Plain and simple - Pulver is a conshahocken-type company. Center City doesn't need them (and neither does Viacom, for that matter) because the last thing we need in Philly is *more* ugly squares. Especially at 17 stories...that's just retarded.

Ugh. :shock:

__________________
For those who know me at SSP, I'm FlyersFan118. woo!

That building doesn't do anything for me either. The whole project there seems rather unlikely, although I agree that it would be nice to see something get put up on that lot. Being such a central location, high visibility certainly is one of its main attributes.

As an aside, within the next year or so look for some improvements to Friend's Center located at 1501 and 1515 Cherry Street (located across the said site). While most of the work will be done on the interior of the building, exterior upgrades may include landscaping, interpretive signage, a green roof (one of the first in the city), along with overall greater visibility. Our architecture firm is in the works trying to go for Gold LEED Certification, which is quite the rarity these days. Interestingly enough, our solar calculations for the site have to take into the possibility that a building will be put up across the street.

__________________
- George -

http://www.barackobama.com

It looks like the Borg cube from Star Trek...

__________________
On the west coast, people love baseball the way they love their children.
In the midwest, people love baseball the way they love their spouse.
On the east coast, people love baseball the way they love their God.

Speaking of jumbotrons...I was at 17th or 16th and Market on Saturday, and the building on the southeast corner had some sort of projection playing on it. You couldn't see it well because it was broken up by windows and what not. Does anyone know what was going on there? It would have been kind of cool if you could actually see the whole picture.

__________________
Is this a news report or a trailer for a motion picture?

A more logical place to put an interactive studio would be Centre Square. With Comcast moving out there will be a lot of empty space AND they already have tramsmitters on top of it.

Jumbotrons would be great there too and would look out on the clothespin. The plaza is pretty well populated much of the time.

__________________
"Things are starting to get interesting right about now"

Scoats - publician, writer, artist.

All comments made by me on his board are given freely and probably worth what you paid for them.

I noticed that too. They were projecting commercials from the pack of a truck onto the building. It had a very Times Square quality - only without the people (this was Market St. on a Saturday night). Perhaps they were testing the location for possible future ad projection (it seemed too temporary on Saturday for that to be a permanent fixture). It really catches your attention ocne you exit suburban station.

from Globest.com The article makes it sound like this could very well be built.

Viacom May Spark Third New Office Building
By Marita Thomas
Last updated: March 7, 2005 06:30am

PHILADELPHIA-Another new office building is in the planning stages for Center City. Called Parkway Plaza, it was initially designed by West Conshohocken-based Oliver Tyrone Pulver as new headquarters for Towers Perrin, which ultimately decided to renew for about 250,000 sf at Centre Square. Now Pulver is rolling out its plan for the building at 15th and Arch streets for Viacom, an entity of CBS, which also broadcasts UPN TV here.
Craig Scheuerle, SVP of the local office of Grubb & Ellis, tells GlobeSt.com the building is Viacom’s “first choice.” Scheuerle and VPs Dan Brogan and Jim Egan are representing the broadcaster in its search for new space following expiration of its lease of approximately 80,000 sf at 101 S. Independence Mall.

Scheuerle says, “lease preparations are under way with Pulver for 100,000 sf, half of the building, for a 20-year term. Approvals are ready,” Scheuele says, and Pulver is finalizing development and funding plans for an eight-story, 200,000-sf building.

The Grubb & Ellis team has explored alternatives. Chief among them, Scheuerle says, are build-to-suits in Camden, NJ and Conshohocken, and space in Centre Square and Ten Penn Center here. “A build-to-suit is our preference,” he says, “because the tenant requires a 25-foot clearance for studios and 15-foot clearance for technical areas.” He declined to reveal a value of the lease and said lease negotiations do include naming the building for the tenant.

Calls to Esther Pulver, the developer’s VP of marketing, were not returned by deadline. When construction of the building was introduced as headquarters for Towers Perrin, however, Pulver said the design was expandable to as much as 400,000 sf over 17 stories, which is allowable for the site, and the exact size was to be determined depending on lease-up potential.

It would be the third new office building in Center City following more than a decade of no new office construction. Brandywine Realty Trust’s 28-story, 728,000-sf Cira Centre ended the drought when it broke ground last year, and Liberty Property Trust’s 57-story, 1.2-million-sf Comcast Center finally just got under way. At the end of fourth quarter 2004, the CBD office vacancy rate stood at 16%, its highest since 1995, according to Grubb & Ellis data, and the arrow points up as space in the new buildings comes online.

10 year tax abatements are for residential - and conversion from office to residential.

This would need one of those special, KOZ type treatments. And you can see GrubbEllis fishing already . . . oh, we might look in Camden and Conshy. That's a paraphrase for "stick'em up."

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

No, all new construction receives the 10 year abatement. The Business Journal has an article about this building this week. It says they're not looking for a KOZ, but could potentially ask for other subsidies.

Of course they should build if they want to (provided no government assistance is helping), but why should they, with office space in prime buildings going for below $30/ft2? Anyway, I think Center Square is far better for the ground level studio than 15th and Arch. The Clothespin Plaza is an ideal backdrop.

My reading is that abatements only come into play for improvements to existing commerical or industrial property. 10 year abatements apply to all new residential projects.

And interesting piece from Carl Primavera on abatements:

http://www.klehr.com/Articles/LI0304.html

Of course I loved this section:

Since the developer in question is Goldenberg, one assumes that a large amount of cash also changed hands.

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs