too, but that's for another discussion
https://retailwire.com/discussion/wh...resh-openings/
https://therealdeal.com/2022/12/21/a...ve-gone-stale/

Same in Willow Grove. The Amazon Fresh is fully built, but not open.

Ahh yeah that must be what I was thinking of. If it actually is stalled, I wonder if we could see another grocer approach the developer about taking over the lease. Its a good sized space with a decent amount of parking in an area that could really use a flagship grocer to complement the Asian market. Would be a shame to see it sit empty.

I'd rather see a Giant, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Aldi, etc. open here.
Any of the above would be massively popular.

This stretch will have so many new units in 5 years. I just hope the city gets Spring Garden Street to a somewhat acceptable status. The trash is insane (even for Philadelphia's low standards) in most of Callowhill and whatever we're calling southern Northern Liberties these days. The empty triangle lot at Spring Garden, Ridge and 12th is the epicenter of the trash on this stretch. I can't believe the city refuses to try and fix the trash issue. The street sweeper pilot never even ticketed cars for not moving so the street sweeper never gets against the curb where all of the trash and debris actually is. Sorry for the rant, I'm just so tired of living in filth.

I got ticketed for not moving

I know someone who was ticketed on north broad several weeks ago.

who owns the lot you speak of? Is it a city owned lot- i dont understand how a poorly maintained lot relates to street sweeping- it doesn't sound like any amount of street sweeping will address the issue you're mentioning.

Amazon Fresh in Broomall is creepy (your every move is monitored for the convenience of no checkout "bag and go") and they had a hard time keeping items stocked. An idea whose time should never come. I quit going after a few visits and there were hardly any customers on those visits.

Huh, I've never really stopped to think whether that concept is a good idea in practice. It sounds cool so I just kind of assumed it would be. It sounds pretty dystopian when you describe it. I'll have to go in and check it out for myself.

Re: the rumors about Amazon pulling out of this location

^
Supermarket business is a fiercely competitive business, especially in this area. Most are within under 2 miles from each other. Amazon Fresh hasn't really done anything special to draw consumers away from other traditional supermarkets like Giant, Acme, or Aldi. Other than their technology, it's not proven that consumers have lean in that direction. Whole Foods Market on the other hand is higher quality but also higher prices and their direct competitor would be Wegmans. Honestly, not surprise about this at all.

The store in the northeast has also stalled after a full build out and it was completed a little less than a year before the new Aldi up the Blvd will complete. I dont think its the location that's the problem. Sucks that the retail will be empty for so long. Hopefully, a grocery store will take over the lease as Spring Garden will have over 500 units come online in the next 2 years.

Also this project may be completed according to their interior design firm:
http://apopdesign.com/projects/the-carson/

Calling Trader Joe's or Whole Foods! This area needs both of them.

Giant too, this is far enough from their Broad & Spring Garden location.

I'm not surprised. To be honest it sounded like another tech solution in search of a problem. Who really has issues with just using a self checkout line for <5 minutes vs feeling watched by cameras? Hopefully it can get filled soon. The space would be too large as a single tenant probably, but I could see another Amazon Hub like the one in Graduate Hospital getting a lot of use

^ Well stated. The Amazon Fresh in Broomall is a dud. Too much of a creepy surveillance state vibe with nothing to distinguish from an Acme with AI. I'd get more out of an Aldi or Lidl if TJ's isn't interested.

Oh a Trader Joes would be money there.

I'm kinda upset about this because I wanted to try it out, I thought it was cool to be able to just put items in a cart, and they are scanned automatically freeing up time at a line.

Maybe they need to work on the concept a little more, and make it a more worthwhile shopping experience.

You can request a store here.
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/cont...equest-a-store

Social media is for once being positive tagging Trader Joe's in posts about The Carson. A slam dunk location.

Looks to be wrapped up by May.

The Carson is nearing its debut in Northern Liberties, with some pandemic-era enhancements

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=1#cxrecs_s

The 12-story building, called The Carson, is speeding toward an expected opening in May, and the finished product will have some notable differences from its original design.

My god, what a transformation for that site. In two years this intersection will be the unrecognizable. Amazing!