PHILADELPHIA | Live! Hotel & Casino | 215 FT | 13 FLOORS

[iheartphilly]

Peek-a-boo, we see you...LOL. Interesting POV of the hotel...

[TK2001]

Crane came down not long ago

[GtownFriend]

Future Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia by Michael Rambo Jr, on Flickr

[iheartphilly]

^
Wow. The renders that I saw all showed gold glass and boarders around them. I like the change. Doesn't look as cheesy! thanks for the find.

[GtownFriend]

You're welcome.
It will be interesting to see how it all comes out. I tend to agree with you.

[Jawnadelphia]

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by Jawnadelphia

Who is the target market for this hotel?

"Sir, you are too intoxicated to drive back to Jersey. Please accept this complimentary room."

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Who is the target market for this hotel?

"Sir, you are too intoxicated to drive back to Jersey. Please accept this complimentary room."

LOL just had the exact same thought as I was looking at the picture. My guess is that it ends up being used by people looking for something close to the airport but who don't want to stay at the airport, maybe? Or business travelers who want to be in the city but not in Center City. Are either of these even markets that really exist, though?

If they wanted to do a Philly casino right, there should have been a huge, high-end development at 8th and Market with a focus on tourists. Oh well.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

LOL just had the exact same thought as I was looking at the picture. My guess is that it ends up being used by people looking for something close to the airport but who don't want to stay at the airport, maybe? Or business travelers who want to be in the city but not in Center City. Are either of these even markets that really exist, though?

If they wanted to do a Philly casino right, there should have been a huge, high-end development at 8th and Market with a focus on tourists. Oh well.

I was all for the 8th and Market casino proposal....but I still think this will do ok. They are slowly working on making the stadium district a destination outside of sports games. I've referenced it before, but in Pittsburgh around the stadiums there are a few hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. I think they'll be able to snag out of towners coming in for a game, drunk suburbanites, and yes....airport travelers that don't want to stay at the airport. The subway is right there too, so those that want access to CC have it.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^I don't recall ever seeing occupancy statistics for the old Holiday Inn on/near that site, but it was there for decades, back when we only had a concrete donut for a stadium. I suppose occupancy will come from whatever market that HI had, plus any additional traffic generated by the casino, Navy Yard (a big factor folks didn't mention yet), and improvements to the Sports Complex.

[iheartphilly]

Believe it or not, but the casino will have other entertainment venues beside the gambling piece. And, they comp rooms for many reasons. There won't be any trouble getting the rooms filled and utilized. If anything, this is an option for those that do weekend trips to AC.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^As big a Philly fan as I am, I can't help but think of WC Fields paraphrased: "first prize = one night, second prize = two nights..."

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

^As big a Philly fan as I am, I can't help but think of WC Fields paraphrased: "first prize = one night, second prize = two nights..."

That's IT! No comp room for YOU!

[Boku]

I wonder if the legalization of sports gambling and the integration of betting within professional sports teams will contribute to the success of this project.

I still find it very strange that Comcast has a televised show centered on betting that airs simultaneously with Sixers games.

[SEFTA]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

I was all for the 8th and Market casino proposal....but I still think this will do ok. They are slowly working on making the stadium district a destination outside of sports games. I've referenced it before, but in Pittsburgh around the stadiums there are a few hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. I think they'll be able to snag out of towners coming in for a game, drunk suburbanites, and yes....airport travelers that don't want to stay at the airport. The subway is right there too, so those that want access to CC have it.

I wouldn't mind a casino on Market Street but I just didn't like that proposal for 8th & Market. It deserves more than that. By that I mean bigger. I dream a lot. LOL
It should be noted that Pittsburgh's ball fields are a scenic, park lined walk across the river to Downtown.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

I wouldn't mind a casino on Market Street but I just didn't like that proposal for 8th & Market. It deserves more than that. By that I mean bigger. I dream a lot. LOL
It should be noted that Pittsburgh's ball fields are a scenic, park lined walk across the river to Downtown.

Ha fair enough, I have high hopes for 8th and Market too, but at this point I'll just take 'not disappointing'.

Agree on the walk downtown to Pittsburgh, should be noted though that this is not a pleasant walk during the majority of football season (I can attest to this!). That's why I think it's so important that we have the BSL right there.

[SEFTA]

Originally Posted by Milksteak

Ha fair enough, I have high hopes for 8th and Market too, but at this point I'll just take 'not disappointing'.

Agree on the walk downtown to Pittsburgh, should be noted though that this is not a pleasant walk during the majority of football season (I can attest to this!). That's why I think it's so important that we have the BSL right there.

Agreed

[SEFTA]

I always thought it odd that they did not place the Sports Complex just to east. Waterfront stadiums seem so popular and would have probably included large waterfront parks. Watching the city coming back to life, tho, I'm now glad that that didn't happen. Now I want to see waterfront mixed use communities.

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

I always thought it odd that they did not place the Sports Complex just to east. Waterfront stadiums seem so popular and would have probably included large waterfront parks. Watching the city coming back to life, tho, I'm now glad that that didn't happen. Now I want to see waterfront mixed use communities.

Just going off Wikipedia, it looks like JFK Stadium was built in South Philly for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition (basically the World's Fair). It looks like they had a pretty elaborate setup which required a lot of space (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesqui...tenial_map.jpg) which is probably why they put it down there. I can't find much useful information on the Wikipedia pages for the Vet and the Spectrum, but my guess is they wanted them to be nearby the already existing JFK Stadium, and that was basically a bunch of city-owned swampland that wasn't really being used for anything after the Sesquicentennial. (Fun fact, the City still owns the land that the Linc and CBP are built on, but there's a complicated ground lease through PAID/PIDC, who then lease the ground to the Eagles and Phillies.) Of course, I think we all know the more recent history - the Phillies thought about a Center City (Chinatown, I believe) ballpark before deciding to stay down there.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^There may have been a Chinatown discussion, but I recall the main focus being near the state office building at Broad & Spring Garden. There was also talk of building over the 30th Street rail yards.