Will Smith lot - sold to a 'NE Philly group' - Page 2 - PhillyBlog

SPM · #11 (**permalink**) 01-22-2005, 01:18 AM

Will Smith's real estate development company is named Treyball (after his son Trey) and it is run by his younger brother Harry. I worked a bit with them on this.

The soundstage/music studio story:
Originally planned a music studio at the New Market site along w/ W hotel and spa.
City was looking for a (film) soundstage in anticiaption of losing the old Convention Hall---City asked Smith is they'd be interested in looking down at Broad & Washington NW corner) to build both film soundstage and msuinc studio. This was all just before Wild Wild West.
They combined with the city on a feasibiltiy study,a nd then decided to expand the project to the NE corner too (Holt property owned---yes Cirque du Soliel spot) and cam eup with mage $275 million Silver City concept...film production and music production, digitial TV studios for Fox, movie theaters, offcie building and residnetial devleopment. Got city Tif lined up, but collapsed under its own weight...woudl have been pretty cool place, but wasn't going to happen.

Not sure about Lawsonia lofts on Spring Garden---wouldn't hold my breath

Hal · #12 (**permalink**) 01-22-2005, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyinPhilly

What in the world does quickly became a "white elephant" mean???

It's a reference to Indian-Perian-Hindu custom-
A White Elephant was viewed as sacred, a manifestation of good luck,

Of course, it takes a small fortune to FEED an elephant, and as a living, breathing sign of divine favor, they can't be put to work- all they do is eat,
and attract guests... and they tend to drive you broke.

So, the Indian & Persian Kings/Maharajas wanted to cripple their political rivals, they would present a White Elephant, which was an honor, and a huge drain on the budget.

Hal

arnaz · #13 (**permalink**) 03-20-2005, 10:33 PM

FYI.....

Quote:

Will Smith's planned hotel will instead become condos
Natalie Kostelni
Staff Writer
The Society Hill site where actor Will Smith had planned to open a trendy W Hotel will be turned into an estimated $100 million condominium complex.

While details are still being hammered out, the project at the New Market Pavilion on Headhouse Square would entail constructing a condo tower that would be about 300,000 square feet. How tall the structure would be hasn't been determined yet, but the site could handle more than 20 stories.

The $63.5 million W Hotel was approved four years ago to stand 11 stories tall, totaling 250,000 square feet, at the tract that is bounded by Pine, Lombard, 2nd and Front streets.

Sant Properties of Northeast Philadelphia, developer of the project, is still working with the Society Hill Civic Association to finalize plans for the residential tower, said Charlie Naselsky, a partner with law firm Cozen O'Connor, which is representing Sant.

"It's a very large, sophisticated high-end project," Naselsky said. "We're working to come up with a design and project scope that makes everybody comfortable. ... We're not looking to open the floodgates."

The W Hotel had taken up the entire 11-acre New Market site, but the condo complex will be laid out in a way that won't require use of the entire property. However, the building will be taller than the W Hotel, Naselsky said.

Sant, which has, until recently, focused on buying and operating industrial properties, closed this week on acquiring the John Ross House at 2nd and Pine streets for $3 million. It sits adjacent to the New Market property and is key to the development. Sant bought the historic 24,000-square-foot property, which is being used as retail space and offices, from a private partnership headed by Wayne Spilove, a Philadelphia developer. Larry Steinberg of Michael Salove Co. represented both parties in the transaction.

The Ross House had an easement that ran through the New Market site and had complicated development of the property. At the time Smith was planning the W Hotel, Spilove's lawyers sent Smith a notice complaining that the W's design obstructed access to the Ross House. Smith had declined to change the design to accommodate the entrance, prompting legal action. With Sant now owning the Ross House, "it creates a higher degree of cooperation with the entrance way," Naselsky said.

Sant bought the New Market site in December from Treyball Development Inc., Smith's real estate company he operates with his brother, Harry. While neighbors were hopeful Smith's plans would revitalize the vacant lot, those plans fizzled in 2001 when the economy went into a recession.

New Market dates to 1975 when it opened as a 250,000-square-foot retail and restaurant emporium that housed the well-known Rusty Scupper eatery. Its life was short-lived as it went through different iterations over the years, one time serving as an entertainment venue. In 1996, a Philadelphia developer wanted to put a supermarket in a portion of it, but the neighborhood civic association was against it.

As time wore on, the glass-and-steel pavilion fell into disrepair. It was razed three years ago.

Jayfar · #14 (**permalink**) 03-20-2005, 11:06 PM

http://citypaper.net/articles/2005-03-17/canon.shtml

Quote:

March 17-23, 2005

loose canon

High-Rise Smackdown

Society Hill readies to battle developers who tout tall aspirations.

by Bruce Schimmel

Tania Rorke did not gallop through Society Hill's cobblestone streets last week crying, "The developers are coming, the developers are coming." But the newsletter of the Society Hill Civic Association (SHCA), of which Rorke is president, made almost as powerful a call-to-arms for residents who fear that new high-rises will plunge their neighborhood into darkness.

"Speak now, or forever hold your peace," read the headline of Rorke's column. And residents of this wealthy neighborhood of historic houses are opening not only their mouths, but their wallets — to fund a legal defense of their low-rise lifestyle.

Such a fund is more than just a first for Society Hill neighbors. What makes this especially remarkable is both the way the money is being raised and the size of the numbers being bandied about.

Elsewhere in the newsletter, in a page-length letter titled, "Protecting Society Hill from Developer's Greed," one neighborhood couple offers to match dollar-for-dollar any amount of money that other neighbors contribute up to $100,000. Society Hill's legal war chest could quickly grow to $200,000.

The anonymous couple, who declined to be interviewed, write that "ordinarily we would applaud the triumphs of capitalism, but not when its success is achieved by wealthy developers attempting to persuade city boards and commissions that the law does not mean what it plainly says." Among the city agencies being targeted by the legal fund are the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

Until recently, the biggest concern had been the Dilworth house at 223-225 S. Sixth St., which developer John Turchi wants to raze and replace with a 15-story condominium [Cityspace, "'Worth Saving?" Nicole Sarrubbo, Feb. 24, 2005]. Although the historic house is nominally protected by the city's preservation ordinance, neighbors fear that the Historical Commission could be swayed by a team headed by legendary architect Robert Venturi.

Meanwhile, a larger threat has emerged: NewMarket, a 1 1/2-acre lot bound by Pine, Lombard, Second and Front, which is currently an empty slab of concrete. In 2000, actor Will Smith led a group to buy the land for $3.2 million to build a fancy hotel and retail complex. Smith's group convinced the Zoning Board of Adjustment to raise the six-story height limit to 11 stories.

But after funding fell through, the vacant lot was sold in December 2004 for $10.5 million to Sant Properties from Northeast Philadelphia. Sant is a leading developer of industrial properties; this is their first foray into residential real estate.

Since purchasing the property, Sant's behavior has caused Society Hill neighbors to mobilize.

Paul Boni, a lawyer who heads SHCA's Zoning Committee, says he reached out to Sant but was ignored. Boni faxed a letter to both their main office and to their attorney. "We figured that we'd hear back from them in a few days," says Boni. "But when we didn't, we got nervous, very nervous."

Adding to neighbors' anxiety has been the developers' tactic of canvassing homes bordering NewMarket. "When a developer meets with a bunch of immediate neighbors and does not meet with a civic association," says Boni, "they are doing a "divide and conquer.'" Neighbors came to SHCA after hearing that instead of a 11-story hotel, they may get 30 stories.

When reached at his office in the Northeast, Sant Properties's Hardeep Chawla denied seeing either of Boni's letters. (Boni has fax receipts.)

Chawla confirmed that Sant Properties is meeting with neighbors. "Once [they have] blessed the design," says Chawla, "we'll meet with the civic associations, and then go to the Zoning Board." As to the number of stories in the residential condo he envisions, Chawla said "in the 20s," with two-bedroom apartments priced at about $800,000.

In response to the legal fund being assembled, Chawla replied, "We're encouraged that they put together a legal defense fund. We'd rather deal with one attorney than with 20 different neighbors.

But Chawla also insisted that with Smith's Zoning Board approval in hand, "If I wanted to [build a hotel] tomorrow, I would not have to meet with the neighbors." Chawla has since agreed to meet with SCHA.

Chawla says that the currently approved 11-story hotel would be "a lot more disruptive" than his 20-plus high-rise. In building this high-rise, he was merely "remassing" the square footage already approved by the Zoning Board.

SCHA's Tania Rorke disagrees. "Height is a major concern to all residents in this community. The next tallest building in that area is probably four stories. Mass and height are not interchangeable."

Londoner · #15 (**permalink**) 03-21-2005, 05:49 PM

it's always a bit ironic...you fight 11 stories and you end up with 30.

there will never be simple row homes on that property that blends in with the rest of the landscape. if a developer get prime property in philly, you are building UP. we all need to start getting used to this.

that vacant lot is absolutely hideous too,

SPM · #16 (**permalink**) 03-22-2005, 10:48 PM

You guys already know I'll say this, but I'll say it:
That's what cities are all about!---and, don't get confused like the smart lemmings who ran the dot.bomb craze----real estate investment goes in cycles---not stright up or down...we'll (hopefully) get a bunch more skyscrapers, then it'll slow to a trickle for another decade +---some will cheer the lack of investment, thinking that is a good thinking for Philadelphia, while investment money goes elsewhere. Of course that isn't a good thinkg for Philadelphia, but it's still nice to be certain that it is......

OR---we can:

Embrace change, love change, look skyward, expand our horizons, act like city-slickers, and free our minds and our ___ will follow (apologies to the Funkadelics!!!)

I, for one, choose the latter (paraphrasing apologies to Patrick Henry)

Londoner · #17 (**permalink**) 03-23-2005, 05:27 AM

I'm not sure if i'll take the same controversial approach as SPM, but...

in reality what would be best for this location is a set of nice rowhomes that close in the feel of the area. or perhaps a lovely 4 story building, with a distinguished facade, with ground floor retail and apartment space above it.

but this will never happen. we all need to start getting used to the fact that on prime real estate in philly from now on, you are going to get tall buildings. and if you fight one developer, another will come along and build something taller. it's an uphill battle that leaves everyone else with an ugly parking lot to look at.

if this type of irony hadnt occurred before in philly, than this isnt an issue. but this keeps happening around the city, people fight development and get stuck with an ugly lot, and then someone else comes along and wants to build taller.

i say, just let the city grow...

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