from their site- http://www.h2l2.com/project.php?projectId=152, with a picture of a design (ugggghhhh) at the pincus bros site.

"their architecture pays homage to the great municipal buildings of the past". now thats a scarey design concept.....


"H2L2 was recently commissioned to a study for the design of Public Safety Buildings in the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg. These buildings will serve as the nerve centers for monitoring and administering safety throughout their regions at local, state, and federal levels. They will include the offices and departments for the Pennsylvania Joint Public Safety Administration as well as local police, State Police, fire fighters and Federal enforcement and administrative agencies. The buildings will be a true unification of all public safety disciplines. They will be prominent government buildings, centrally located, and welcomed into the city fabric. The Pittsburgh PSB will be located near the courthouse and in the heart of downtown... The Philadelphia PSB will be located right on northern most part of Independence Mall. These buildings will be modern and completely state of the art, but their architecture pays homage to the great municipal buildings of the past. Each building will be a little less than an million square feet. The goal of the buildings is to provide state workers with a safe environment in the urban surroundings.

The project in Philadelphia will coincide and be funded by the revenues from the redevelopment of the Market Street East Corridor in Central Philadelphia. This project will be the focus of a project that encompasses 5 city blocks and consists of hotels, offices, retail, parking garages, condominiums, and park space. In total, over 5.5 million square feet of construction will be developed at a cost of over $1.2 billion"

Thanks for the update !

I don't know what to say about it except so much for a Trader Joes.

A development project for this site is coming before the OCCA Development Committee on Tuesday morning, Oct. 7th (8AM).

The proposal is to have commercial/retail/office in the existing part of the building as follows:

Basement- Fitness Center
1st Floor - Supermarket
2nd Floor - Retail sales of electronic, audio, etc (BestBuy)
3rd Floor - Offices

The Developer has by-right Zoning Permits for Flrs 1 thru 3, as they are permitted in the L-4 Zoning District in which the property is located.
The fitness center in the basement requires ZBA variance approval.

the Developers propose to add 6 partial floors atop the existing building for use as a mid-end hotel. The 4th floor would contain the lobby and other htoel functions, and Flrs 5-9 would contain approximately 125 hotel units.

Discuss!
I'll keep you posted.
Marcus

First reaction would be to laugh and say it's not going to happen.


What about parking ?

Old city needs another gym ?

If my count is correct this is going to be the third project in center city to include an electronics store .

I believe the DRPA will have a say about this too.

The only good I see in this is a supermarket.

Agree the only good would be a supermarket but i would bet it wouldn't be a Whole Foods or Trader Joes. There is also no way in hell the OCCA would agree to a Best Buy in Old City. Another gym would be a joke and yes what about parking ?

Mpenn,
OCCA would have no say against a best buy. General retail of anysize does not need a variance or further approval.

Due to some recent rumblings, a trader joes could be possible.

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

I know but they would go after the whole project if a "Best Buy" was considering.......... nevermind, Best Buy and Circut City are not expanding and are in financial trouble so I would bet anything against it.

Two Trader Joes in center city ? Sounds nice but doubtful.

Even if they got approval for this so called project I doubt they would get the financing.


So they want to put a supermarket here, in the building at 2nd and Race street and the Yaron project on the 200 block of Arch ? Maybe will need all those gyms. LOL

Also and electronic store will fit so nice between the Best Buy in South Philly and the one planned at 16th and Vine. LOL again

I only say this because of a situation I am familiar with.

A friend of mine prepared space on south street and was literally hours from signing trader joes to go into south street just a month or two ago. They backed out, literally at the last minute, and said that they had a change of heart in their local strategy. What does this mean? Anyone's guess-but I often thought that they would be better suited to be in old city rather than a block away from wholefoods.

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

I would agree

I would be more thrilled with a Trader Joe's in OC than a WholePaycheck store. I'll make ya laugh a Wegman's would be awesome a girl can dream! With the bridge tolls going up my every couple weeks trip to Wegman's in Cherry Hill may get harder and harder to justify cost wise.

Another fitness place in the building seems like a joke. Unless it will be another Sweat location...