Lander's Point

Lander's Point in Tacony gets upgraded to Park Status along with a face-lift that will accommodate hundreds of users daily from surrounding neighborhoods.  Groundbreaking took place Monday on the new 4.5-acre park that will replace the current paved surface with greenery, wetlands, benches, picnic tables, solar lighting and composting restroom facility.

Plans are to have most of the river's edge restored to a natural state, which will yield wildlife habitat.  The work will include demolition and removal of concrete ramp structures and concrete and asphalt paving throughout the site.  A river overlook and fishing pier at the river's edge will be part of the new park along with, riparian edge restoration, the creation of tidal wetlands, and the restoration of a riverbank forest area for picnicking and passive recreational activities.

The park will be a gateway and trailhead for the Delaware River Heritage Trail and will be a link in the East Coast Greenway that runs from Main to Florida.  This trailhead will include a drinking fountain, walking trails, park and trail furniture and the necessary infrastructure to support these amenities.

Plans for the park were developed by Baltimore's Biohabitats, the same landscape architecture firm that designed Washington Avenue Green in South Philadelphia.  Construction of the project is expected to cost $1.5 million.  All of the money has been raised with about half coming from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.  Other funding sources include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Wildlife Fund.

Cynwyd Heritage Trail

Designed by Studio/ Bryan Hanes, Lower Merion Township is working on a 60-acre park with a 2 mile trail that will connect one of Philadelphia's oldest suburbs with a thriving art and entertainment district across the river in Manayunk via the Manayunk Bridge.  The design of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail and Park will capitalize on the unique features of the former industrial site as well as the nature of the surrounding communities.

The rail corridor, an abandoned piece of infrastructure which once connected people to goods and services, has been cut off from public use for nearly 100 years.  The Township and designers envision repurposing the corridor as a linear park, creating physical and social connections, linking wildlife and nature corridors, transporting people and creating strong communities.

Penn's New Nanotechnology Center

The University of Pennsylvania is currently in the process of constructing a brand new nanotechnology center, named the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology.  The building site is an important gateway location along the north side of Walnut Street.  As the campus is approached on foot or in a vehicle from the east, this is the first major academic building that one will encounter, and must announce the presence of the campus within West Philadelphia in a dramatic and notable way.

The new research facility will encourage the collaboration, exchange, and integration of knowledge that characterizes the study of this emerging field, and will combine the resources of both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Total project cost: $88,000,000
Area: 80,000 GSF
Completion: August 2013
Architect(s): Weiss/Manfredi

Transit Oriented Development at Broad & South

An 80 unit residential building with retail has been proposed for the north east corner of Broad and South by developer Carl Dranoff.  The building may also include restaurants, coffee shops, a grocery store or deli.  There will also be plenty of parking for bicycles, almost as much as there will be for cars.

Earlier this week, the philadelphia City Planning Commission voted to recommend that city council pass proposed legislation that would allow the project to include the commercial uses and have below-grade parking for accessory uses and reduce the space required for off-street loading.  Zoning Bill 110670 also reduces the number of parking spaces required to a project of this size to 3 for every 10 units.  Less parking is needed for this building because an entrance to the subway is just beneath a building signage marquee.  The building is set to have 30 vehicle parking spaces and 25 for bicycles.

Tower Investments Buys Inquirer Building

Bart Blastein of Tower Investments bought the home of the Philadelphia Inguirer and the Daily News from Philadelphia Media Network at 400 N Broad Street for $22.65 million.  Bart has plans to redevelop the 470,000-square-foot property, yet there is no word on what he intends to do with the site.

Odds are it involves perhaps a mixed use of office and residential with retail at its base, or completely residential conversion.  This falls in line with the developers expansion plans for North Broad Street, following a recent purchase of 1400 Spring Garden Street.  The word is, Blastein stands to be the saving grace of North Broad, piggy backing of the expansion of the Convention Center and future development opportunities it presents, as well as taking advantage of a gold-mind of development opportunities in this district.  The Center City District aims to expand the celebration and investment of the arts North up Broad Street, meshing well with the interest of Blastein, who's successful transformation of Northern Liberties was supported by the Artist Community and Creative Class of Philadelphia.

CHOP Builds New Primary Care Center

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia broke ground on a new primary care center named the Nicholas and Athena Karabots Primary Care Center in West Philadelphia.  The $30 million, 52,000-square-foot facility will provide pediatric care and community programs to children and their families in the surrounding community. The new center will give West Philadelphia families convenient access to standard-setting pediatric healthcare.

Located on a four-acre site, the two story, 52,000 sf building will contain 6 child-friendly examination rooms, plus rooms dedicated to radiology, hearing and vision testing, and a phlebotomy laboratory.  The facility will also house community programs offered by Children's Hospital, such as Early Head Start, Reach Out and Read, domestic violence education, and asthma education.  The Center plans to accommodate over 45,000 outpatient visits annually.

Architect: Brawer & Hauptman Architects
Contractor: INTECH Construction

Construction is expected to be complete in late 2012, with an opening planned for early 2013.

Final Philadelphia Zoning Code Gets Passes by City Council

Last Wednesday marked the end of the Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission, with a final vote and passing of the final report.  After nearly half a decade of work and 50 meetings later, it all concludes with a final YES.

Plan Philly reports Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger praising the Commission for its years of work and the transparency of the process leading up to Wednesday's meeting.  He said the Commission was the most effective longstanding working group he had ever seen, and asked for volunteers to help create sign controls in months before the new code becomes effective. "You are experts on this code" Greenberger told Commissioners.  "Because of your level of expertise and detail, you are now ambassadors to the public at large on this code."

Greenberger recited some statistics on the zoning reform process given to him by ZCC director Eva Gladstein: 50 ZCC meetings, 62 work plan committee meetings, 25 civic engagement meetings, $2 million in City funds spent, and 3,400 community participants.