Delays in project caused by Universal and Pennrose threaten Community Park

[ljlong]

Juice states that even Naval Square is not in the satellite databank for Google maps, so we can't assume that the MLK brown blob of empty lots is correct.

But Juice, the Uni-Penn MLK Plaza development has been underway for years. Since I moved in five years ago, not much has changed. A few properties were started. Many were not finished even.

The most up to date satellite photo is still very much like the one available: the preponderance of the old MLK site is still vacant lots. Drive around and have a look. Walk around and see how well Universal has created a pedestrian friendly landscape in the old site.

Once Toll broke ground on Naval Square, they started work in earnest. They are nearly complete, and their contractors broke ground about 3 years ago. Every year they deliver most if not all of their projected phase on time.

Uni-Penn broke ground more than five years ago, and deed records suggest that the conveyances to Uni-Penn were before that.

I went to a tent press gathering at Fitzwater and Broad five years ago for the next phase of MLK and Universal's commercial vision on Broad and South, and that large empty lot is still a large empty lot, with plans to build on the large tracts of empty lots to the east. It still looks the same.

In fact, the large empty lot is way overdue in property taxes to the tune of about a million dollars. Can we really afford to keep using Universal when schools are starved for cash from real owners who pay in full and on time?

If we got a real owner in there by putting Fitz and Broad out in a competitive bidding process that barred kickbacks, we would have a fully contributing owner 12 months after groundbreaking.

MLK has been underway before the formal groundbreaking for about ten years. Only a small portion has been completed.

Yet SOSNA is still considering partnering with Universal to build 17th and Carpenter?

What is the rationale behind that?

Government shouldn't be tasked to do what the private market can do, only what the private market can't do, or we are wasting precious dollars earmarked for urban renewal.

Having an enterprise zone along Broad and overlaying the MLK Plaza is smarter. Mixed residential and business would transform the area into a multi-ethnic, multi-class and income powerhouse that is the true modern American city.

Let's quit doing what didn't work.

[juice]

For those who don't have Google Earth (which, if your system supports it, I recommend):

I'm referring to this last aerial image (taken before Naval Square development began):
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...Juice/1200.jpg

vs.

this image, from google maps:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ice/1200-2.jpg

Between the two, I see houses having gone up around there; the whole block may not be wall to wall people, but I definitely see progress. And as I said, that image is from well over a year ago. Since the last time I was down that way, I don't remember much but construction mess. Again, of course, it would make more sense to be talking about what is actually there vs what google says is there.

[ljlong]

That is precisely my point. What is really there?

On the 1200-1300 block of Fitz:

1229 FITZWATER ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA
1231-35 FITZWATER ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

And elsewhere scattered in and around MLK

Parcel # Property Owner1
Owner2 Market Value Assmt.
Per Sq. Ft. Property Tax
021421100
Private Lien 922 S 05TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY O $2,200.00
$0.00
012169210 1410 S 06TH ST
ROW CONV/APT 3STY MASONRY REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $28,000.00
$0.00
023268110 606 S 11TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $17,000.00
$0.00
021587310 1003 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
021587410 1005 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
021587510 1007 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
053132910 521-25 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $36,000.00
$0.00
022326610 814 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $2,800.00
$0.00
022323510 815 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $5,600.00
$0.00
021592210
City Lien 914 S 12TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $4,700.00
$124.29
023285410 614 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023285510 616 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023285610 618 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023285710 620 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023285810 622 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023286010 624 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $5,000.00
$0.00
023286110 626 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $5,000.00
$0.00
023283910 715 S 13TH ST
ROW W-OFF/STR 3STY MASONR REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00
023284010 717 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $1,200.00
$0.00
023284110 719 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $1,200.00
$0.00
023284210 721 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $2,500.00
$0.00
023284310
City Lien 723 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $2,500.00
$0.00
023284510 725 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $2,500.00
$0.00
023284610 727-29 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $4,500.00
$0.00
023284710 731 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $2,400.00
$0.00
023284810 733 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $15,000.00
$0.00
023284910 735-37 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILA $5,000.00
$0.00
022330210 821 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
022330310 823 S 13TH ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,000.00
$0.00
023195710
City Lien 1309 BAINBRIDGE ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $3,200.00
$0.00
023195810
City Lien 1311-13 BAINBRIDGE ST
VAC LAND RES < ACRE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF PHILADELPHIA $10,000.00
$0

And this is JUST the RDA.

It doesn't include the PHA properties.

Bottomline: there is shiteload of vacant property in MLK Plaza worth tens of millions but that right now pays nothing toward schools.

Folks, this is not working. What do we do about it?

Let's get real, and talk about the real addresses that are vacant, blighted, bringing down values, and long overdue.

Pennrose, in fairness, does not seem to be the lowest common denominator here. Maybe Google is not up to date because of Naval Sqre., or maybe it IS up to date in spite of the photos of the Toll project.

The data from the deed record that shows this as vacant property owned by the RDA STILL is in agreement.

[ljlong]

Oh, yeah, and I didn't doctor this. I'm not selectively presenting info.

I just cut and pasted a list that comes up after a search of that zip code. There is a house intersperced between lots and lost of vacant lots held by the RDA.

That's what it looks like when you walk around, or bike around it, which is what I did. Then I said to myself, wtf is wrong with this project that should have been done long ago? Then I did some research.

Let's stop pretending the emperor has no clothes here just because they fit the PC bill and give money to pols.

There are AA contractors who can do the job now and who won't squander the money. We just have to have high enough expectations of ourselves to require it. Making excuse after excuse after excuse is not helping people move into housing.

Whatever our politics, not building housing is hurting people in need, not helping them. Who is the charity case here, those waiting on a list, or Universal?

[ljlong]

PHA is hunky dory with Universal not Pennrose; but homeowners like Pennrose and hate Universal. Nothing is going to get built right until the city can deal in reality. Pat Bullard is a bracing tonic to business as usual.

"No walk in the park: A community group craving a slice of green space is fighting to keep a local site from housing a new development." from www.southphillyreview.com

By Fred Durso Jr.
December 15, 2005

"Patricia Bullard, president of the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, would like to see a park - not more housing - on a piece of land where the Martin Luther King towers once stood. Her group is trying to prevent this site at 12th and Catharine streets from more development. [photo]

As the Martin Luther King towers came crumbling down in 1999, residents witnessed a glimmer of hope in the rubble.

The revitalization project that began after the demolition reinvigorated the area's housing market, while changing the once-gloomy mindset of Hawthorne residents, said Patricia Bullard, Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition president.

"Attitudes have changed," she said. "People seem to be prouder of living here than they were in the past. Removing the towers removed a stigma of living in public housing."

Part of this rejuvenation plan - officially titled the Martin Luther King Revitalization Hope VI Project - included a 37,000-square-foot park on the northwest corner of 12th and Catharine streets, Bullard said.

However, community members may never get the chance to look upon manicured grass or seek shade underneath the trees. Instead, Bullard and her group have gotten word the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) might build new homes on the site.

"The community is becoming too dense with housing," Bullard said. "We're going to be stacked on each other like sardines. We need some open space."

In 2003, Bullard's group, as well as residents and students from the University of the Arts, collaborated to design an acceptable layout for the park. They agreed on the construction of walkways, shrubbery and trees native to Pennsylvania and an elevated platform to be used for community events and concerts. Pennrose, one of the project's developers, conducted the meeting and a representative for PHA was in attendance.

For PHA to go back on its word and ignore the efforts of those involved is a slap in the face, Bullard said.

"Thousands of man hours have been put into this park," she said.

In conjunction with the Philadelphia Water Department, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society secured a $92,000 grant from the state's Department of Environmental Protection to build a storm runoff system at the park. The money, which PHA agreed to match in a letter to the society, is now in danger of vanishing, Bullard said.

A PHA spokesperson could not comment on the grant.

PHA ORIGINALLY ENTERED into an agreement with developers Pennrose and Universal Companies to build housing at the project site, 13th and Fitzwater streets, in 2000. The project called for 247 units to be built in four phases, PHA spokesperson Kirk Dorn said earlier this week. There are 109 homeownership units, while the remaining are rentals, he said. The park was part of this project.

Since construction was lagging, PHA terminated its arrangement with Pennrose after it completed two phases.

"The project fell seriously behind schedule, so we worked out terms to end our agreement with Pennrose," Dorn said. "PHA has been developing the latter phases on its own, with Universal" working as a community liaison.

PHA anticipates a project completion date of 2006.

The Hawthorne community conducted a meeting last month primarily to discuss the progress of the project. When an attendee brought up the park, a PHA representative said the $200,000 allocated for the park's construction was gone, Bullard said.

"With regard to money being set aside for that [park], Pennrose made representations to the community regarding a park, but those were not PHA's representations. Pennrose never had the funding and PHA never approved the representations," Dorn said.

Numerous calls to Pennrose were not returned by press time.

Acting on the heels of the area's real-estate boom, the authority plans to utilize the proposed park site.

"When we began this work five years ago, the land was virtually worthless," Dorn said. "You couldn't give away this land. With our rebuilding of the site and other construction, the land has become extremely valuable and so PHA is acting in a responsible way with public tax dollars. We're now in a position where we would like to sell this piece of land" at market value. PHA has the option to sell the property that would have housed the park or develop it on its own.

Dorn suggested interested community groups could purchase the property for their own use. But Bullard does not feel it is the community's responsibility to acquire the necessary funds.

"I don't see why we have to buy the land when the site was set aside for the park," she said.

Through talks with state and local officials, as well as PHA representatives, discussions have lead to other possible park sites, said Bullard, who is not supportive of the ideas. One notion is placing the park at 13th and Fitzwater streets on land that now houses an abandoned community center. Bullard is not comfortable with this, since other community members do not want to see that building demolished. Another plan is placing the park within the confines of the Hawthorne Recreation Center, 12th and Carpenter streets.

"There's no room there to even think about putting in a park," Bullard said.

While saddened by the situation, PHA will continue to do what is best, Dorn said.

"We feel very badly that Pennrose said what it did about the park. The people in that community are very reasonable and are only asking for what they feel would be best for their neighborhood," he said. "PHA has a waiting list with 40,000 families on it. We have a responsibility to do the most financially sensible thing on behalf of those families."

PHA does not plan to take legal action on the developer, Dorn said.

Continuing its fight, Bullard's group is looking into having the proposed park site transferred over to the authority of the city's Department of Recreation. This, she said, would prevent the land from future development.

Ignoring the busy holiday season, the coalition has organized a noon rally Dec. 17 at the site to take its protest to the streets, Bullard said.

"We're fine with new housing, but you get to the point where it's too much," she said. "We need a park here."

[WashWestDad]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...a/13427338.htm

Neighbors fume as PHA scraps plan for park

The agency had promised green space as part of a rebuilt S. Phila. public housing development. A rally is set for today.

By Jennifer Lin

Inquirer Staff Writer

Patricia Bullard longs for an oasis of grass and trees in her quickly gentrifying Hawthorne neighborhood in South Philadelphia.

Two years ago, it looked as if she would get her wish.

A developer rebuilding the city's Martin Luther King public housing project said it would build a park for the community, long troubled by violence and drugs.

But last month, at a community meeting with officials of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Bullard and her neighbors got a shock:

The park plan was dead.

Instead, the authority wants to sell the land to raise cash to finish the delayed, over-budget MLK project.

[ljlong]

PHA ID's Pennrose as the "developer" of MLK Plaza, but it was in fact a partnership of Pennrose and Universal known as Uni-Penn, LLC.

I'm surprised that was not mentioned in the article above.

However, Lin scratches the surface of Universal's track record on other projects in today's paper.

I'm unaware of Pennrose being involved in damage foundational complaints on adjacent properties that have made the paper:

"Dedo, a lawyer, lives near 16th and South Streets. Several adjacent parcels are being developed into apartments and retail space by Universal Community Homes, a nonprofit development company run by music producer Kenny Gamble.

Dedo came home from work on Sept. 28 to find his rear breezeway wall and a sidewalk missing, his foundation exposed, and a rear wall to his house propped up with poles.

"I'm thinking my house is falling into this pit next," Dedo said.

The city's L&I office told Universal that it had to underpin Dedo's house with concrete "stilts" before it could continue excavation work. But first, L&I said, the developer had to get Dedo's permission.

Dedo, however, had conditions: He wanted to be named as an insured party with Universal's insurance carrier. He also wanted Universal to pay his engineering and legal fees, replace his breezeway and sidewalk, and repair water damage in his basement.

In response, Universal has halted construction. Two weeks ago, it filled in the foundation.

Victoria Wilson, chief operating officer for Universal, said the project is "on hold."

In a statement, she said: "The construction delay was caused solely by adjacent property owner's refusal to grant permission to properly underpin his property, which is a prerequisite of the Department of Licenses and Inspections."

Dedo sees it another way. Just two years ago, he witnessed the collapse of a deli on South Street. And in September, he read about Harvey's problems.

"All I'm doing is asking for reasonable protection," Dedo said. "It's Philadelphia. We've seen this stuff happen. This isn't a theory."

from www.phillynews.com 12-19-05