2116 Chestnut; Apartment High-Rise Update

The soon to be completed high-rise rental at 2116 Chestnut will offer studios, 1 and 2 bedroom units, along with indoor parking, a dog run, car share, and bike storage.  Studios start at $1,700 per month and 1 bedrooms at $1,950 per month.

Marketed as resort style living, the fifth floor of 2116 Chestnut features a professionally  landscaped sun-deck with a spacious lawn, green roof, hot tub, lounge seating and a grilling area with outdoor kitchen.  Indoors residents can enjoy and entertainment suite featuring a catering kitchen and a club room. Also on this level is a state-of-the-art fitness center, business center with conference rooms and media room.

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.

Goldtex Building Update

The Post Brother's Goldtex apartment conversion project is moving along smoothly after setbacks in 2012 by Philadelphia labor unions delayed progress.  The building will be complete with 168 loft apartment units, roof terrace and pool, parking for 50% of its residents, and a few other special perks.  Construction should be complete later this summer.

The Grove at Cira Center South

Cira Center South is finally moving forward.  Demo of what was left from the former demolition began a few months ago on the Narrow parcel on the Chestnut Street side of the project.  The future building, called the Grove at Cira Center South, will be the product of a partnership between Brandywine Realty Trust and Campus Crest Communities. 

The 33 story tower will contain units for 850 residents in apartments (not including guest) with rents starting at $1300/mo and costing $158.5 million. Brandywine expects Drexel students as well as Penn students will live in the tower.  The building will draw students toward the campus neighborhood and away from the West Philly and Center City housing.

Brooklyn Flea Travel Downstream to Philly

The famous Brooklyn Flea, going into its 5th year in Brooklyn, has decided a few months ago to spread its wings to its southern brother Philadelphia.  Brooklyn Flea has become a staple in the city, making one of the coolest places to spend time on a weekend.  Heavily focused on curation, the market features everything from antiques, vintage clothing, handmade goods, jewelry, and food.  Co-Founders Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby plan to provide a broad representation of all those categories, but make it local and discover the many great vendors in the Philly area and pull them into that model.

On Sunday, June 2nd, the weekly Brooklyn Flea Philly will debut at the Piazza in Northern Liberties.  Jared tells Philly Post, he sees the Piazza as a center of cultural energy, and feels its the perfect place for the brand to try its first geographic expansion.  Check their site out Here

Edgewater Proposes Second Phase Tower

The not too impressive Edgewater development along the Schuylkill banks, although appropriate in context and function, is proposing a much nicer but still ordinary addition to the Edgewater complex.  Realen Properties is proposing to construct the second phase of Edgewater, a multifamily complex at 23rd and Race streets.  The addition calls for a 22-story building on an existing surface parking lot at the ramp off 23rd Street.

The first phase completed in 2006 costing $70 million consisted of a 13-story apartment complex with 290 apartments that overlooks the Schuylkill River part of the project, which included 20 three-story townhouses, also rentals.

Realen has already met with Logan Square Neighborhood Association to work out the development plan, the community groups seems to be okay with the project.  The company is going through the zoning process and anticipates that it could be finished with that process by the end of the summer.

Will The Navy Yard Stand on Its Own As Innovation Hub?

The Navy Yard has now reached its 10,000 jobs mark with more people working there than ever before, and appears to be on track to influence more companies to relocate to the neighborhood.  Part of its success is due to a buoyant technology business community, with some of that growth occurring at the expense of Center City.  Now many are asking if the Navy Yard can stand on its own.  Many have faith, but the biggest commitment will need to come in the form of infrastructure, in order to really see its full potential.  Read more at Technically Philly Here.

G8-Life's 2300 Amber Residence

G8- Life is well along on the construction of its third home in Kensington at 2300 Amber Street.  The two-story residence will look very similar to its counterparts at 2200 and 2400 Amber, only it will have a roof deck.  The home will also be fitted with the same energy efficient design as the other homes, very indicative of sustainable practices at G8-Life.  The home should see completion later this summer.

205 Race May See The Light of Day

Brown Hill Development inches closer to constructing the 197' condo towers at 205 Race Street.  First District Councilman Mark Squilla introduced a bill in the City Council Thursday  that would amend the Center City Zoning overlay to allow larger construction projects in the area surrounding the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.  The bill adds a "Bridge Approach" area to the Old City subsection of the Center City Overlay.  The new area is bounded by Race Street, 4th Street, and Interstate 95.

Approval of the bill is expected to subsequently support development that will draw activity to the area surrounding the Race Street Connector to encourage its use so that residents and visitors may re-connect to the waterfront.

Developers at 205 Race say their project is intended to mirror the scale not of the other buildings in the neighborhood, but of the Ben Franklin Bridge.  The bridge provides development challenges in its very near vicinity due to its large size and the constraints it places on visibility in the immediate area.

Three Project Get Approval By Philly Art Commission

On Wednesday three projects along the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers received final approval by the Philadelphia Art Commission.

The first project calls for improvement at the Flat Rock Dam at the Manayunk Canal.  This project is overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation and the Philadelphia Water Department.  The dam is in imminent danger of collapse  and could be triggered by any level of flooding from minor to severe.  The dam has also stopped the flow of water in the canal allowing algae byproducts to flourish affecting the taste and odor of drinking water.  Fixing the trail will also make it better suited for recreational uses along with the trail.

A second Manayunk Canal project involves the construction of a new bridge connecting Lock St. to Venice Island.  the art commissioned piece is a sculptural piece that serves as seating for a new children's spray ground and is made of natural boulders, sourced from California, where the artist, Masayuki Nagase, lives.

Along the Delaware a second of a series of planned connectors linking the street grid, as prescribed in the Master Plan for the Central Delaware.  Artist Donald Lipski designed a pice for the Columbia Ave. connector which references Lenape origin myths and the animals associated with its three clans, the wolf, turkey, and turtle.  The connector connects the I-95 underpass to Penn Treaty Park, the site where William Penn signed a treaty with the Lenape.  The project involves better lighting, access, streetscaping, as well as the construction of another smaller park.

Lipski's project takes the form of Cavawood light stanchions guiding the way to the river.  Two lamppost will flank the entranceway to the underpass, one with a fiberglass wolf sculpture on top, and the other with a turkey.  At the opposite end a series of light poles attached to the backs of cast bronze turtles will lead into the park.

DRWC Chooses Hargreaves To Design Plan for Penn's Landing

PlanPhilly announced today the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation hired Hargreaves Associates to create a redevelopment plan for Penn's Landing.  Hargreaves has an extensive resume which includes the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London and Louisville's Waterfront Park.  The firm will cover issues of engineering, feasibility and design, all paid for under a $425,00 contract, funded with grant money from the William Penn Foundation.

Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger praised the firm as having a proven track-record in creating high-quality public spaces that will attract private development.  He also stated that this was another step in a very deliberate process to make connections from the city to the Delaware River, ultimately leading to the redevelopment of Penn's Landing and a significant return-on-investment for the city.

The study will look at land between Market and South streets and Front St. and the Delaware River.  In addition to the highway cap of I-95 the team will examine development of a six-acre site at Market Street, Redevelopment of the four-acre western and southern edges of the Marina Basin site with mid-rise residential, commercial and other uses, and extending the South Street pedestrian bridge to Penn's Landing.

The firm promised to strongly consider and use the feedback from community groups and citizens as to what they want to do when they are in the park space.

Read More Here at PlanPhilly