Fergie Tower to break ground Tuesday

One of the interesting aspects of the real estate market currently underway is that projects and sites that otherwise wouldn’t get developed are finally getting developed.

Is it a case of a rising tide lifting all boats? In some situations yes, and in others, absolutely not. Let’s put the so-called Fergie Tower, a name the developer wishes would go by the wayside, in the latter camp.

The Goldenberg Group of Blue Bell, Pa., Hines, a real estate development company from Houston, and ASB Real Estate Investment, a division of ASB Capital Management of Washington D.C., are scheduled Tuesday morning to formally break ground on what is now being called 1213 Walnut.

The development involves a 26-story apartment building that will have 322 units. Design Collective of Baltimore is the architect and RD Jones & Associates designed the common areas and amenities. Hunter Roberts is the general contractor.

Though the development juts out in an otherwise low-rise environment along Walnut Street, it’s a parcel that is finally seeing its day.

Goldenberg bought the surface lot last December for $8.2 million with intentions of moving forward with portions of an earlier version of a project that was proposed in 2007 by U3 Ventures. The biggest difference from the earlier plan and this one is the Goldenberg team doesn’t have a hotel component.

The previous plan was met with resistance from the owner of Fergie’s Pub and a lawsuit ensued. Its proximity to the well-known bar led to the project being loosely called Fergie Tower. Eventually, a settlement was made, a zoning overlay was placed upon the block and the project was altered to have apartments and retail.

The timing for Fergie Tower was all wrong. Delays brought on by the opposition and the recession doomed the project. The property sat undeveloped, until now, of course.

It’s not news Philadelphia is a much different place than it was five, six, seven and eight years ago when the initial plan for the parcel was presented. But because the city has changed, in many ways for the better but not all, it has helped projects that were once maligned come to reality.

The city and its residents have gotten to witness firsthand how residential towers and other developments fit into a streetscape.

The design review process, while not perfect and sometimes a big pain for developers and residents, has helped give a voice to shaping these edifices. Time can often be the distance needed between an idea and it being embraced.

The experience has left residents with much more to draw from when a developer does propose a project and helps smooth out some knee-jerk reactions—some of which are warranted.

Will this mean one of Goldenberg’s other undeveloped Center City properties, the so-called Disney Quest site at 8th and Market streets where a surface parking lot now operates will finally see its day? I hope so. Sooner rather than later.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal