Media : Development News

What would Jeweler’s Row look like with a brand-new 16-story mixed-use residential tower plopped onto the 700 block of Sansom Street? Philly citizens are grappling with the prospect ever since The Inquirer broke the news about the proposed Toll Brothers development. The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia acted quickly.

To unify the voices who believe that demolishing five properties from 702-710 Sansom Street would be a loss to Philly’s historic urban fabric, the Preservation Alliance launched a Save Jewelers Row! petition, addressed to City of Philadelphia Director of Planning and Development Anne Fadullon.

Less than a week after its launch on August 11, the petition had garnered almost 3,500 signatures and many comments from concerned locals.

"It was a tool available to give the many people out there who find this proposal shocking and upsetting a voice -- to say to City officials and the developer that we, Philadelphians, don’t want this to happen on Jewelers Row," explains Paul Steinke, executive director at the Preservation Alliance.

He says that the targeted buildings on the brick-paved street are typical of the original Jewelers Row built environment: "small-scale buildings of different sizes, shapes and styles," many dating from the mid-19th century.

"Jewelers Row is the oldest diamond district or jewelry district in the U.S., and the second-largest after New York," adds Steinke, calling it "one of the most iconic retail districts in the city."

The petition’s immediate goal is saving the buildings in question, and maybe with a strong enough response from preservationists and area residents, the developer could be persuaded to build on vacant land or a parking lot.

"Gouging out these six buildings will forever alter Jewelers Row and ruin one of our city’s most iconic destinations," the petition reads.

But Steinke also hopes the petition will help bring attention to larger issues, including the neighborhood’s CMX-5 zoning code, which enabled the project in the first place. That zoning -- which is the same zoning as for buildings like the Comcast Center or Liberty Place -- is "too dense for a street like Jewelers Row," he insists.

Another issue is that Jewelers Row is not a designated local historic district. It’s recognized as "contributing to a national historic district," but is not itself protected. The trouble lies with Philly’s Historical Commission, which, according to Steinke, has not designated any new historic districts since 2010.

"I think the interest in [the petition] is really prodigious," he adds. "It sends a strong signal that Philadelphians care about their city’s historic fabric and are concerned about its potential loss at the hands of developers."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Paul Steinke, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia

The new South Philadelphia Library is open on Broad Street, but it's only the first of five major renovations planned at libraries across the city. And while work is officially underway on the Tacony Library at Torresdale Avenue and Knorr Street -- it's scheduled to last 18 months -- Tacony isn’t missing a beat in the meantime.
 
"These renovations don’t mean this community should go without a library," explained Sixth District Councilman Bobby Henon at the opening of the Tacony Library and Arts Building (LAB) on June 29. While construction on the new building continues (as part of the Free Library’s Pew-funded Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries Initiative), a partnership between the Mural Arts Program (MAP), the Free Library and the Tacony Community Development Corporation has led to this temporary space.
 
Now open at 6918 Torresdale Avenue, LAB occupies a street-level storefront that has been vacant for almost three years. Speakers at the opening included Free Library President and Director Siobhan Reardon and Tacony CDC Director Alex Balloon. They connected the temporary space to the mission of the future library: offering support and resources for small business owners, and spurring the evolution and revitalization of Tacony's commercial corridor.
 
LAB, a "hub for learning, creativity and community engagement," according to the Free Library, will host two MAP artists-in-residence: Nick Cassway (who hopes to develop a solar-powered parklet) and Mariel Capanna (a fresco artist whose residency will focus on the neighborhood’s industrial history). LAB will also play host to public art events, storytime for kids, a computer lab and free WIFI, and a selection of books to borrow.
 
"How we bring art and literature together will be a great experiment at Tacony LAB," said Reardon.

MAP Founder and Executive Director Jane Golden described the space as active and participatory, and hopes that more like it will result from similar partnerships in the future.
 
"It’s an awesome place and something that’s going to be modeled throughout the city of Philadelphia," added Henon.
 
Tacony LAB will open from noon to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; and Fridays from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
 
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Sources: Councilman Bobby Henon and other LAB speakers 

In February 2016, West Philly's Soapbox Community Print Shop and Zine Library will triple its space. The organization launched the STEP UP FOR THE SOAPBOX crowdfunding campaign on November 16, hoping to raise $15,000 toward the customization of its new home in Kingsessing. (Flying Kite will be landing in the neighborhood in 2016 as part of our On the Ground program.)

The Soapbox got its start in 2010 thanks to founders Charlene Kwon and Mary Tasillo, and held its first event in early 2011. With strong backgrounds in bookmaking and letter-press printmaking, the two wanted to launch an organization that would keep those crafts alive and accessible in the community, beyond a university setting. They purchased a rowhome on 51st Street just south of Baltimore Avenue for their venture. Residential tenants live on the second floor and the Soapbox occupies the first floor and basement.

In addition to accessing the organization’s extensive zine library and archives, Soapbox member artists can practice skills such as silkscreen, bookbinding and papermaking.

To extend those services, Kwon and Tasillo are moving to a Furness and Evans church currently undergoing extensive renovations at 4700 Kingsessing Avenue, just two blocks west of Clark Park.

Surprised the space was scheduled for a makeover, Tasillo first toured it last June.

"I had been walking past that church for years, watching trees grow out of it," she recalls.

They signed the lease in late October. Other tenants will include a community preschool and a daycare upstairs, with the Soapbox occupying 4,500 square feet on the lower level.

The rehab will feature new bathrooms, plumbing and electric work, but Soapbox will be getting "a fairly raw space" with plenty of special touches still needed -- including new drywall and doors to create four individual artist and writer studio spaces, and an enclosed sound-protected room for noisy machines such as the paper-pulp beater and the pressure-washer used for screenprinting.

The finished headquarters will offer tools for a range of historic and contemporary printing techniques, from papermaking to offset lithography. It will also house Philly’s biggest independent zine library, with over 2,000 handmade zines and chapbooks. These will be available for the public to enjoy during open studio hours.

"There are a lot of young people interested in this," enthuses Tasillo. "I think that there’s a real need and urge to connect with something that’s handmade and not digital, and that engages the senses in a more compelling way." Digital and handmade arts are both important, she adds, but "the handmade can reach places that the digital cannot."

On December 5, a Soapbox event will kick off the Step Up for The Soapbox fundraising campaign. A short zine reading will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m., followed by a dance party at 8:00. Tickets available here; $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Mary Tasillo, the Soapbox 

Temple University alum Ariell Johnson first started to imagine opening her dream business when the independent coffee shop across from her favorite comic book store closed down. That was over a decade ago, before she graduated in 2005 with a degree in accounting.

As a self-described "geeky" woman of color who loves comics, Johnson says she’s a rare breed. She got serious about opening Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, her coffee shop/comic book store/community arts hub, in the last few years. She looked in a few different neighborhoods for the perfect spot, including Lancaster Avenue in West Philly and South Philly’s Point Breeze, before finding her 3,000-foot space at the corner of Frankford Avenue and Huntingdon Street.

Frankford's burgeoning arts corridor and mixed neighborhood demographic -- families, single young professionals, recent college grads, artists -- convinced Johnson it was the right place for Amalgam. And among a lot of "fun quirky little shops," tattoo parlors and galleries on the avenue, there still aren't any comic book stores.

"For what I’m doing, I thought it would be a great fit here," she explains.

Amalgam’s future home is a mixed-use building with apartments attached to a commercial space. Johnson says the latter has been standing empty for over ten years. Its history is unclear, but some of the leftover equipment they’ve found, along with an old painting abandoned there, hint that it had another life as an Italian restaurant. 

"We’re in the process of getting renovations done," notes Johnson. "The space is not nearly finished."

To that end, she’s running a crowdfunding campaign through March 3 with a basic goal of raising $5,000 and a dream goal of $30,000, which will help cover renovation of the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems, as well as installing Amalgam’s coffee bar and kitchen. (If Amalgam can meet that crucial $5,000 goal, it’ll be guaranteed to receive those funds, plus any money raised beyond that.) 

Ultimately, Johnson, a Maryland native who now lives just one street away from her shop, will draw on a range of professional experience to make Amalgam a reality: her business and accounting know-how, a history in retail, and even experience as a barista and self-taught chef. The space will be a haven for comic-book lovers and the wider community, with places for browsing, sipping and snacking as well as conversation, book signings, film screenings and other events.

Johnson will carry industry staples like X-Men and The Flash, but is particularly dedicated to showcasing comics featuring women and people of color after years of being an ardent fan, but rarely seeing anyone who looked like her in the pages she loved.

"Not seeing yourself reflected in different forms of media is damaging," she explains, especially for children. "I want to actively fight against that."

Because of the variables of construction, Johnson says it’s too soon to know an exact date for Amalgam’s grand opening, but she hopes to have it up and running as soon as late spring.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Ariell Johnson, Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse
 

Last year, when Flying Kite checked in with Philly’s Mighty Writers, a largely volunteer-powered group helmed by director Tim Whitaker, it had just nabbed a $75,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, which it planned to put toward opening a brand-new location in the heart of the Italian Market. That space will house a bilingual program called El Futuro.

Mighty Writers, now in its fifth year of serving youth ages 7 to 17, opened its original space at 15th and Christian Streets, and then a second one at 39th and Lancaster Avenue. Its programming includes mentoring, homework help, after-school sessions, writing classes and SAT prep.

According to Whitaker, former editor of Philadelphia Weekly, Mighty Writers launched a bilingual roster specifically geared toward Philly’s Mexican-American community about two years ago. Attendance at the 15th and Christian location has been enthusiastic and now Mighty Writers is on the cusp of opening a new space in the Italian Market, to better serve participants right in their own neighborhood.

Mighty Writers is hoping to close this week on a building two blocks north of Washington Avenue on 9th Street. The one-story space boasts about 2,500 square feet, with plenty of room for a variety of programming and new offices. After a few renovations, the group hopes to welcome youngsters there as soon as late February.

"There will be workshops for all, though focusing mostly on the Mexican community," says Whitaker. Workshop leaders will teach in both Spanish and English. Currently, Mighty Writers has five full-time employees, two part-timers and dozens of volunteers.

There will also be a daily after-school academy from 3 - 6 p.m., evening writing workshops and additional programming on the weekends.

Whitaker is particularly excited about the new location, flanked by fruit stands, a fish market and racially diverse businesses.   

"It’s really right in the middle of everything, which adds a lot for the kids to write about, a lot for them to see," he says. "It just feels like it’s the right place."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Tim Whitaker, Mighty Writers

Temple film school grad Dan Creskoff might be best known for his eighteen-year stint as a manager of two TLA Video locations.

"People would come to TLA and hang out for an hour," he recalls, "and just talk about movies."

Creskoff came to cherish the relationships he formed there.

It wasn’t long after the closing of TLA's brick-and-mortar stores that the cinefile began running into some of his old customers around town. The resulting conversations made Creskoff realize that there was a need for that sort of shared space. With that in mind, he began working on his new business, CineMug.

CineMug, a cafe that will also contain a DVD rental shop and function as quasi-clubhouse for film lovers, is due to open at 1607 S. Broad Street sometime later this fall. The roughly 800-square-foot cafe -- formerly a wireless phone shop turned doctor’s office -- will operate seven days a week. CineMug will also host weekly movie screenings.

Buildout is nearly complete. Creskoff describes the space as "having that living room vibe of hanging out with people you like and talking about things that interest you." Custom reclaimed wood countertops will give the cafe a casual and inviting feel, he adds.

In addition to a carefully curated collection of DVDs that will also be available for online and mobile perusing -- think must-see classics, cult films, documentaries, and plenty of arthouse and indie features -- CineMug will be serving up Fishtown’s ReAnimator Coffee alongside its own housemade chai and iced tea.

Cafe staples like bagels, spreads, pastries and baked goods will also be available, and the full CineMug menu will feature signature dips and sandwiches from South Philly favorite Cosmi's Deli.

Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Dan Creskoff, CineMug 
 

If you were to make a list of the public infrastructure projects Philadelphians most wish for this holiday season, it might include the Reading Viaduct, completion of Schuylkill Banks (at least that one is on the way), token-less SEPTA travel and a buffered north-south bike lane running from deep South Philly up past Girard (OK, that one’s from my personal list). Oh, and don’t forget the extension of the Broad Street line to the Navy Yard, a project that would liberate a growing fleet of workers from their cars and ignite residential development in the waterfront city-within-a-city. 

Well, Senator Bob Casey certainly agrees with the last one. He recently sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration, urging them to discuss the project with SEPTA, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (PIDC) and local labor organizations.

A 2007 feasibility study completed by PIDC and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission estimated the cost of a subway extension at $370 million; the project would attract 8,000 more regular riders. That price tag might sound high, but the Navy Yard is already a hotbed of job growth and innovation — imagine if companies no longer had to contend with shuttles (or the long walk from the final stop, under I-95, to the Navy Yard).

Mostly, this is newsworthy because it’s good news — it’s a public official wanting to fund a large-scale transportation project. It’s a moment of musing about the future, and imagining a financial picture for the city that involves surplus funds for infrastructure additions (not just repairs).

Writer: Lee Stabert
Source: Philadelphia Daily News

After shuttering dozens of local schools this fall, the Philadelphia School District has placed many of those buildings up for sale. Following months of speculation (including some by Flying Kite), the search for buyers is on. Quite a few have serious residential development potential and some are in up-and-coming neighborhoods such as East Passyunk Crossing and University City.

The media has been abuzz with gossip on the potential sales: Passyunk Post reported on the buildings in its purview, including Bok, Vare and Smith. City records put Bok's market value at $17.8 million dollars.

Bok Technical, an imposing art deco monster, is 338,000 square feet over eight floors on a 2.2-acre site. The information provided notes its proximity to Passyunk Avenue and the Snyder Avenue subway stop (about half a mile each). "Surrounding the Avenue is a surging residential and development market." True.

The New York Times also covered the school properties, confirming our information that Drexel is eyeing University City High School. Turns out they are not the only local college getting into the vacant school game"

But Drexel University has said it wants to buy University City High School for an undisclosed price, and restore it as a public school. Temple University has expressed an interest in the former William Penn High School, close to its Temple campus on the north side of central Philadelphia. Buyers interested in the eight properties undergoing an expedited sale have until Dec. 17 to respond to a request for qualification, the district said. For the other properties, buyers must submit an expression of interest by that date.

As disruptive as the school closings were for neighborhoods, it is a good sign that the city is moving forward with putting the buildings up for sale. In the end, a vacant behemoth is far worse for communities than a large redevelopment project.

Writer: Lee Stabert
Source: Passyunk Post; The New York Times 

James and Bob Smiley, the father-son duo that runs the online-only Frankford Gazette, are constantly looking for ways to bring attention to their upstart news outlet. Their latest mission brings the phrase "bridging the digital divide" to life -- with help from the Frankford CDC, Gazette pages will soon be publicly projected for the whole neighborhood to see.
 
James and Bob are constantly looking for ways to bring Gazette news to residents who don't have access to the internet. To this end, they now publish 1,000 print copies a month through a partnership with Kidz Partners. 

The new window projection project builds off these efforts. The display -- which will be projected onto the first floor of the NorthEast Treatment Center building on the 4600 block of Frankford Avenue -- will be up-and-running in the next few weeks.
 
"No one else is doing anything like it," says James. "This is a new way people can consume news and another avenue to get people engaged."

The idea originated at the 2012 Online News Association Conference that James attended in San Franciscio. Sponsored by sponsored by the Center for Public Interest Journalism, James says he engaged in numerous conversations and debates about how other online outlets increase access to their content. From these conversations, James got the idea to broadcast the Gazette on the side of a building.

James and Bob ran the idea by the CDC's Michelle Feldman and the three of them got to work figuring out the best place to display the news.
 
The NorthEast Treatment Center was an obvious candidate due to its location on the heart of Frankford Avenue. They've been an incredibly valuable partner -- the Center's IT staff is installing the necessary equipment.

"They’ve been very much on board from the beginning," says Feldman.
 
Once all the kinks are ironed out and content is selected, the projection will run during daytime hours. 
 
"People can just walk by and consume the content as they see fit," says Bob, who adds that other locations along the Avenue are currently being scouted for future installations. 
 
The pair's excitement about their new venture is palpable -- both men note that it is definitely one of the "cooler" things the Gazette has accomplished in its five-year run.
 
But, as Bob adds, it's about more than being cutting-edge: "As cool as this is, ultimately we want to reach people who can’t otherwise be reached," he says. "Knowledge is power." 

Source:  James and Bob Smiley, Frankford Gazzette; Michelle Feldman, Frankford CDC
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

It's not your typical tourist destination, but a stretch of lower Germantown Avenue is now in the process of becoming world famous. This week, Mural Arts Program kicked off Philly Painting, led by Dutch artists Jeroen Haas and Dre Urhahn, AKA Haas & Hahn.

"The first part will go on from where we are standing now as far as you can see," said Urhahn, pointing north from the corner of Germantown Avenue and West Huntingdon Street. The One+Seven Variety Store, owned by Mrs. Tokhui Kelly, is the starting point for the massive 100,000 square foot project. The corner store at 2601 Germantown Avenue has been transformed with blocks of color Kelly chose from a palate of 50 options offered by the artists. "I chose bright colors," says Kelly. "Everybody pays attention. It helps this neighborhood look good."

Urhahn says he and Haas settled on the fifty color set by doing a photographic analysis of the city of Philadelphia, choosing hues most commonly seen on the streets. Each building owner has the option of selecting color combinations. "Some are not interested, and some think it's important. They might come back twenty times, while other shop owners tell us just to make something nice."

Located just steps away from the Village of Arts and Humanities, the Germantown corridor project has hired a paint crew of 21 local young people, but this summer, Elizabeth Grimaldi, director of the Village, says she'll be running a free summer camp to attract some of the 1800 kids in walking distance of the project.

Mayor Michael Nutter stopped by for Wednesday's kickoff, and highlighted $3.5 million in improvements to the Germantown Avenue corridor, funded mostly by the Department of Commerce and assisted by the Planning Commission. The project was among those funded by the Knight Arts Challenge.

"In reality," adds Urhahn, pointing to cracks in one store's facade, "these buildings need a lot of attention. But this project is the first step to more businesses coming in, and more money moving around."

Source: Dre Urhahn, Elizabeth Grimaldi, Mrs. Tokhui Kelly, Mayor Michael Nutter
Writer: Sue Spolan

It is fitting that the upcoming expansion of NextFab Studio, the two year-old "gym for innovators" that features digital fabrication tools and the opportunity for most anyone to create most anything, will bring it to a new flagship location at a former custom ironwork shop run by old-world craftsmen.

NextFab announced last week it will be growing in a big way from its original space in the University City Science Center at 3711 Market Street, where it has doubled membership in the last six months and tripled revenue between 2010 and 2011.

And inside its new facility, expected to open by early July, NextFab2 will look to create the latest edition of the creative economy, just like when slabs of iron were being shaped decades ago at the new site at 2025 Washington Ave.

"As our members increase in number and skill and the reputation of our design, engineering and custom fabrication services has grown, an increasing number of members and clients want to take on projects that fall outside of that size range, or which need more privacy or more intense around-the-clock effort," says NextFab president and founder Evan Malone.

Indeed, the new facility in Southwest Center City/Graduate Hospital should provide ample space: 21,000 square feet of equipment, expert staff, classes, workshops and accessible design, engineering and custom fabrication services.

Media-based architecture and design firm inHabit has reconfigured the building, which will provide private studios with 24/7 access, 14-foot ceilings, CNC water-jet cutter, CNC machining center, CNC router, more advanced 3D printers and a chemistry and micro-fabrication lab.

According to Malone, NextFab2 will have the layout and space for the big tools necessary for massive projects. There will be drive-in loading/unloading, a forklift and crane, a vehicle lift and facilities for car and motorcycle customization and electric-fuel conversion. There are also plenty of lighter touches, like a street-level cafe, space for exhibition and sales of products and art, and dedicated classroom spaces.

NextFab has come a long way in a short time. Revenue in 2011 was almost $500,000 with a membership that numbers 150. Full-time teaching and consulting staff has more than doubled to 17 professional artists, engineers and designers. Classes, of which there are 30 and range from Digital Embroidery to using a CNC Plasma Cutter, often fill up a month in advance.

"Our members are now successfully selling book scanners, laser-cut home decor and fashion products, custom speakers and more that they make at NextFab," says Malone.

Part of NextFab's aim is to reduce the learning curve associated with digital fabrication and foster an environment of innovation that transcends culture and education backgrounds.

"In traditional mass production you build an expensive factory to cheaply make millions of identical products," says Malone. "Digital Fabrication is an economic game changer because each thing you make can be unique for the cost of changing the picture on the computer screen."

Memberships will be available at the current rate until May 1, when rates will go up to help fund the expansion.

Source: Evan Malone, NextFab Studio
Writer: Joe Petrucci

If you've ever spent time wandering through the stacks at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Central branch, you'll certainly be forgiven for wondering why on earth the library is currently in the midst of a $175 million expansion and renovation project. The Central branch, after all, is a stunning structure to the naked eye.

But talk to Siobhan Reardon, the library's president and director, and you'll learn that expansion plans for the 280,000 square-foot building go all the way back to the 1960s. That expansion never happened, of course. And when the library considered expansion again in the 1990s, those plans fell through as well. The building is now 80 years old, and as Reardon says, "It's suffering the effects of never having been upgraded or restored in any way, shape or form."

That's all about to change, however. Scaffolding recently went up at the Central branch, and over the next few years, the building will be undergoing tremendous change. The main goal of the renovation, Reardon says, is to make a greater portion of the library more accessible to the general public. Currently, a full two-thirds of the building is accessible only by staff members. 

During the renovation, which is tentatively scheduled for completion in 2015, stacks will be relocated and administrative offices will be moved. The building's top level will be transformed into what Reardon is calling an information commons - a creative space where technology training will take place. Meanwhile, an 80,000 square-foot addition to the Central branch will house a new auditorium, a new children's library, and a teen center.

"The goal now is to rearrange the collections in a way that makes more sense to the public," Reardon adds. "We need to deal with the fact that in this building, we have not been serving our public very well at all."

Source: Siobhan A. Reardon, Free Library of Philadelphia
Writer: Dan Eldridge

Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or being renovated, a park in the works or even a cool new house being built in the neighborhood? Please send your Development News tips here.