The last time PlanPhilly heard about a project proposed
at 2100 Hamilton Street in the Logan Square neighborhood by Cross Properties
and Barton Partners, the Philadelphia Art Commission, following the applicants'
presentation, quickly identified potential project killing problems associated
with cost and quality of construction and proximity to the Rodin Museum and the
Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
As initially described in November by Barton principal
Thomas C. Barton III, the $24-million endeavor would include 120 apartments
targeted at millenials and empy nesters, starting at around $2,000 a month, and
would feature a restaurant. It would also sit 60 feet from the revered Rodin
Museum, on top of a derilict rail line that could have a future as an
inner-city trail.
On Wednesday, following two meetings between the developers
and a sub-committee of the Art Commission to discuss feedback and suggestions
related to aesthetics, construction costs, preservation, the appropriateness of
the architecture, the way the development would frame the Rodin Museum, and the
interaction the developer has had with the Logan Square Neighborhood
Association and the Philadelphia Art Museum, the team was back in front of the
commission with a much revised plan.
The project's footprint was shrunk in order to set it
farther back from the Rodin Museum and the height was increased to 11 stories.
The gash where the SEPTA tunnel right-of-way now exists, is a covered
"seamless" transition from Rodin to the new complex.
And the commissioners, after pointing out some issues
with the identity the building projects that are related to the facade,
unanimously granted them conceptual approval given changes that were made to
the structure's volume and massing, orientation on the property and
relationship to the Rodin Museum and parking, which will be completely under
ground.
Before final approval will be considered, the
commissioners made it clear there would be much detail work to be tackled
(another meeting with the sub-committee was suggested). The commissioners also
want to see material samples of the project at their next meeting, Feb. 4. The
commissioners also urged the developers to reach out again to near neighbors,
including the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Logan Square Neighborhood
Association.
500 Walnut Street:
The Art Commission also granted final approval to a
project by Architect Cecil Baker and developer Tom Scannapieco that will create
a 26-story residential tower at 5th and Walnut streets. Wednesday, the
applicants presented corrected project renderings, more detailed streetscape
plans and examples of exterior contruction materials.
The “ultra-high-end” glass tower will include 40
residential units, with two units each of about 4,000 square feet on floors
five through 13, and one 8,000-9,000 square foot unit on floors 14 through 26.
The developers are “going after a very small, very rich segment of the
population,” said Cecil Baker. There will also be a yet-to-be determined
ground-floor retail component at the corner of 5th and Walnut. The building
will not include a restaurant but will have a fully automated parking garage.
Tom Scannapieco bought the empty lot at 500 Walnut Street
in May for $8.5 million. It sits adjacent to the Liberty Bell and the
Mitchell/Giugola designed Penn Mutual Building.
The project has already received zoning approval. Ground
breaking is scheduled for Spring 2015 and project completion is expected by
2017.
Lovett Library –
Phase I:
Lovett Library is one of four branch libraries in the
Free Library system that has been designated for renovation and expansion
through a William Penn Foundation grant. One Wednesday, landscape architect
Julie Bush of LRSLA Studio asked for Art Commission final approval to tackle
phase 1 this coming spring, basically only laying some bluestone on now barren
earth that would serve as the plaza on Germantown Ave.
The developers would hold off on later phases until the
Free Library figures exactly what the renovations and expansion of the Lovett
Library entails.
The commissioners voted unanimously for approval
following the applicants' presentation of detailed drawings of what would be
involved in phase 1, as well as a commitment for the inclusion of origial art
that would be displayed in the park.
Source: PlanPhilly.com
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