47-story Luxury Tower Planned at Broad and Spruce St

In the heart of the city, new 47-story skyscraper with luxury condominiums and amenities is set to go up at the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets, overlooking the Kimmel Center. 

The tower, named Arthaus, is being developed by Carl Dranoff, who had previously planned to construct a 45-story SLS International Hotel & Residences on the site. 

The hotel plan was downsized last year, and then scrapped entirely, in favor of the new, solely residential, Arthaus building.

The $275 million tower will include 108 condominiums ranging from 1,600 to nearly 5,500 square feet, along with 151 parking spaces.

The building’s luxury amenities will include a 75-foot pool, a dining salon which will feature celebrity chefs doing demonstrations, and a sky garden with a greenhouse.

The Arthaus name is inspired by the Bauhaus—an architecture movement founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 that helped shape modern design and architecture for decades to come.

About the Arthaus design, “excess was replaced by beauty that will also meet the needs and desires of real people.” 

They point to the tiered facade of the primarily glass building, which is aesthetically pleasing and which, “gives every unit its own corner, with two full exterior walls of breathtaking views.”

Carl Dranoff said it was the goal of his team and architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox to bring a vertical tower that would be a sort of landmark for the Avenue of the Arts. 

The upper levels look like steps going to the sky, while the lower levels feature brick and clay tiles that relate to the Kimmel Center across the Street.

The condominium units, which start at two bedrooms, feature floor-to-ceiling glass, terraces, kitchens with marble backsplashes and a marble waterfall countertop. 
The largest unit stretches over two stories with four bedrooms, five baths, a private elevator, and a massive terrace. 

The bottom floors will have four units a piece, with that number decreasing as you move up the building. 

The units will cost around $1,200 to $1,500 per square foot, with the largest unit costing as much as $8.2 million and the smallest as low as $1.9 million. 

When factoring in the location, the luxury nature of the units, and the amenities, it’s a bargain compared to similar New York condos, the developer says.

The tower is a far cry from the earlier plans for the site, which has been empty for years but once held Philadelphia International Records. 

It wasn’t until late last year that Dranoff announced he was scrapping the hotel portion of the project entirely, after only receiving $1.4 million of the $19 million he needed from a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to complete the hotel portion. 

This time the money they did secure from RACP grants, amounting to about $2.4 million, will go toward a restaurant on the first floor of the building.

The Arthaus tower is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2021.

New 30-Story Tower to Rise on North Broad St

The latest project in the wave of new development along North Broad Street is 30-story mixed-use tower named “Mural West,” a 30-story apartment building slated to rise on a parking lot at 523 North Broad Street.

The tower will have 290 residential units on the upper floors with ground-floor retail space. 

Also included on the lot is a separate, one-story restaurant and 24 on-site parking spaces.

Mural West sits just next to Meg Saligman’s popular 1999 mural “Common Threads,” which provides inspiration for the new development. 

A diagonal open space called “common ground” runs between the tower and the restaurant, directly below the mural.

The development plan preserves the mural, while the park enhances the viewer experience by providing a quiet respite from the urban neighborhood with trees, seating, and information about the mural and its creation.

The building is designed by AOS Architects and will be developed by EBRM, the group behind the Divine Lorraine Hotel.

The project is the latest in a recent boom of development along North Broad Street. 

In 2017 the Divine Lorraine Hotel was restored, followed by the Met Philly in 2018. The Nest,  new development geared toward Temple University students opened last year, while another new, 14-story project behind the Divine Lorraine recently broke ground. 

South Philly Shopping Plaza to Become Housing Project

A shopping plaza at 1600 Carpenter Street in South Philly will be razed to make way for a new 44-unit housing development. 

The new housing project will be taking the place of a Vietnamese grocery store.

The project calls for 44 total homes, including 22 attached single-family homes, five two-family homes, and two six-family apartment buildings.

Led by local development group, Streamline, the project will take up 35,300 square feet of space at the corner of 16th and Carpenter. That lot stretches halfway down 16th toward Washington Avenue and is currently home to the Hoa Binh shopping plaza, which has been there for 30 years.

The project will include 48-foot-high single- and multi-family buildings divided in rows that sit parallel to Carpenter Street.

The first two rows of buildings, which are separated by a driveway, will have three-bedroom, single-family townhouses. 

A small courtyard with outdoor seating separates the single family homes from the third row of buildings, which features two-family structures, flanked on either side by six-family buildings.

Plans include 13,000 square feet of open area and 22 parking spots along the driveway off 16th Street. The exteriors will mix fiber cement siding and metal with synthetic wood garage doors.

The project is the latest in several major developments in the neighborhood, the most notable is Lincoln Square, which wrapped up last year with multi-family housing, shops, and a Sprouts grocery store at a previously vacant lot on Broad and Washington Avenue.

Also in the works are plans for the redevelopment of the former Frankford Chocolate Factory into a housing development, while another project plans to bring homes and retail to the 22 and Washington.

Dock Street Brewing Company has recently announced plans to construct a new brewery at 2118 Washington Avenue.

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Drexel University Plans $3.5 Billion “Innovation Neighborhood”

Fourteen acres next to Philadelphia’s 30th Street train station will be transformed into a $3.5 billion “innovation neighborhood” designed to mix education, housing and entrepreneurship, under plans unveiled by Drexel University. 

Schuylkill Yards is the name of the mixed-use project, which will add up to eight million square feet of offices, labs, and housing in new and recycled buildings next to the third busiest passenger rail station in the country.

Drexel University, which assembled the land and envisioned the project, announced that it has selected Brandywine Realty Trust of Philadelphia to be the master developer and its joint venture partner in the project.

SHoP Architects and the Dutch firm West8 are working on the master plan. SHoP will handle the district planning and development of the architectural standards, and West 8 will be responsible for creating the public realm and development of the landscape standards.

Project renderings show a combination of high-rise and low-rise buildings on a 10-acre site next to Drexel’s main campus, Amtrak’s 30th Street Station, and Brandywine’s Cira Centre development.

“Schuylkill Yards will undeniably transform Philadelphia’s skyline as new towers rise on the west side of the Schuylkill River,” said Gerard H. Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust.

Proposed uses in this “collaborative neighborhood” include entrepreneurial spaces, educational facilities and research laboratories, corporate offices, residential and retail spaces, hospitality and cultural venues, and public open spaces.

While the community is being designed for a wide range of users, from educational and medical institutions to residents and businesses, developers say the common theme will be the pursuit of innovation.
 

“Drexel has always believed there’s a superior use for this unique location — essentially the 50 yard line of the Eastern Seaboard — as a neighborhood built around collaboration and innovation. That’s why the University assembled these parcels, and the time is right to put this vision into action,” said Drexel President John A. Fry.

“Schuylkill Yards is more than a large-scale development; it will be the heart of America’s next great urban innovation district.”

The developers say this is a long-term investment in Philadelphia and its University City neighborhood, and it’s aimed at people who want to live or work in the area and have easy access to the train station.

Besides its proximity to 30th Street Station, Schuylkill Yards will have connections to Philadelphia’s international airport. The master plan calls for a new gateway to Drexel and University City, a real estate submarket with a high concentration of education and medical institutions.

Construction of Schuylkill Yards will take place in multiple phases. As master developer, Brandywine, will oversee a team that includes Gotham Organization leading the residential development, and Longfellow Real Estate Partners leading the life sciences component.

When completed, developers say, the site will contain a mix of repurposed existing buildings and new towers connected by a “diverse network of public spaces.”

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The development will begin with the creation of Drexel Square, a 1.3 acre park at 30th and Market streets, directly across from Amtrak’s 30th Street Station. In addition, they say, the historic former Bulletin Building will be re-imagined by transforming its east facade with “inside/out viewports and a dynamic front screen.”

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the project represents “one of the most valuable assemblages of real estate” in the nation.

“Schuylkill Yards is a big step forward in University City’s transition to a next-generation business district,” he said. “It will provide our region’s current and future innovators with a central hub for collaboration and signal to the world that Philadelphia is ready for business in the 21st century’s new economy.”

Schuylkill Yards “will bring new, innovative businesses and residents to Pennsylvania, and the potential economic impact is tremendous,” said Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, “Those who choose to make Schuylkill Yards their home will have access to many of the most innovative companies, organizations and educational institutions in our state.”

Three Construction Projects Will Transform Temple University

Temple University is investing $300 million in new and upgraded facilities as part of a campus renaissance. Temple’s residential campus continues to evolve, with major construction projects bringing a new state-of-the-art library, a 35,000-seat football stadium, a health and wellness center and on-campus retail space. 

A new state-of-the art library 

The former site of Barton Hall will soon be home to Temple University’s new library, designed by Snøhetta, an architectural firm known for its innovative library designs, in partnership with Philadelphia-based design firm Stantec.

Demolition of the old Barton Hall was completed in March.

Plans include a library with more than 225,000-square-foot occupying a space approximately the size of a city block.

It will be bounded by Polett Walk to the south, Liacouras Walk to the west, Norris Street to the north and the Quad to the east.

A state-of-the art automated storage and retrieval system will allow the library to devote more square footage to learning spaces and less space to book stacks.
The new building will have dramatic arched entrances and a green roof, as well as a large, upper-level outdoor balcony space that will offer views of campus.

New Football Stadium

Temple University plans to construct a new 35,000-seat football stadium, with an estimated cost of $126 million, on the northwest corner of its main campus.

The multi-purpose stadium and retail complex will be bounded by Broad Street, Norris Street, 16th Street and Montgomery Avenue.

Temple has hired AECOM and architects Moody Nolan to design the project.

AECOM designed Florida Atlantic University's football stadium in 2012. At 29,419 seats, it's slightly smaller than Temple's stadium.

There are many reasons why the university is considering an on-campus stadium, including the long-term benefit of owning a stadium instead of renting one.

Owning a stadium is anticipated to result in net savings of approximately $3 million annually. That’s money that can be used for other priorities. The Philadelphia Eagles have been criticized for charging Temple $1 million a year to lease their stadium.

“Having our own stadium will help showcase our vibrant campus as we celebrate Temple’s accomplishments on and off the field," says Temple President Neil D. Theobald.

Temple Stadium will have a capacity of about 35,000—about half the size of Lincoln Financial Field, where the university now plays its home games.

The project promises to help revitalize North Broad Street and contribute to the North Philadelphia economy.

Construction will also include an adjacent practice facility and a student recreation building. Temple plans to begin construction of the facility later this year.


Student Health and Wellness Center

Temple University will break ground this month on a new Student Health and Wellness Center—an academic, athletics and recreation facility that will provide space for students in the College of Public Health to hone their clinical skills along with space for recreational sports and weight training.

The centerpiece of the 95,000 square foot facility is the main entrance, angled toward the intersection of 15th Street and Montgomery Avenue.

A two-and-a-half-story glass atrium will greet pedestrians, who will enter the facility beneath a portion of an outdoor track that serves as a balcony above the main doors before returning to ground level around the perimeter of the building.

The multipurpose facility's academic area will have smart classrooms, laboratory spaces with the latest technology and lecture halls, as well as a unique apartment space where demonstrations can take place.

The new center will also have an indoor recreation area that includes a 70-yard synthetic turf field, a climbing wall and a juice bar.

The field is for use by the school's athletic teams, as well as participants in Temple's 36 club sports and 10 intramural sports. The recreation area will also offer twice the amount of free-weight space currently available to students. Outside, a track will be available to the public.

The targeted completion date is early in 2018. The architecture firm Moody Nolan designed the facility.
 

Massive $6.5B Redevelopment Planned for University City

University City is in for some major changes thanks to a new redevelopment plan from Amtrak and partners SEPTA, Brandywine Realty Trust, and Drexel University. The plan will be the single largest development project in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and turn West Philadelphia into a regional economic hub. 

The development is expected to cost $6.5 billion, with $2 billion going to infrastructure investments and the other $4.5 billion coming from developers.

The project is expected to create 22,000 construction jobs and another 10,000 permanent jobs, and add 8,000 to 10,000 residents to the city’s population.

The massive venture will focus on the area around 30th Street Station, the second-busiest station in the Amtrak system, ultimately turning the area into a second downtown for Philadelphia.

Plans for the station and surrounding neighborhood will start with the capping of the existing Amtrak and SEPTA-owned rail yards to accommodate 10 million square feet of development along the Schuylkill River.

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New office, retail and residential buildings containing 18 million square feet of total space and 40 acres of open space would be created, with most of the development privately financed.

The project will include housing for 10,000 residents and create 1.2 million square feet of commercial space.

Three pedestrian bridges across the Schuylkill River, linking University City with Logan Square and Center City, are also planned.

The redevelopment site consists of a total of 175 acres in the University City neighborhood, 88 of which is occupied by the Amtrak rail yard.

This project is the culmination of a two-year study of the site, which extends east of Drexel’s campus between Walnut and Spring Garden Streets and northeast from 30th Street Station.

Among the infrastructure improvements are plans to relocate a ramp for the Schuylkill Expressway in favor of a new bus terminal.

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In addition to the bus facility, Amtrak also plans to expand The Porch at 30th Street Station.

A new gateway park will surround the facility with a tree-lined promenade along the river, a west-side plaza that could be used for large-scale events and a north plaza along Arch Street.

The 30th Street Station itself will also receive a major renovation that will add retail space and a new pedestrian plaza around the train station.

A new underground concourse that will connect the SEPTA subway station at 30th Street to the Amtrak station, is also planned.