Meeting Oct 27th: for details see thread on Zoning and SOSNA update pls.

I hope that you don't mind me posting these pics..
To those of you who did not attend the meeting about the condo renovation to the JFK building,the developer who has purchased the property plans to construct condo units around the perimeter of the building and use the "core" area for parking, enabling the residents to park at their floor and walk directly to their door. The developer stated that the units would come equipped with large rooms for the storage of belongings (in addition to closets). Two floors would be added to the nothern section around an enclosed roof garden. Skuylkill Ave. would be "beautified" with new sidewalks and trees, and the westernmost wedge of the property abutting the building would be "donated" for use as part of the park.
The architects are Venturi Scott Brown and Associates.
Here are shots of the plans: (sorry they came out shitty, I was in kind of a rush)

Site plan


Roof garden


South and east, the window sills would be dropped to make floor to ceiling glass.


North and west


Ground floor which will include retail space


Standard floor plan


Some shots of the ground floor garage where the meeting was held:








An outside shot


If what the developer said is true, "soft demolition" is currently ongoing (the removal of pipes lights etc.) I forgot when the actual renovation was supposed to start.
I also heard from the meeting that there would be a tour of the building that would be held before the rebuilding but after the "soft demo". Is that still going on??

Awesome!! As soon as someone gets sales info, pls post it here.

Wow, Shadowbat, you're the bomb! That is an amazing view of current and future stuff.

Where is that?

This will be such a fantastic addition to the area, I really see south-square picking up more and becoming an awesome place as this and other developments in the area bring more people in.

It's on Scuylkill Ave which runs between Bainbridge and Christian (roughly). The site is behind the Naval Home and highly visible from the expressway and the South Street Bridge.

BTW, welcome to the neighborhood and hope you make it to the Sidecar opening tonight. We'll be there.

AHB

The parking garage at 23rd and Bainbridge is being developed, the Naval Home condos look stately, the Symphony house on Broad is well under construction. Two new bars and two restaurants have opened this year, a coffee shop and at least one other bar are in the works. It seems as though every fourth home is under construction. I'm sure there is much going on I don't know about.

Is SWCC running out of room?

This building was originally built to house army tanks during WW II. Why try and convert an army depot into 21st century condos? Why not level this former storage facility and start from scratch with a modern development? The JFK building has absolutely no redeeming qualities, especially concerning places of residence.

I don't think so. Of the following zip codes, the following shows the amount of property tax nonpayment for the neighborhoods of SP. The dollar amount is unpaid property taxes, the next number is number of tax delinquent properties, the next is total properties, then the last number is the percent of total properties:

19145 Point Breeze $9,885,552.49 3,808 18,048 21.1
19146 Schuylkill $16,448,731.29 6,812 18,244 37.3
19147 Southwark $9,068,392.83 2,445 15,490 15.8
19148 Passyunk $11,689,187.73 4,237 21,304 19.9

Delinquent accounts are often synonymous with vacant or "abandoned" properties.

Why is 19146 carrying more unpaid tax accounts than Point Breeze, which does not have a house valued at over $500K, or 19147 or 19148?

Is it a characteristic of the residents, or a characteristic of the city collection methods?

The more the supply of housing, the lower the prices. A recent Hallwatch articles shows a slight cooling of the market, and builders are stating that recent collection efforts put more of a supply of houses in need of renovation in the pipeline, in addition to a slight uptick in interest rates.

The key to affordable housing and the key to sustainable revenue is occupied housing by up to date tax paying owners.

Is it healthy to lament the fact that Philly is renewing the middle class homeowner who is moving in to formerly vacant lots and substandard, run down housing?

Let's celebrate who is moving into all that space!