Is The Former Philadelphia Inquirer Site The Best Location For A Casino?

Philadelphia's Bart Blatstein believes his Casino Proposal, The Provence, is the best location and most transformative for Philadelphia. Consultant AKRF found that Blatstein's planned casino, hotel and entertainment complex would generate the most city and state tax revenue and bring in the most money through both gaming and non-gaming activity.  Blatstein even compares his project to resorts in Vegas.
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger told PGCB that The Provence had the most potential if executed as proposed.

Blatstein said he will build the project in a single phase, as proposed: A Hotel in the towered, Broad Street portion of the former Inquirer Building; a second-story gaming floor in the former newsroom and in new construction stretching back to 16th Street; retail and restaurants fronting on Callowhill and a roof-top village with a swim club and entertainment and music venues.  An existing 820- car parking between 16th and 17th on Callowhill stays, but will be connected to the complex vie pedestrian bridge over 16th Street.

Read More at PlanPhilly.com

East Park Reservoir Land Gets Programming

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission recommended a bill Tuesday that would authorize the city to lease a 50 acre property surrounding the East Park West Basin in Strawberry Mansion to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development.  Under the terms of the bill, PAID would then sublease the property for the creation of the East Park LEadership and Conservation, a collaborative project of the National Audubon Society and Outward Bound Philadelphia.

The plan includes the construction of a 17,000 square foot building with classrooms and areas for viewing the more than 200 species of birds that visit the park.  The Center will also include paths and trails that will be publicly accessible Thursday through Sunday in the warm months and Friday through Sunday in the colder months.

More on other City Leased Land at PlanPhilly

Philadelphia Wins EPA Grant To Plan for the Reuse of Brownfield Properties Along Frankford Creek

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Philadelphia as one of 20 communities to receive a grant to conduct a planning study to guide the cleanup and reactivation of brownfield land.  A $200,000 grant to Philadelphia will fund a study for a four- square- mile- area of the Frankford Creek, including sections of the Bridesburg, Frankford, Port Richmond and Juniata Park neighborhoods.  The Philadelphia City Planning Commission applied for the grant, which was announced April 25th, and will manage the planning process.

The grant is the first step  toward reusing formerly industrial properties along Frankford Creek in new and exciting ways, says Gary Jastrzab, Executive Director of the City Planning Commission.  the revitalization of the area was the focus of the recently adopted Philadelphia 2035: Lower Northeast District plan.

The former Coke and Rohm and Haas site, totaling 126 riverfront acres in the Bridesburg neighborhood, present economic development opportunities for waterfront redevelopment and community revitalization.  Similarly, the former site of Edgewater Dyeing and Finishing presents a unique opportunity for creek-side redevelopment in Frankford.  The rehabilitation of brownfield sites will also enable the development of the Frankford Creek Greenway, a greenway that would connect Tacony Creek Park to the North Delaware Riverfront.

Paseo Verde Update

The transit oriented development designed by WRT in partnership with Jonathan Rose Companies and AMP, is progressing quite well and looks like it could be complete by the end of summer.  The 1.9-acre brownfield site sits adjacent to SEPTA's Temple University Station – the fourth busiest stop in the regional transit system.  The project consist of a mixed-use program focused on affordable and market-rate workforce housing.  Paseo Verde offers 120 units of sustainable housing for low and moderate income families, approximately 30,000 SF of ground floor retail and community services, commercial office space, and parking.

When completed, Paseo Verde will link residents, workers and students to one of the busiest transit stations outside of Center City, and will represent the culmination of a decade-long planning effort by APM to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood and successfully reintegrate the local community into both the neighboring Temple University campus, and the broader urban fabric beyond.

The project is designed to attain the highest levels of LEED for Homes and LEED for Neighborhood Development certification, and aims to serve as a model for sustainable redevelopment in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.

Morgan Hall; Temple University

Temple University's Morgan hall raises the skyline of North Philadelphia as it inches closer and closer to opening day.  The project will surely help user in a new age of vitality to the North Broad street corridor, pushing limits of the "unexpected" in North Philadelphia.

The $174 million, 736,000 square foot apartment complex features a beautifully understated (except for its hight) contemporary 27 story tower joined by a ten story dorm on the south end designed by MGA Partners.  The two dorms will contain at least 1,200 beds in 4-person suites and 20 singles.  There will also be dining facilities and new retail dining space in a separate building on North Broad Street and a courtyard in the middle of the complex.  The project is set to open July 2013.

Wanamaker Plaza North Tower Update

Temple University's housing options continue to grow as another project progresses on the 100 block of Cecil B. Moore Ave.  The site that will soon be new student housing was once formerly the John Wanamaker Middle School.

Once complete, the $100 million project developed by the Goldenberg Group will sit 14-stories tall at 214 feet, adding 832 beds for Temple students.  The apartments will be ready for the fall of 2014.

Phila2035 Central District Comprehensive Plan Draft

Philadelphia 2035 released today a draft of their plan for the Central District.  The Comprehensive plan calls for revitalizing civic spaces in Center City, encouraging more development along Ridge Avenue and North Broad Street in West Callowhill, and making more of a neighborhood around Franklin Square.

Many recommendations range from zoning changes to allow for higher density in several neighborhoods, bringing more life to public spaces including Reyburn Plaza across from City Hall and adding a TKTS kiosk in the City Hall courtyard.  Although the Penn Center court Yard is not city owned recommendations were made suggesting to make the space more lively with farmers markets, food trucks or even adding a restaurant or two on the ground level of the buildings.

Read more by downloading the plan Here.

Callowhill/Chinatown North Strategic Plan

The future strategic plan of the Callowhill/Chinatown North neighborhoods was adopted last Tuesday by the city planning commission.  The proposed plan will feature 21 new acres of parks and green space, an extension of Noble Street, and a mixture of commercial and industrial development with a dual residential usage.  optimal conditions for developers to offer live work units to people in the creative industries.

Land use and zoning recommendations are the focus of the strategic plan which covers the area between Vine Street Expressway and Spring Garden, 2nd and Broad.  This includes the neighborhoods of Poplar, Callowhill and Chinatown North, as well as the super-blocks bounded by Wood, Spring Garden, 9th and 2nd streets and a section of the Central Delaware waterfront.

 The study area will be included in the Central District Comprehensive Plan, which will eventually be part of the city's comprehensive plan, Phila2035.  The strategic plan recommends 70 acres , or 16 percent of the study-area, be rezoned as a mix industrial/residential district- a new zoning classification that allows for live-work spaces.  Planners also have sights on transforming the vacant Reading Viaduct into a linear park.  Smaller swaths of land near the viaduct are suggested for immediate park usage to serve as access point to the future elevated park.

Other changes include concentrating higher-density, multifamily residential development closer to commercial corridors to maintain a core of single family row-homes in neighborhoods like that of Poplar.  Bike lanes will be doubled within the study area, as well as an additional 1,600 new trees will be planted.

View Strategic Plan Here

Source: PlanPhilly

Equinox Builds 29 Units in Francisville

Developer Jonathan Weiss, of Equinox Management & Construction's plan to build 20 residential units on 18,000 square feet of city-owned vacant land in Francisville was approved last week by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.  The site is located on the 1700 block of Folsom Street across from the Francisville Recreation Center.  It contains four standing single family homes, which are not part of the deal.

Weiss' plan for the neighborhood includes two multi-family buildings and 21 single-family units, 11 car parking spaces and 30 bike parking spaces, green roofs, solar panels, and energy-efficient materials.  The units will be market- rate and mixed- income, primarily marketed to families earning the area median income of $64k a year.  Weiss hopes to officially acquire the land in April or May and begin construction immediately, with units on the market by Fall.