Quote:
Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat
I don’t see why we can’t improve access to the river with a podium building? Why is it either/or? I just don’t really believe they’ll actually be able to keep the water out. This stretch of Main St. was like five feet underwater when Ida came. That retail space is gonna get wrecked every couple of years. That’s why Mad River closed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no NIMBY, I work in development, I just don’t see the rents supporting that kind of building right here, nor is it a good idea to do underground parking adjacent to the river with the flooding. I’m not even convinced they could lease the retail here in the first place, not to mention how expensive the flood insurance would be. No problem with a podium. I just have a hard time imagining a bank would approve that loan. But if they can convince a bank, then whatever, it’s not my money.
But if you want to know what the market thinks about it, I’ll say that I can’t think of a single residential building this close to the Schuylkill with underground parking in Philadelphia or Conshohocken that’s already been built. Developers can make proposals all day but if a bank won’t give you a loan then it doesn’t matter (unless they’re doing all equity for some reason). But they can try to prove me wrong if they want.
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I just don't quite get why you want to proactively move to a worse a design if the developer is willing build something better despite the challenge of this site. I get you think this won't work here, that there won't be demand for the retail spaces and the garage will flood. But... why do you care about that?
A building with a street level garage sucks and makes for a terrible pedestrian experience. As you point out, even if it does suck conceptually, that may be the most prudent way forward for this particular site and if the developer used the excuses you mentioned to push through a street level garage, I feel most would shrug and say "unfortunate but makes sense." But the developer isn't saying that, they're doing something better. Even if they can't fill the retail spaces, I'd certainly rather walk by an empty retail space than a garage.
I just don't get the downside. Unless you're not advocating for a garage podium, but rather just making a prediction about what will ultimately happen here due to the logistics of this site.