City investments, development surge in 2014

This year marked one of significance for the city’s business sector.

Philadelphia is experiencing an acceleration of development activity and businesses choosing to operate in the city.

“We see a number of trends that were very positive in 2014, carrying forward into ... the years ahead,” said Rob Wonderling, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. “The first is continued residential and commercial development in the Center City district. In the coming year we’ll see additional proposals for all shapes and sizes of residential condominiums.”

According to Philadelphia officials, since January 2013 more than $8.5 million has been invested in more than 200 projects — which are underway or planned for the near future. A report by the Center City District, a business-tax funded enhanced services group, indicates more than $4.7 billion is being invested in new developments between Spring Garden and South streets through 2017.

One of the most significant developments is the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center. In January, Comcast and Liberty Property Trust announced plans for a new center at 1800 Arch St. The $1.2 billion project will provide office space for Comcast, house a 222-room Four Seasons Hotel and become the home of local broadcast stations NBC10/WCAU and Telemundo 62/WWSI.

The 1,121-foot, mixed-use tower is expected to be the tallest building in the United States and will become a dedicated home for Comcast’s workforce of engineers, software architects and technologists. The tower is considered the largest private development project in Pennsylvania’s history. The new center is expected to create about 4,000 jobs with the commonwealth and 2,800 permanent jobs in Philadelphia.

In October, officials broke ground on the first phase of the East Market development. The project, located on Market Street between 11th and 12th streets, will include 107,000 square-feet of retail space and a 332-unit apartment building. The project is expected to create almost 1,200 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs. The development has been billed as a project that will transform Market Street. It is owned by National Real Estate Advisors, JOSS Realty Partners LLC, Young Capital LLC and SSH Real Estate.

“ In years to come we will look back on the beginning of this East Market project as the day the transformation of Market Street truly began,” said Mayor Michael Nutter. “This historic section of Philadelphia, one of this nation’s earliest retail hubs, will be returned to its former prominence as one of America’s great urban streets.”

For some of the region’s higher educational institutions including Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), 2014 was significant in terms of launching capital investment projects.

In October, Penn officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Pennovation Center — a 52,000 square-foot facility on the university’s South Bank campus designed to promote innovation. The new center will anchor the research park under development at Penn’s South Bank and will serve as a business incubator and accelerator.

City’s hospitality sector

Transformation is also occurring at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. With the adoption of new work rules and the hiring of management company SMG, bookings are up at the center. According to officials, the changes have led to a 20 percent increase in convention-related hotel bookings in the past year. New shows booked in the past six months will fill more than 250,000 hotel room nights in the city and deliver more than $350 million in economic impact to the city and region.

“All the signals indicate that we will continue to have groups that before would not come to the center due to labor strikes or return because it’s a much better experience,” said Wonderling, who is a board member of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority (PCCA).

The PCCA board of directors recently received the highest honor bestowed by the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association (GPHA) — its 2014 LAGOS Heart of Philadelphia Award, given for the board’s work toward improving the customer experience at the convention center. GPHA, a trade association representing more than 90 hotels throughout Philadelphia’s five-county region, also gave Headliner Awards to the four unions working inside the center Laborers’ International Local 332, Stagehands Local 8, IBEW Local 98 and Iron Workers Local 405.

The city’s tourism industry will be bolstered when more hotels come online. Center City’s hotel room supply is expected to expand within the next two years with the addition of the $280.4 million W Hotel and Element Hotel at 15th and Chestnut streets, and the 47-story mixed-use SLS International at Broad and Spruce streets.

In February, the Peebles Corporation, the largest African-American owned real estate development in the country, announced plans to develop a new 199-room hotel in Philadelphia. The company and P&A Associates are transforming the former home of the Family Division of the Court of Common Pleas, at 1801 Vine St., in a $90-million Kimpton Hotel.

R. Donahue Peebles, chairman and CEO of the Peebles Corporation, said the foundation is committed to ensuring the development sets a new standard for the inclusion of minority business opportunities in Philadelphia. McKissack and McKissack, the nation’s largest minority-owned construction company has been selected to lead that effort.

“The foundation of our company has been premised on equal economic opportunity,” Peebles said during a press conference held to announce the project. “I’m a big believer that if we are going to have change ... we need to do it through economic empowerment. We picked McKissack and McKissack because I know I can count on that company to make sure that the extra effort is done to involve small minority contractors and also minority workers on the job. We’re going to make sure that this is a transformational opportunity.”

Health care innovation

Wonderling said the city is experiencing growth in the area of health care innovation. He noted during the last 18 months, more than 50 Philadelphia-based startups have launched technology and mobile-based applications to improve health care delivery and the patient experience, and to help reduce costs.

“These are technology companies that are starting up in the city of Philadelphia to assist our city and region’s hospitals, insurance companies and medical professionals as well as patients, in sorting through complex issues related to the new health care law,” Wonderling said. “We’ve always had strong eds and meds [education and medical institutions] in the greater Philadelphia community; and due to the downward pressure that is occurring as a result of the federal health care law, its created an opportunity for health care innovation.”

Source: The Philadelphia Tribune