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

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

The Soleil Condo-Hotel Resort Receives Approval In Ocean City, NJ

Rendering:

]

"No completion date has been announced, though construction may be finished by 2022 or 2023."

They better get moving! lol.

[PHLtoNYC]

How the changeover from Republicans to Democrats may give Delaware County its own Fairmount Park

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/don...-20210618.html

Terribly written article, (no surprise), but this contested piece of huge land in Marple will now become a forever park.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

How the changeover from Republicans to Democrats may give Delaware County its own Fairmount Park

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/don...-20210618.html

Terribly written article, (no surprise), but this contested piece of huge land in Marple will now become a forever park.

Great news, terrible article.

I swear, I read an article from the Inquirer and go “wow, that piece on the heroin epidemic was not only fascinating, but also well written.” And then I turn the page and I’m hit with an article that reads like a Twitter thread.

Great news for Marple Township.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^ You aren't kidding. What garbage. I'm happy not to lose more trees. But we apparently can't even have an article about a park without making it a political cheerleading piece -- one that sounds like it was written by a Young Pioneer who has yet to graduate middle school.

[Jawnadelphia]

Nice renovation project in Downtown Wilmington which adds more new apartments, this is across the street from the Hotel DuPont (which added 100+ luxury apartments that are leasing now).


There is an artist's loft/work space and affordable housing conversion going on 801 West Street, I did not have time to take a pic, but the third floor addition is well underway. This is part of a series of artist loft/apt conversions going on. Other buildings getting renovated - 708-710, 801, 816 and 822 West Street. See article at the end of this post.
https://hdcweb.org/property/quaker-arts/
More info here: https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/ne...-arts-housing/

A few years ago, BPG mentioned adding 68 luxury apartments to the hulking orange cladded tower at 901 Market Street. I think that process may have started now. I'm curious what this exterior work will look like.



More info in this article: https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2019...ation-program/

--Glad to see despite the pandemic and market uncertainty, these projects are all moving right along.

[summersm343]

The Station At Willow Grove, A 275-Unit Mixed-Use Development In Willow Grove, PA, Is Fully Leased









Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2021/06/the-...ly-leased.html

[PHLtoNYC]

Let's hope for phase 2. I like to see this kind of development in Willow Grove.

[PHLtoNYC]

DuckDuckGo draws $100M from Internet pioneers, but don’t expect a fancy HQ

https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/...-20210621.html

Great company in the region, but still largely remote based.

[eixample]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

DuckDuckGo draws $100M from Internet pioneers, but don’t expect a fancy HQ

https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/...-20210621.html

Great company in the region, but still largely remote based.

I went by their Paoli headquarters recently and it is quite small. I can't imagine that more than a dozen people work there, maybe just a handful. It's in a converted house that shares space with an eye doctor and architecture practice. A bizarre HQ for a company battling Google's search supremacy. (The story, I believe, is that the founder moved to Philly for his wife's residency and I guess it was pretty much fully remote once they started growing.) Very cool it's in the area even despite the small number of local jobs.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pAMTsv43QsUvWqQ27

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by eixample

I went by their Paoli headquarters recently and it is quite small. I can't imagine that more than a dozen people work there, maybe just a handful. It's in a converted house that shares space with an eye doctor and architecture practice. A bizarre HQ for a company battling Google's search supremacy. (The story, I believe, is that the founder moved to Philly for his wife's residency and I guess it was pretty much fully remote once they started growing.) Very cool it's in the area even despite the small number of local jobs.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pAMTsv43QsUvWqQ27

Interesting. It would still be great for them to expand one day, whether in Paoli or in Philadelphia.

A growing tech firm called Piano opened up shop in The Bourse Building (relocated from New York), with plans to expand in the city.

Either way, great to see Philadelphia become more competitive in the tech market. The city falls short in this sector despite having one of the largest media (and now tech) conglomerates downtown.

[PHLtoNYC]

Exclusive: Drexel University weighs ambitious $1B fundraising campaign

Very ambitious plans for Drexel. I didn't know the endowment was expected to break $1B this year.
I posted a few snippets below. I can remove if we aren't supposed to do that.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ndraising.html

"While the 2030 plan encompasses many of the same goals as its predecessor campaign, it will heavily focus on renovating science facilities — such as buildings for chemistry, physics and engineering. It's an endeavor that comes with a high price tag."

"Drexel also plans to refresh its 2011 campus master plan."

"The next campaign will also go toward bolstering Drexel's endowment. The endowment was valued at about $954 million at the end of May"

[TonyTone]

BPG to redevelop LoMa’s Lincoln Square


https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/ne...incoln-square/

"WILMINGTON – Buccini/Pollin Group announced Monday that it has acquired nearly an entire city block in the area of Lower Market known as Lincoln Square, which it intends to redevelop into a mix of residential and commercial space.

The acquisition encompasses 10 contiguous buildings totaling 48,000 square feet from 300 to 318 N. Market St., between 3rd and 4th streets. BPG paid more than $4 million for properties over the last seven years, according to county land records. It closed the final sale June 3, acquiring the key Lincoln Square building for $3.65 million from California-based developer Brent Funston, who bought it at sheriff’s sale two years ago for $8 million.

BPG, the Wilmington-based development and management firm, plans to convert the upper floor office space in the project into 39 residential apartments – including 21 studios and 18 one-bedrooms – while maintaining the existing 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022, according to Mike Hare, executive vice president for development at BPG.

BPGS Construction will manage the construction of the $12.1 million renovation project, while Studio Jaed Architects will oversee the design, ResideBPG will handle residential leasing, and Virtus Realty Advisors will handle commercial leasing of the property that will continue to be known as Lincoln Square."

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by eixample

I went by their Paoli headquarters recently and it is quite small. I can't imagine that more than a dozen people work there, maybe just a handful. It's in a converted house that shares space with an eye doctor and architecture practice. A bizarre HQ for a company battling Google's search supremacy. (The story, I believe, is that the founder moved to Philly for his wife's residency and I guess it was pretty much fully remote once they started growing.) Very cool it's in the area even despite the small number of local jobs.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pAMTsv43QsUvWqQ27

Not 100% sure of this (though you can probably confirm it pretty easily) but I read recently that they use Bing to do the actual 'searching,' so it would make sense that they may not need a ton of employees since they're basically a privacy focused UI for Bing.

[eixample]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

Not 100% sure of this (though you can probably confirm it pretty easily) but I read recently that they use Bing to do the actual 'searching,' so it would make sense that they may not need a ton of employees since they're basically a privacy focused UI for Bing.

That may be true about using Bing, but they have 125+ employees according to their website so they aren't a tiny company in any respect.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by eixample

That may be true about using Bing, but they have 125+ employees according to their website so they aren't a tiny company in any respect.

I would say 125 employees is small-to-medium sized. Glad they're doing well but compared to what you'd find at the HQs of the real tech giants... they're nothing - at least in terms of number of employees.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

Not 100% sure of this (though you can probably confirm it pretty easily) but I read recently that they use Bing to do the actual 'searching,' so it would make sense that they may not need a ton of employees since they're basically a privacy focused UI for Bing.

https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/

[Nova08]

Royal Athena apartment complex in Bala Cynwyd sells for $60M
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-sold-for.html

The seller of the property was an affiliate of Prudential Insurance and the occupancy was 92% at the time of the sale.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Nova08

Royal Athena apartment complex in Bala Cynwyd sells for $60M
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-sold-for.html

Yet the Cynwyd line remains closed.

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Yet the Cynwyd line remains closed.

Yes, but the complex is only a 10 minute walk to the Wissahickon station. Albeit that is a longer ride into center city.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Yet the Cynwyd line remains closed.

You can actually walk from this building right across the River to the Wissahickon line. The Cynwyd line is definitely further away from this.

However, I digress, you're definitely right... the Cynwyd line needs to reopen.