University City : Development News

With its shimmering glass facade, distinctive shape and LED display, University City's Cira Centre has cemented itself as a larger-than-life landmark in the Philly skyline. So when the Cira Centre opened its lobby space to restaurant development with Rae, the swirling, seasonal tastes and 200-bottle wine cellar graced many headlines. But over the last four years, its popularity waned. It seemed the restaurant's style couldn't keep up with its tony, trendy home. Now it's time for one of Philadelphia's premier tastemakers to take his turn at Cira. This week, Philadelphia's Iron Chef Jose Garces brings his gastrointestinal stylings (and his corporate offices) to 30th Street with JG Domestic, a tribute to all-American ingredients.

"American cuisine has its roots all over the world, so from a culinary standpoint I'll be drawing inspiration from a host of cultures and cuisines," says Garces. "This restaurant will celebrate domestic produce, meat, poultry, seafood, wines, beers and spirits. Our primary focus is creating dishes that honor the ingredients themselves, however we choose to prepare them."

With such high-concept creations as Distrito and Village Whiskey, the flavors in the decor are equally as strong as the flavors on the plate. Garces called on Jun Aizaki of Cr�me Design Collective in Brooklyn, NY, who has worked on all previous Garces restaurants. As JG Domestic's space is large for a restaurant, the challenge was creating intimacy. Complete with pictures of farms where ingredients come from, a "living wall" of plants and real trees growing in the middle, Garces  offers a counterpoint to the sleek modernity of the Cira Centre, bringing freshness to both his cuisine and design.

"Jun's work is wonderfully textural and helps to make the restaurant feel as though it's organic to the space, even though none of my restaurants have gone into new buildings," Garces says. "In fact, many were restaurants before, and it's a testament to Jun's skill that you would never know that."

Source: Jose Garces, Garces Restaurant Group
Writer: John Steele

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey announced last Tuesday that Pennsylvania would receive $47 million in federal transit and infrastructure grants as part of the Federal Transit Administration's State of Good Repair program. As SEPTA updated its hybrid bus fleet two years ago, the lion's share of the funding went to Pittsburgh's Allegheny County Port Authority for a clean diesel fleet of their own. But SEPTA didn't come away empty handed, receiving $8.1 million for two infrastructure improvements a long time coming.

The first grant will revamp SEPTA's Parkside Bus Loop, helping reconnect this West Philly neighborhood. But the second, more universal improvement will aid in future upgrades. Using $6.4 million, SEPTA will install an asset management system to aid in record-keeping as many of Philadelphia's transit assets come up for repairs.

"A lot of our infrastructure dates back to the early 1900's and were taken over from other private companies," says SEPTA CFO Richard Burnfield. "What the FTA was trying to focus on is knowing what you have out there in the field before you can make an assessment as to what your overall needs are, coming up with a plan for when things should be replaced."

The system will help SEPTA keep better records so when funding is available, the authority can make a more organized, more compelling case for further federal dollars as the fleet is upgraded.

"Right now, we do a very good job of managing our assets so while the records are not as computerized as we'd like them to be, we have so much knowledge within our engineering staff that I feel we make excellent decisions," says Burnfield. "But I think this will help us going forward so we can do a second check on things as our staff reaches retirement."

Source: Richard Burnfield, SEPTA
Writer: John Steele

In science fiction novels and books about the future, a few technologies are boilerplate: flying cars, meals in pill form and the ability to teleport instantly from place to place. National commuter rail company Amtrak took another step toward teleportation on Tuesday with its announcement of a high-speed rail vision plan. In Tuesday's news conference from University City's 30th Street Station, with Governor Ed Rendell on hand, Amtrak officials laid out their goal to create a line with average speeds well over 130 mph, saving passengers between one and two hours on average.

"Amtrak is putting forward a bold vision of a realistic and attainable future that can revolutionize transportation, travel patterns and economic development in the Northeast for generations," says Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

The plan, entitled A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor, proposes a full build-out to be completed by 2040. Its construction, Amtrak says, would create more than 40,000 full-time jobs annually over a 25-year period, building new track, tunnels, bridges, stations, and other infrastructure. Predictably, the cost for such a project is high, $4.7 billion annually over 25 years. But Amtrak's feasibility studies peg the Northeast as a "mega-region" capable of drawing the type of rail traffic to make such an investment profitable. And with some premier legislative voices like New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg and Massachusetts' John Kerry already voicing their support, we may be teleporting out of 30th Street Station sooner than we think.

"Amtrak's High Speed Rail plan will create jobs, cut pollution and help us move towards a modern and reliable transportation system network in the Northeast," said Kerry in a recent statement. "As countries around the world continue to build out their transportation systems, we
cannot afford to fall further behind. This is an important down payment on the massive commitment necessary to bridge our infrastructure gap." 

Source: Joseph Boardman, Amtrak
Writer: John Steele

University of Pennsylvania's campus stretches across University City. But ever since the redevelopment of Locust Walk five years ago, the walk's endpoint at 40th and Walnut has been the undisputed hub of Quaker campus life. With gathering points like the Bridge movie theater and Marathon Grill, seminal college establishments like Smokey Joes, and massive grocery store the Fresh Grocer, the block has everything a college student could want. But with a new design competition hitting the streets this week, Penn students have the chance to give something back to everybody's favorite block.

In partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, University City District brings four design teams from the Design School and the School of Engineering to square off for the 40th Street Sustainability Smackdown. Each team has been assigned a business and must design a sustainability plan that will add renewable energy, reduce stormwater and air pollution, and work with alternative building materials. These efforts will culminate in an energy audit and creation of a comprehensive proposal for one of the participating buildings. The final review of plans and awards ceremony is set for Nov. 19.

"They are all very different," says UCD Project Manager Carolyn Hewson. "The Fresh Grocer is a larger structure that contains a garage, Marathon is  a restaurant, Metropolitan Bakery is a historic building so they all come with their own challenges."

Efforts to make local buildings more sustainable are part of the design and engineering programs at Penn and part of a concerted effort to continue development at the campus' hub. After partnering with Penn, Hewson sent e-mails to neighborhood businesses and even went door-to-door to create a buzz around the program. But if her instincts are correct, the competition will create a buzz all its own.

"Its a popular thing to do right now to have competitions to get greater interest and energy behind something," says Hewson. "And competitions within the design world yield great results and draw funding behind the winning team."

Source: Carolyn Hewson, UCD
Writer: John Steele
 

Of all the stations on all the car stereos in all the world, Philadelphia entrepreneur Hal Real's dial happened to stumble on 88.5 one afternoon and a live music institution was born. An avid concert-goer, Real became frustrated with Philadelphia's smoky stages. When he heard WXPN's World Cafe, hosted by David Dye, he knew he had found his live music muse.

Six years later, World Cafe Live is one of the most popular music venues in Philadelphia, driving a nightlife crowd to a sparse section of UPenn's campus. Earlier this summer, Real began a crusade to bring live music to another underutilized area as his company, Real Entertainment Group redevelops the historic Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del. Real created Light Up The Queen, a non-profit redevelopment group designed to restore this storied theater to its former glory.

"You can't have a monumental building like that sit there like a piece of urban blight," says Real. "It needs to come back to life."

Opened as a vaudeville theater in 1917, the Queen went dark in 1959. But as downtown Wilmington begins a $325 million Market Street redevelopment, buildings like the Queen have been targeted for demolition. Real believes the hype in Wilmington and hopes his venue can help draw visitors from nearby Philadelphia and South Jersey. The Light Up The Queen foundation has already hosted musical acts like Trombone Shorty at public locations around Wilmington to promote the new venue.

"Geographically, Wilmington is smack in the middle of New York City and Washington, DC. It is five minutes off of I-95 and a 10-minute walk to the Amtrak train station," says Real. "That's why Wilmington is going through this great renaissance. Lots more acts would be willing to play Wilmington if they had a venue."

Source: Hal Real, Real Entertainment Group
Writer: John Steele

As one of the top urban research facilities in the U.S., the University City Science Center has launched many groundbreaking innovations inside its labs. Its most recent innovation, however, had nothing to do with formulas or equations. The Science Center this week celebrated its Market Street Revitalization Project, which raised over $2 million from the City of Philadelphia's ReStore Corridors Project, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and 11 Market Street tenants from 34th to 41st streets. The revitalization added new trees, sidewalks, benches, bike lanes, lighting and crosswalks to the 7-block corridor.

"We look at ourselves as having a campus here, between 34th and 39th Street,"  says Science Center Senior VP of Real Estate Curtis Hess. "Part of the reason for the project was as a way to tie the whole campus together. As a major stakeholder in this corridor, it just made sense for us to take the lead on the project."

When the project was conceived in January of 2008, University City District approached the Science Center about streetscape improvements at 40th and Market. By the time the project got underway in November 2009, the two projects had been combined to encompass the whole corridor from 34th to 41st, connecting the Science Center complex with neighborhoods to the west. Officials hope the added lighting and footpaths will make the neighborhood safer and will beautify the Science Center campus for future tenants.

"If you look at the fact that we broke ground in November 2009, we had horrible rain in the fall, not one, not two but three blizzards in the winter, then it got to summer and the temperatures rose into the 90s and 100s and stayed up there," says Communications Director Jeanne Mell. "There were a lot of challenges to overcome and now that it is completed, we want to celebrate it and show it off."

Source: Curtis Hess, University City Science Center
Writer: John Steele

Since opening nearly five years ago, the Cira Centre has been lighting up the Schuylkill Expressway with its LED light curtain and shining obelisk design. But remaining a relevant part of Philadelphia's developing skyline is never easy. In fact, the Cira has become so popular in its first half-decade, it is already expanding.

Last week, Brandywine Realty Trust--the development firm that brought the Cira Centre construction to 30th Street Station--announced completion of the building's south garage and a renovation to the 30th Street Station post office. Coming in ahead of schedule and under budget netted BRT $256.5 million in loan financing from CTL Capital, LLC that had been escrowed pending completion. The financing will go towards reducing borrowings and paying operational costs.

"We are extremely pleased to complete the $342 million 30th Street Post Office and Cira South Garage projects on time and under budget and to close this previously announced financing," says BRT President and CEO Gerard Sweeney. "The completion of this project enhances the economic growth of the University City sub-market and restores an important piece of Philadelphia's architectural history."

The project will create a 1,662-car parking structure and 9,788 square feet of retail space. BRT will be seeking LEED silver certification, a mid-level environmental design distinction. The company expects to begin construction in 2011.

Source: Gerard Sweeney, Brandywine Realty Trust
Writer: John Steele

There is an old saying in Lebanon that one who doesn't drink coffee is in danger of losing his nationality. Lebanese residents of West Philadelphia with dual citizenship need not worry because a new caf� is bringing a taste of Lebanon to University City, a neighborhood known for fine international cuisine.

In a historic Philadelphia building that was once a printing company and, more famously, a bank, general manager Abd Ghazzawi has completed construction on Manakeesh Caf� Bakery, a modern spin on the traditional Lebanese breakfast. The caf� will offer coffee and Lebanese pastry made on site. With Saad's Halal Restaurant across the street, it will give the corner of 45th and Walnut a distinct Lebanese flavor.

"The concept is centered around the Manakeesh, which is a Lebanese flatbread sandwich," says Ghazzawi. "We have imported an oven from Lebanon to bake everything on-site, but we have a lot of Lebanese merged with American concepts. You can get the flatbread sandwich in all different flavors like an egg and cheese or a tuna melt or a pizza."

Also on the block is the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects mosque that, according to Ghazzawi, gives Manakeesh a strategic location to become a mainstay in this diverse neighborhood. With community support coming from the Enterprise Center CDC and various neighborhood associations, Ghazzawi hopes to use his location to draw in not only customers but local artists and employees to make Manakeesh a truly neighborhood experience. And of course, he'll keep the coffee and the Lebanese nationality flowing.

"We plan to support the mosque in all their efforts, from block parties to school fundraisers," says Ghazzawi. Having a fairly good-sized space definitely works to our advantage to hold community meetings here and partner with the community in many different ways."

Source: Abd Ghazzawi, Manakeesh Caf� Bakery
Writer: John Steele