Development News

It's hard to believe that the $787 million expansion of Center City's Pennsylvania Convention Center has only been moving forward for a little over three years now. But on March 4, one of modern-day Philadelphia's most monumental economic growth facilitators will officially open for business with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. And on March 9, when the International Flower Show kicks off inside the Convention Center's existing building, the 3,000 attendees of the NASPA convention will be simultaneously holding court inside the building's newly expanded section.

In other words, two events that will almost certainly encourage serious economic activity here will be taking place inside the Convention Center at the same time next week. The expansion, it's worth noting, has increased the size of the PCC by 62 percent; it now clocks in at a jaw-dropping 1 million square feet, and it's expected to have over $140 million in economic impact annually.  

After all, as Jack Ferguson, CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, says, "The Pennsylvania Convention Center is the hospitality economic engine that drives Philadelphia. Now with this world-class venue, an expanded center is generating a greater buzz about Philadelphia as a destination throughout the nation. This will attract more events, meetings, conventions, tradeshows and businesses to want to invest here."

As Ferguson rightly points out, an economic upper-hand isn't the only important aspect of the expansion story; there are also the substantial bragging rights. The new center, for instance, will be home to the largest ballroom in the Northeast corridor (55,400 square feet), as well as 528,000 square feet of contiguous exhibition space. Of course, words alone can't really do justice to the new Broad Street Atrium, or the multi-story glass entrance that will greet visitors at the building's Broad Street entrance. Click here and here to experience them yourself, online. 

Source: Liz Sullivan, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Regardless of whether or not you believe that the current real estate crisis is finally coming to a close, the fact remains that there will probably always be neighborhoods in Philadelphia that are optimally ripe for renewal. According to Jacob Roller of MM Partners LLC, a real estate development and management company with offices on West Girard Avenue, Brewerytown may very well the next ideal neighborhood in line for something of an aesthetic and cultural transformation.

Already, MM Partners has been responsible for bringing an outpost of the local Mugshots CoffeeHouse & Cafe chain to Brewerytown; they've also rehabbed countless residential and retail properties up and down the main drag of West Girard. The company's current residential project, however, is its most ambitious yet in the neighborhood.

Known as North 28, and located just north of the Fairmount neighborhood at 1238 North 28th Street, the project is a "15 unit building with 15 gated parking spaces," according to the MM Partners website. It's also the first residential development to be built north of Girard in the past five years; the last was the Westrum Development Company's 144-unit Brewerytown Square project. Interestingly enough, North 28 is being built as a modular construction project, and the units have been approved for both sale and rental.

But as Roller explains it, the focus of his company, which he co-owns with business partner David Waxman, doesn't actually begin and end with residential construction. Rather, it's concerned with the overall revival of the Brewerytown neighborhood because, as Roller says, "We think retail drives residential growth."

The company plans to break ground on the 14,500 square-foot lot where North 28 will sit in roughly a month or two. Rental units, which will run from $900 to $1,450 per month, should be available for viewing this May.

Source: Jacob Roller, MM Partners LLC
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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It's certainly no secret, at least to those of us who call Philadelphia home, that the University City district has for many years now been the proverbial nucleus of an incredibly well-connected and highly knowledgeable cluster of medical, science and academic professionals. But unfortunately, the area's so-called 'Eds and Meds' leaders have never fully succeeded in branding their community as one of the nation's most important research centers. That perception--or rather, the lack thereof--may soon be changing, thanks to the work of a newly-formed group calling itself the University City Innovation Collaborative.

The group is being headed by the University City Science Center; the nonprofit University City District; and the Science Center's development partner, a Baltimore company known as Wexford Science and Technology.

The aim of the group, according to Stephen Tang, the Science Center's CEO, involves making University City a world-class innovation center along the lines of similar regions like Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco's Mission Bay district. And yet what sort of development that will actually entail still remains to be seen, because as Tang explains, "This is all a work in progress; the project doesn't really finish until April."

Part of what the project will almost certainly involve, however, aside from more spaces where innovation can take place, are recreational facilities. "You have to have amenities that allow creative people to be with like-minded people for extended periods of time," Tang says. "So that means retail, it means entertainment, it means after-hours places. All those things need to come together."

Tang is also quick to point out, however, that while "it's important that we have facilities, it's more important who's in those facilities, and for what reason. We need to foster better collaboration between organizations and institutions," he offers. "And that's not only to tell the story, but to build a better story as well."

Source: Stephen Tang, University City Science Center
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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There certainly isn't anything particularly headline-grabbing about a wealthy university alumnus making a financial donation to his alma mater, as the former tobacco executive Bennett S. LeBow did back in 1999, when he gave a gift of $10 million to Drexel University. But this past November, when LeBow once again opened his checkbook to Drexel and made a stunning $45 million donation, well, that was big news.

As it happened, the gift couldn't have arrived at a more opportune time: Administrators at Drexel have for years now been planning to make a significant upgrade to the 45-year-old Matheson Hall, which houses the business college that is named after LeBow. LeBow's most recent financial contribution, however, will now allow for Drexel to fully demolish Matheson, which it plans to do sometime this summer. The 12-story LeBow College of Business Building will be constructed in its place, and if the architectural renderings and statistics can be believed, it may in fact end up being more of an attention-getter than the donation that is largely making its construction possible.

For starters, the 177,500 square-foot building will contain an entrepreneurship center with business incubator space, not to mention a five-story atrium, a finance trading lab, a 160-seat event space and a behavioral studies lab.

"The hallmark of business education at Drexel is experiential learning," said the university's dean, George P. Tsetsekos, who was instrumental in securing the LeBow donation. "A new and beautiful building will help us to better connect with the Philadelphia business communities and allow our students to learn in a setting that is less like a classroom and more like the corporate environment."

Drexel still needs to raise some $30 million for the construction of the new LeBow Building, which is scheduled to be open and operational sometime in 2014.

Source: Mark Everly, Drexel University
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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On Valentine's Day last week, Mayor Michael Nutter appeared at Esperanza College in North Philadelphia to introduce the recipients of the 2011 Neighborhood Economic Development grants. The purpose of the long-running and hugely popular program, which receives $1 million in funding from the federal Community Development Block Grant program, is to "support the completion of neighborhood economic predevelopment, planning, and development projects," according to a Philadelphia Department of Commerce press release distributed at Esperanza.

Mayor Nutter, however, described the program in significantly more passionate and straightforward terms: "When we talk about this program, it's not just about affordable housing," he offered. "It's not just about shelter for the homeless. It's not just about investing. It's also about jobs, which is all we really want to talk about. You ask me what time it is?" he continued. "It's time to help people get a job. You ask me what the weather's like? It's nice enough to go out and look for a job. Anything you ask me, we're going to talk about jobs."

And although some might argue that the Neighborhood Economic Development grants are about much more than simple job creation--at their core, they're about helping community groups foster serious economic growth--the reality is that a total of 368 permanent jobs will eventually be created as a result of the grant monies being awarded to this year's recipients.

Esperanza, in fact, was one of this year's nine grant recipients, as was the Center for Culinary Enterprises, a food business incubator which plans to break ground on March 23. Other recipients include Community Legal Services, which is constructing a four-story building; Mt. Airy USA, which is building the Mt. Airy Transit Village; and People for People (PFP), which will offer job training in a soon-to-be-renovated two-story building. Click here to read about the remaining grant recipients and their plans for future development.

Source: Esperanza College
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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When you consider the fact that Philadelphia is so often referred to--especially by pundits and bloggers who closely follow urban planning issues--as a near-perfect incubator for what could easily become a model for the next great American city, it's hard to believe that the zoning code here hasn't been updated since 1960. But this past Tuesday, Feb. 15, was a truly historic day for the City of Philadelphia. That was the day the city's Planning Commission released its first draft of Philadelphia 2035, a wide-reaching, long-term plan for the very future of the city. A PDF version of the plan, which clocks in at a whopping 216 pages, can be downloaded on the Planning Commission's website and on its Facebook page.

The next steps in the journey of the Philadelphia 2035 plan include a mid-March discussion among Planning Commission members, which will then lead to mid-April revisions, and hopefully, a final version in mid-May. An event to celebrate the release of the document is scheduled for early June. Come March 1, meanwhile, a website for the city-wide plan will launch at phila2035.org, and on March 23, an open house will be held at the Center for Architecture, during which the public will be encouraged to participate and ask questions.

The plan itself explores three different strategies, or themes, that the PCPC hopes will help to guide Philadelphia into the future. Once the plan--which looks at everything from public transit to the development of public spaces such parks and the waterfront--is considered complete, the commission will create even more detailed plans covering the 18 distinct districts of the city.

The commission is currently soliciting the public's opinion of its plan; anyone interested in joining the conversation is encouraged to send feedback via email to [email protected].

Source: Philadelphia Planning Commission
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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The Clifton, NJ-based ARC Properties development company has been working for nearly two years now on an increasingly controversial hotel, retail and entertainment complex that will sit on the stretch of Race Street in Philadelphia between Fourth and Fifth streets and is scheduled to be operational sometime in 2012. But according to ARC's CEO, Robert Ambrosi, the project has only become controversial as a result of misinformation mixed with innuendo.

Ambrosi claims that his project, which is currently being referred to as Franklin Place, has the full support of the Independence Visitor Center and a number of other area groups. The Old City Civic Association, however, hasn't exactly given ARC Properties its undivided blessing, and Ambrosi thinks he knows why. "There's been a lot of wrong information in the press, unfortunately," he insists. "People are claiming we're putting in a nightclub. But this is really a hotel project with an attached restaurant and a small music venue."

Franklin Place will actually consist of two separate structures, one of them facing the residential community along Fourth Street, and the other facing Independence Mall, where no residential community exists. Understandably, the project has been the cause of much consternation among locals, although as Ambrosi explains, the Fourth Street-facing building will actually house a 55-unit residential complex. "We've been extremely sensitive that anything we do on the Fourth Street side of the project be very passive," he says. The structure facing Fifth Street, meanwhile, will be home to a 156-room Starwood Hotel, as well as a currently undecided combination of retail and dining venues.

Ambrosi originally wanted the complex to contain a bowling alley and a small live music space. His newest idea is to bring a Toby Keith-themed restaurant featuring live country-and-western music into the mix.

"This is a very, very important project to us," Ambrosi adds, "and we're going to make it a great project. I just want people to understand what we're doing."

Source: Robert J. Ambrosi, ARC Properties Inc.
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Close your eyes and picture this scene: Swanky poolside cabanas with flat-screen TVs. Tanned, twenty-something women stretched out on Balinese lounge chairs. A DJ spinning trip hop next to a roaring fire pit. It probably sounds like a setting straight out of coastal Florida or Southern California. And yet come this May, that's exactly the spectacle you'll find at the corner of West Allen Street and Germantown Avenue in Northern Liberties, right behind the artisanal retail complex known as The Piazza at Schmidt's.

Arrow Swim Club is the name of this long-awaited project, which is being overseen by Tower Investments' Bart Blatstein, who was almost entirely responsible for the redevelopment of the Northern Liberties neighborhood. In a somewhat unusual twist, Blatstein is partnering on the project with Nicole A. Cashman, CEO of the Cashman & Associates PR firm, which specializes in representing luxury brands.

Of course, there's a fairly decent chance that the 21-and-over swim club will, in fact, grow to become one of the best-known luxury brands in NoLibs. That's because aside from the poolside food and beverage service, the private spa, the swinging hammocks, the uber-chic cabana boys, and the upper-level sundeck, this inner-city oasis will be coming with one more surprise: $1,000 annual memberships.

This week, according to Jacklin Rhoads of Cashman & Associates, "One-thousand hand-selected, prospective members will receive invitations to a sneak-peek party, and an invitation to join the swim club." Memberships will be available to the public on March 7, but as Rhoads explains, "Everyone will have to fill out an application, pending management approval, with a background and credit check."

Chris Sheffield of the nearby SL Design firm is designing the project, which will feature a 1,380-square-foot pool. An open-to-the-public restaurant will reside next door to the swim club, and the first season runs through Sept. 30.

Source: Jacklin Rhoads, Cashman & Associates
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Sarah Clark Stewart, Campaign Director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, says while her organization has grown considerably over the past few years in Philadelphia proper, the activity has been decidedly less sin the suburbs.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's essentially why the Coalition organized its first-ever Biking the Suburbs Conference, which happened Feb. 12 at the Montgomery County Fire Academy in Conshohocken. At the workshop-style conference, cyclists who live or work in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery or Bucks counties not only had the opportunity to learn about the most pressing bike advocacy issues affecting their communities today--they also had the chance to interact with other like-minded area cyclists.

One of the main goals of the conference, says Clark Stewart, was to encourage the attendees to become just as politically involved as urban cyclists tend to be. "We want to help them advocate for whatever it is that they want," says Clark Stewart, "whether it's a new bike lane, or better conditions on the streets for bicycling."

To that end, planners from each of the four counties represented directed hour-long conversations about current transportation projects that directly affect suburban cyclists. Attendees learned how to go about the process of getting their own bike lines developed, for instance. They heard about the status of the high-profile Chester County and Schuylkill River trails, and about the controversial Betzwood Bridge project. They also learned about upcoming plans to create a more bike-friendly West Chester.

"I hope [the attendees learned] that there's a lot of potential to have an impact on their own place of residence," says Clark Stewart. "And that we want to help give them the tools they need to make those improvements."

To learn more about bicycle advocacy projects in your own community, visit the Bicycle Coalition online.

Source: Sarah Clark Stewart, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Probably the most surprising aspect of Center City's Forum Theater, the notorious porn cinema that has resided at the corner of 22nd and Market streets since the mid-1970s, is that it still exists. Thanks in large part to the widespread availability of internet porn, blue movie houses across the county have been closing their doors at a rapid clip over the past decade.

And yet the Forum has lately found itself the subject of local media attention for a different reason altogether: It's in the midst of an expansion project that would add live nude dancers and private booths to a new second floor. And while that project was approved by the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment last year, the situation got a bit more complicated when a group known as the Center City Residents Association chose to appeal the decision to the Commonwealth Court earlier this month.

According to Ronald Patterson, however, an attorney for the Forum's owners (which include the controversial Anthony Trombetta), the situation is actually much simpler--and nowhere near as malicious--as the CCRA seems to assume. According to Patterson, the Forum's owners, who also operate Les Girls, a neighboring strip club at 2132 Market Street, simply want to relocate that club's operations into the Forum. To accommodate Les Girls, the Forum would transform what is currently a mezzanine level into a proper second floor, with no changes to the building's exterior. Les Girls could then become a mixed-use development, or possibly sold.

"I didn't really want to be the guy who would put a (new) adult use into the neighborhood," says Patterson. "But this is a good thing, I think, going from two (adult uses) to one."

Now that the ZBA's decision has been appealed, "I guess we just wait for two or three months until they make a decision," Patterson says.

Source: Ronald Patterson, Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Even for those of you who give only cursory attention to local media outlets, it was nearly impossible over the past week to miss the bevy of economic development-related news coming out of the Navy Yard. Perhaps the most visible had to do with the forthcoming expansion of Urban Outfitters, Inc.; on Feb. 9, Mayor Nutter's office announced that the company will soon occupy two new structures on the campus. According to the Mayor's office, Urban's investment in those two buildings, one of which is the former Navy Yard Cruise Ship Terminal, and which together clock in at slightly more than 100,000 square feet, will total roughly $30 million. What's more, Urban Outfitters says it hopes to add roughly 1,000 new permanent jobs and three additional buildings over the next three years.

The pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline had similar news to share last week: Working with Liberty Property Trust, it plans to build a LEED Platinum Certified building near the Navy Yard's front entrance. It's referring to the structure, which will occupy 205,000 square feet, as "the workplace for the 21st century." Construction of the project, which is being estimated as an $81 million investment, could be complete as early as late summer. GSK will be moving all its 1,300 employees currently working in Center City to the Navy Yard, and according to the Navy Yard's Williams J. Agate Jr., "as part of that move, (GSK is) calling this their North American headquarters."

The recent developments underscore the importance of the major piece tying them all together--the $150 million Clean Energy Campus. "It's a hard topic for people to really understand the significance of," says Agate, "but it very firmly puts Philadelphia in the center of the energy efficiency conversation. And that is right where you want to be."

To learn more about the Clean Energy Campus, click here and here.

Source: Williams J. Agate Jr., Vice President of Navy Yard Management and Development
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Wander through the front entrance of the recently-opened, two-story Jonathan Adler emporium at 33 N. 3rd Street in Philadelphia's Old City district, and what you'll find--amongst the quirky pottery and the furniture and housewares, which have something of an upscale Urban Outfitters vibe about them, and which Adler himself likes to refer to as 'happy chic'--is essentially a bricks-and-mortar metaphor for the current economic state of the city.

Adler's entree to the Old City retail scene, was, after all, seen as something of a surprise--albeit a very pleasant one--to the cadre of local bloggers and journalists who covered it. A Philadelphia Inquirer article by Flying Kite contributor Caroline Tiger, for instance, mentioned that a number of "home-and-design stores in Philadelphia [went] belly-up in 2010," including the store that previously occupied the space where Jonathan Adler now sits, Foster's Urban Homeware.

But thanks to the season he spent as a judge the Bravo's reality TV show Top Design, Adler--who still considers himself more of a potter than a retailer--occupies a slightly more rarefied public space than the boutique owners who were forced to close their doors last year. His celebrity status, in fact, may very well play an important role in keeping his Old City boutique in the black while the economic strength of the city, hopefully, continues to creep ever upward.

"We have long been interested in having a presence in Philadelphia, and were thrilled to find a fabulous space in Old Town," says company spokesperson Starrett Zenko. "We are thrilled to be there!"

And Philadelphia, quite clearly, is just as thrilled. Here's to hoping we all feel the same way this time next year.

Source: Starrett Zenko, Jonathan Adler
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Historically speaking, North Philadelphia certainly hasn't been a part of town known for inspiring trendy development projects. And that's exactly why last Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony at 600 N. Broad Street was welcomed with such hearty enthusiasm, especially by those who closely follow the city's ever-burgeoning restaurant scene.

Helmed by real estate developer Eric Blumenfeld, who has long been working to turn the stretch of North Broad Street between City Hall and Temple University into a sort of artistically gentrified urban playground, the 600 N. Broad Street mixed-use development will feature the projects of two restaurateurs and one caterer whose aesthetics might seem better suited to Old City, or even Northern Liberties or East Passyunk.

Stephen Starr, who supposedly has plans to launch at least four new restaurants in 2011, will be building a seafood restaurant known as Route 6 on the site, which was most recently home to the Wilkie Chevrolet-Buick Subaru dealership. Marc Vetri, meanwhile, will open a beer bar known as Birreria 600, and Joe Volpe (of the Cescaphe Event Group) will open a 700-capacity catering venture. Nearly 100 new apartments will also be a major part of the project, which comes with a $43 million price tag, $18 million of which will be publicly funded. The project is expected to be complete by October 2011.

Source: EB Realty Management Corporation and PMC Property Group
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Ask just about any tourist in Philadelphia to name one of the city's many museums, and it's quite unlikely they'll mention the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, regardless of the fact that it is the nation's oldest art museum and school. And that's partially why, after many years of planning, PAFA has finally begun construction on an outdoor civic space that will be known as Lenfest Plaza.

The Plaza's official groundbreaking ceremony took place on Feb. 2. It revealed the stretch of Cherry Street between Broad and 15th that will soon be closed to traffic and developed with a slew of urban amusements open to the public. The Plaza will feature an upscale restaurant, for instance, which will go into PAFA's Hamilton Building. It will be home to an outdoor exhibition of rotating artwork. There will also be a very welcome series of curved benches, and then, of course, the piece de resistance: a 53-foot-tall paintbrush designed by the pop artist Claes Oldenburg, the bristles of which will be illuminated like a torch.

According to Marsha Braverman, PAFA's Executive VP of Marketing and Communications, the idea to create the plaza initially came about after PAFA's purchase of the Hamilton building; it was agreed upon by the board that a plaza would naturally unite the school and museum buildings. "The idea (now)," says Braverman, "is when the conventioneers (at the newly expanded Convention Center) leave the front door, we're their first stop. And then if you walk down Lenfest Plaza, that leads right to the Parkway. So we're saying that we're really the start of the Museum Mile."

Construction of the $7.5 million Lenfest Plaza, which was designed by the local Olin landscape architectural firm, is expected to be complete this August, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for October.

Source: Marsha Braverman, PAFA
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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Regardless of the fact that the Delaware Valley is nearly overflowing with historic older communities, it is nevertheless an unfortunate reality of the American mindset that if a town or suburb is newer, it's often also considered better.

That assessment, however, is one that the community planners at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission disagree with strongly. As a way to illustrate the imprudence of the newer-is-better philosophy, the DVRPC launched the Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia initiative in mid-2008, which still works to promote places like Media and Phoenixville as ideal communities in which to live and work.

And yet one of the DVRPC's newest community-building initiatives--the Strategies for Older Suburbs Roundtable Series--is bringing the region's various community leaders together in the very same room. After listening to ideas and suggestions from guest speakers, they're able to hammer out possible solutions for the very real economic problems hampering growth in their towns.

The general purpose of the roundtable series, says Karen Cilurso of the DVRPC, is to build relationships. "We find that sometimes communities can find a solution to their problems just by talking to their neighbor," she says. "And it (often) doesn't require millions of dollars."

The series' second event is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Feb. 9, at the DVRPC offices (190 N. Independence Mall West, 8th Floor, Philadelphia). The guest speakers will discuss the topics of old media and new media, with the ultimate goal of helping community leaders understand how to most successfully promote their towns.

According to Cilurso, the discussions are informal, with the topics suggested by the participants themselves. "We like [the discussions] to be very free flowing," she says, adding that many of the roundtable participants "are people (who are) really in the trenches, trying to bring business and residents back to the region."

The Roundtable Series happens quarterly; following Wednesday's meeting, the next event is scheduled for May 13.

Source: Karen Cilurso, DVRPC
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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