PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[ScreamShatter]

^ aren’t they calling that area Rivers Edge?

[PHLtoNYC]

Positive trends from the latest Center City report.

Foot traffic near Philly offices more than doubled since January. Here are other takeaways from a new report on Center City.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philad...-20221128.html

Here are five takeaways:

Foot traffic in office areas has increased more than 100% this year

Retail occupancy remains up from 2020, steady since July

More ‘digitally native’ stores are moving in

More storefronts are transforming into ‘entertainment concepts’

Outdoor dining remains strong

[Mikieman]

A tower crane base has been installed for Amy Guttman Hall at 34th and Chestnut.

[Mtphilly]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Positive trends from the latest Center City report.

Foot traffic near Philly offices more than doubled since January. Here are other takeaways from a new report on Center City.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philad...-20221128.html

Here are five takeaways:

Foot traffic in office areas has increased more than 100% this year

Retail occupancy remains up from 2020, steady since July

More ‘digitally native’ stores are moving in

More storefronts are transforming into ‘entertainment concepts’

Outdoor dining remains strong

Yes, positive but slow improvements. There is still a lot of work to do to get those pedestrian numbers back to the same as they were before the pandemic. This last 25% will be the hardest because I don’t think we are going to get that much more of an influx of office workers.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Mtphilly

Yes, positive but slow improvements. There is still a lot of work to do to get those pedestrian numbers back to the same as they were before the pandemic. This last 25% will be the hardest because I don’t think we are going to get that much more of an influx of office workers.

The last 25% will come from something new.

If the city can recoup it's losses via White flight back in the day, we defiantly will now in this new era of love for cities.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

The last 25% will come from something new.

If the city can recoup it's losses via White flight back in the day, we defiantly will now in this new era of love for cities.

The return of office workers is important, but all the more impressive if Center City recoups the last 25% with less office workers than 2019.

[nemesisinphilly]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Northern Liberties development site approved for 7-story apartment project lists for $3.99M

Yeah I don't think this is selling any time soon. This seller bought it for 3.2 Mil in March of this year when the market was peaking and rates were low. Now that the market is plateaued at best and rates are sky high they want 700k more for it 9 months later? They didn't do anything to the property it was sold already with the same permits/approvals they have now so what is the value add?

Reminds of a property in my neighborhood of East Passyunk. Someone bought a closed restaurant in a double wide building on EPA(Tre Scalini) for 1.2 million late last year, did absolutely nothing at all to the property and then listed it for 1.8 mil in 6 months later in April of this year. Still on the market of course.

[cardeza]

Talk of two decent projects coming soon.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ings-sell.html

[SEFTA]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

The last 25% will come from something new.

If the city can recoup it's losses via White flight back in the day, we defiantly will now in this new era of love for cities.

Unrelated
but if you're in the area I would love to see your drone fly over FDR Park to see what the hell they're doing.

thanks

[PHLtoNYC]

I knew it would happen sooner or later. The last thing Philadelphia needs is Helen Gym as Mayor...

Helen Gym resigns from Philadelphia City Council, expected to join field of mayoral candidates
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=2#cxrecs_s

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I knew it would happen sooner or later. The last thing Philadelphia needs is Helen Gym as Mayor...

Helen Gym resigns from Philadelphia City Council, expected to join field of mayoral candidates
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=2#cxrecs_s

These people really must hate being council members.

Seems like a pretty cush gig to me. Upside is that we get a fresh crop of council people. I will miss Domb and Green though.

[Urbanthusiat]

One of Philly’s last high-rise public housing sites may be preserved, with nearly 700 units added

[McBane]

Hidden behind paywall so I didn't read the article. But would be great to see them add 700 units of affordable housing as opposed to public housing. We always hear about the need to add affordable housing to market rate developments and we've heard the benefits. So why not apply a similar scheme here? In any case, I thought the "lumping poor people together" model had failed. If they're just adding 700 PHA units, well I am sure that is needed, too and I'm sure they're not rehashing concepts from the 1960's.

In fact, I'd love to see more affordable high rises. Wonder if the teacher's union can fund such a project for teachers out of their pension fund as a way to diversify their investment portfolio and provide an enticement for teachers (since Philly cannot compete with suburban districts on salary or work environment). And similar projects for cops, EMS, etc.

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by McBane

Hidden behind paywall so I didn't read the article. But would be great to see them add 700 units of affordable housing as opposed to public housing. We always hear about the need to add affordable housing to market rate developments and we've heard the benefits. So why not apply a similar scheme here? In any case, I thought the "lumping poor people together" model had failed. If they're just adding 700 PHA units, well I am sure that is needed, too and I'm sure they're not rehashing concepts from the 1960's.

In fact, I'd love to see more affordable high rises. Wonder if the teacher's union can fund such a project for teachers out of their pension fund as a way to diversify their investment portfolio and provide an enticement for teachers (since Philly cannot compete with suburban districts on salary or work environment). And similar projects for cops, EMS, etc.

From the article:

The redevelopment proposal totals about 1,000 houses, in place of the 327 units that were in the towers. A spokesperson for LMXD confirmed that the units would come in a combination of low-rise “flats,” refurbished multifamily housing in the towers, and new “ground up” senior housing. LMXD states that 60% of the units will be affordable, although they did not specify how that would be measured.

“Affordable housing is not the same as low-income housing, which is what was in those towers,” Collins said. “Some of what is defined as ‘affordable’ would have been out of reach for me, and I’m an attorney.”

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

Unrelated
but if you're in the area I would love to see your drone fly over FDR Park to see what the hell they're doing.

thanks

I'm planning to go out this month to capture all construction shots via drone, and Christmas festivities on the ground with the Sony.

So be on the look out

Any spots people want to specifically see with the drone?

[iheartphilly]

^
Hey Tony
If you can, drone over both the Schuylkill River where the developments are happening and likewise, over the Delaware River covering at least from One Dock Street and North of that where some of the developments are happening. Big thanks!

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

From the article:

Thanks! And this is great to see.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

These people really must hate being council members.

Seems like a pretty cush gig to me. Upside is that we get a fresh crop of council people. I will miss Domb and Green though.

Ha ha my thoughts also, as it's risky to leave a job for a maybe.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Ha ha my thoughts also, as it's risky to leave a job for a maybe.

thats true but they also know if they dont act know they are sidelined for another 8 years. The fact so many are jumping in means they all feel there is no clear frontrunner. Philly government gives a lot of power to the mayor so if you want to make big changes its hard to do it from Council. I wont be surprised if some of these folks run for other offices in the future if they lose the nomination.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

thats true but they also know if they dont act know they are sidelined for another 8 years. The fact so many are jumping in means they all feel there is no clear frontrunner. Philly government gives a lot of power to the mayor so if you want to make big changes its hard to do it from Council. I wont be surprised if some of these folks run for other offices in the future if they lose the nomination.

Huh?

Philadelphia has a weak-mayor form of government, particularly in comparison to other big cities. What little power the mayor does have is further weakend by the state.

If anything, I'd say Council's power is larger in Philly compared to other jurisdictions.