no, my house was built in 1979...and I think the garage is the original door!

__________________
-Tim K

Licensed PA Real Estate Salesperson

MILES & GENERALIS, INC. GO REAL ESTATE
20 N. 3rd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-928-0221 (office)
215-928-0584 (fax)

www.PhillyLoftHouse.com : Loft-style living in a single-family home

www.LoftOn12th.com : A REAL loft in Center City

Does that 26 year-old red garage door enhance the quality of the community, by any chance?

I happen to live nearby myself, and I still say midrise would be waaaaay better than townhouses at New Market, just as 1300 Buttonwood will do much more for "the Loft District" than schlock townhouses would have. Don't you ever get bored of the cute (to some people . . . ) red brick townhomes sprouting up everywhere? Wouldn't you appreciate something a little more adventurous?

Yes, I am getting tired of seeing all these townhouses going up. But, it is better than a vacant lot, a hole in the ground, or a 40 story tower. Of course, I won't complain about $800K+ houses being built around the corner as they clearly help my property value go up! A midrise would be good too....there was approval for either an 8 or 11 story building on the front street location....but the developers wanted more.

I can assure you that my house with its red garage door adds more to the neighborhood than a parking lot or high rise would.

__________________
-Tim K

Licensed PA Real Estate Salesperson

MILES & GENERALIS, INC. GO REAL ESTATE
20 N. 3rd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-928-0221 (office)
215-928-0584 (fax)

www.PhillyLoftHouse.com : Loft-style living in a single-family home

www.LoftOn12th.com : A REAL loft in Center City

New hope for NewMarket????

Bridgman Takes on Long-Delayed NewMarket
By Marita Thomas

PHILADELPHIA -Following a series of plans gone awry, locally based Bridgman Development LLC has acquired development rights for the vacant 1.5-acre parcel in Society Hill that was once called NewMarket and has remained a hole in the ground for more than a decade. Earlier plans included an 11-story W hotel and a 40-story condo tower, which, as GlobeSt.com reported, was later trimmed to 19 stories.
Locally based Bridgman, headed by Marc Stein and Ryan Roberts, plans a mixed-use development named Stamper Square, after John Stamper, an English merchant who was mayor here in 1759. Stampers Street intersects the parcel, which is bounded by Second, Front, Lombard and Pine streets. “This is a really great community landscape, and we see a wonderful opportunity to create something that complements it,” Stein says.

Stein and Roberts declined to disclose the price for the rights. The seller is an entity named 410 S. Front Street Partners LP, which includes the previous owner of the land. “That company retains a financial stake in the project along with us,” Stein tells GlobeSt.com, “But it has absolutely nothing to do with the development of Stamper Square.”

Bridgman is working with the neighbors in developing the design. “We want their support,” he says, “and we’re soliciting their ideas.” Roberts says it is likely to be no taller than the size of the hotel, which was once planned by Treyball Development, a partnership headed by actor Will Smith, and received community approval in 2001. That plan fell victim to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Stein says Stamper Square will have a hotel component along with residential condos and retail on level one. “There will most likely be a public cobblestone walkway through the property from Second to Front,” he adds. Acknowledging that prior to final planning, it’s hard to estimate costs, he says “It’s likely to exceed $100 million.” Condo unit pricing, Roberts says, will begin in the high $900s per sf for small units and reach to above $1,000 per sf. The number of units is yet to be determined.

Approximately three years ago, World Acquisition Partners, the parent of locally based Sant Properties, paid Treyball $10.5 million for the parcel. It rolled out a series of residential condo designs, all of which were met with opposition from neighborhood groups. Each new design decreased the number of stories, shrinking profit potential while construction costs and the number of Center City condos under development rose.

Stein acknowledges that Society Hill neighbors, most of whom own townhouses, approach development with vigilance, “and they should,” he says. That’s why there is no timeline for Stamper Square groundbreaking. “The financials are set, but we need to make sure it is something the neighborhood wants.”

Meanwhile, this January Bridgman paid nearly $30 million for a 3.5-acre parcel along the Delaware in Northern Liberties and gained approval for Bridgman’s View, a 66-story tower. At an estimated cost of $600 million, it calls for a 250-room hotel with about 700 residential condos on top and 80,000 sf of ground-floor retail/restaurant space. Stein says plans for a November groundbreaking are on track, which completion expected in 2010. “We have a terrific group of equity partners, and we hope to go national,” he adds.

Link

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"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

Society Hill residents look poised to reject a luxury hotel development slated for Head House Square....

http://www.planphilly.com/node/2765

I am so angry Im about to bust and I cant even put into words how I feel

Not opposed to the pair of 15 story towers but the cost effective contemporary glass going up in red brick colonial Soceity Hill isnt working for me. As someone in the article articulated, the developer paid too much for the land and the neighborhood shouldnt be punished for that mistake.

Wait. How can anyone say anything about "cost effective glass". Have you seen the Society Hill Towers lately?!?! They look like something from Brasila. buhhh...

Right. Lets not add classy modern architecture. So I suppose a 15 story brick boutique hotel would be fine though?

Now you're learning.

Certain neighborhoods are sacred. I just dont see the need to get away from what works. Red brick colonial works in Soceity HIll. If you want to erect 2 contemporary glass rectangles go do it in Center City. Soceity HIll has a classic look, lets keep it that way.

What does this even mean? Ridiculous. Cost effective glass vs. "brick colonial society hill"? Obviously you don't know much about the area. Most of the "colonial brick" in the area was built in the seventies and eighties-the nineteen seventies and eighties. Additionally, glass facades are anything but cost effective.

The developers did not pay too much for the land-this is nothing more than inane jibberish by opposers trying to pull rabbits out of their butts. Selling less than 1/2 of the condos will pay for the land.

The neighborhood is only being punished by the vocal minority of idiots in society hill who wouldn't even see the "looming towers" from their view-since you have viewed the article you should remember this:

Advocates say its genius lies in the site plan, which places the 15 story towers on Front Street where renderings suggest they will not be visible from most locations in Society Hill.

And what do the immediate neighbors say?

Thirty nearby neighbors signed onto a statement of support for the project, calling the proposed passageway “a potential treasure in our community”.

This is merely another reason as to why the system must change, and projects have to quit getting killed because of a relatively few nimbys. While they wish to berate everything from developers to south street, their own statistics show that a majority of society hill residents are young single renters who live in the area due to the proximity of nightlife and shopping.

If society hill doesn't wake up they will be punished by having another sh&t project built similar to the craptastic sheraton hotel.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying