Renaissance Plaza

The new plan for Renaissance plaza on Delaware Avenue involves a residential and retail complex developed by Carl Marks Real Estate.  The project will take the place of the former World Trade Center site proposed years ago.  The new proposal calls for shorter towers, more retail, and more green public space.  The complex is half the height of the 430 foot-tall proposal presented last summer. Architect Bill Alesker of Alesker & Dundon said the height changes and dramatically altered plan was due in part to feedback from civic organizations and the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. In my personal opinion, the design could be more innovative and blend more seamlessly with the surrounding neighborhoods.  The architects are extremely bland and lazy when it comes to design, evident of all their previous work.  Short buildings can still be beautiful..... Always a let down Philadelphia.

Old proposal

Continuing on....... under this years proposal, the tallest of five towers is 240 feet.  The 1,411 units are mostly two bedrooms with two equal-sized master suites and one-bedroom units.  Rents are estimated to be about $1,800 to $3,300 per month.

The project would seek LEED Gold status, and would be built in five phases.  The developer is committed to building the first two buildings along with parking and public green space, and the other phases would follow, depending on demand.  Construction should start in Spring 2014, with a following 16 month timeline for the first phase.

Designers added a swath of landscaped public space to run through the property with hopes that it will draw people from the neighborhoods through the property, and down to the river.  Some roofs would offer additional green space.  The developers also hope that the early phases of the development will not only create demand for later phases, but would also spur other development along the Central Delaware.

Ridge Flats Receives Design Approval

Ridge Flats received an endorsement last Tuesday July 2, by the Civic Design Review Committee, which is charged with evaluating the public realm impacts of large development projects.  The  five-story, 146 unit, mixed use apartment complex, proposed for the former Rivage site at 4300-4326 Ridge Avenue, will be built to "passive house" standards: a hyper-efficient building standard intended to produce a "net zero" energy impact.

According to PlanPhilly, Tim McDonald of Onion Flats told the CDR Committee that the project will include 9,300 square feet of retail space, most of which is intended to be frequented by pedestrians in the neighborhood, not destination outlets that people would want to drive to.  A "cafe and lookout" are planned for the corner of Kelly Drive and Calumet Street.  The building will also have green roofs and a rain garden.

Chinatown's Eastern Tower Project Moves Forward

The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation disclosed at a meeting Tuesday Night to Chinatown residents that it will pull building permits and begin construction on the Eastern Tower in the next six to nine months.  Easter Tower will be a 23-story mixed-use apartment complex and community center at 10th and Vine streets.

The building, designed by KlingStubbins and Lisa Armstrong of A K Architecture,  will contain 143 residential units, 31 of which will be affordable for "moderate income" households earning up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income. The market-rate apartments will rent for around $1,700 for a one-bedroom and $2,500 for a two-bedroom. The developers are still rounding up funding for the project, estimated to cost $71 million.

The project will include 10,000 square feet of retail space, plus banquet and recreational space to be available to the community.  the cost to operate the community center is estimated at $255,000 yearly, and John Chin, PCDC Director, promised that recreational space and community services will always be available to community members.

Drexel Rail Yard Study & Transit-Oriented Development

Drexel university has big plans for the Most Eastern fringes of University City North of Chestnut Street.  The university also is exploring a possible future neighborhood built over the SEPTA and AMTRAK rail yards near 30th Street Station.  Drexel approached AMTRAK and SEPTA with the idea of doing an engineering and air rights study, which Drexel will pay for.  in addition to the railroads, PennDOT, PIDC, the University of Pennsylvania, Brandywine Realty Trust, and Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities Rina Cutler are involved in the discussions.

University President John Anderson Fry estimates the study will cost between $2 million and $3 million, and take about three years.  Putting some sort of cap over the rail yards could create 80 to 90 acres of development space, he said.

Drexel initiated the rail yard possibility because it is in the construction and planning stages of a list of projects around 30th Street Station, in hopes of transforming the neighborhood into a transit-oriented "Innovation Neighborhood" for education, research, technology and commercial entities.  the university is adding commercial space, a hotel, student housing and classroom space.  it hopes to bring some of the companies its students do cooperative study with into the neighborhood for both student work experiences and joint research.  It is also opening space up to other universities in the city and around the world.  Drexel will act as a Master planner for this project, but will have many other public and private partners.

30th and Chestnut Before

After

30th and JFK Before

After

31st and Market Before

After

Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk

The next leg of the Schuylkill Banks Trail is well on its way.  This portion is the critical 2,000 foot-long boardwalk that will link Locust Street to the South Street bridge.  At the South Street Bridge, a 460-foot, ADA-accessible ramp will bring pedestrians from the river up to the deck of the bridge.  The boardwalk itself will be 15-feet-wide and have four expanded lookout areas for people to pause or lounge mid crossing.

To avoid harming or disturbing trees, SRDC sent a crew out in kayaks to measure the distance between the shore and the reach of the tree canopy.  With that information the design firm for the project, URS Corporation, deigned the boardwalk 50-feet from the shore, out of reach of any overhanging limbs.

The biggest challenge to this project is the extreme high tide of the Schuylkill.  The river's five to six foot high tide impacts the pier caps immediately.  Therefore the contractor must adjust his work schedule to ensure that forming and concrete ours are done during low tide for pier caps.

Currently all the piers are in place for the boardwalk, and half of the pier caps are on.  the beams are in place on five of the total 21 boardwalk spans.  On the ramp portion of the project, all of the beams are in place and the bottom portion of the ramp, where the earthen support wall must be built, is under construction.  The bridge is scheduled to be complete sometime early Fall of 2014.

:Read More at Eyes On the Street:

Eakins Oval Play Park

Philly Parks and Rec are set to unveil next month the newest product for "More Park Less Way" along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  The department released plans for its makeover of Eakins Oval.  The new park will occupy the space in the center of the oval that has most recently served as a parking lot.  This project is part of a long-range plan to make the Parkway more inviting to pedestrians and neighbors.

Designers at LRSLAstudio broke up the park into three major elements; and urban beach, a game area and an outdoor food truck cafe with a portable stage at its end.  The beach will also include sandboxes for children.  The game area features life-size chess and checkers boards with game pieces, a large Twister mat and facilities for bag toss, table tennis and other amenities.  The stage will offer the area as a use to outdoor concerts and performances.

Liberty Square; Kensington's Piazza

Old Kensington will soon get a new mega piazza style development on former industrial zoned land along Germantown Ave. and American Street called "Liberty Square".  Blackstone Development will construct a six-story-high, 277,000 square-foot mixed use development with 247 apartments, commercial and live-work space.  the project will occupy the lot bounded by Thompson Street, Stiles Street, American Street and Germantown Avenue.

The project will also contain a 161-space underground parking garage with bike storage.  there will be street level retail along Germantown Ave, a restaurant and cafe on Stiles Street, live-work spaces along American Street and street level residential along Thompson Street.  the project will also feature an interior plaza with a fountain and dog park, with access to the plaza from the retail spaces along Germantown Avenue.  No worries to Kensington resident, this development in planning does not compare to the Piazza at Schmidt's down the road.  It is much smaller with more of a neighborhood scale, and less amenities.

Liberty Square will be built in three phases over the course of two and a half years with ground breaking some time in the late fall on the parking garage and the Germantown Ave building.