Friday, June 28, 2013

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements (UPDATE) for Philadelphia Contractors that Expire at Midnight, June 30, 2013:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Iron Workers Local Union #401 and the Steel Erectors Association of Metropolitan Philadelphia and Vicinity

Tentative agreement has been reached in advance of expiration.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Millwright and Machinery Erectors, Local Union No. 1906, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and Philadelphia and Vicinity and the Millwright Contractors Association

Tentative agreement has been reached in advance of expiration.

Congratulations to both labor and management for settling your agreements well in advance of the contract expiration date.

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements (UPDATE) for Philadelphia Contractors that Expire at Midnight, June 30, 2013:

Daily updates on the progress of negotiations shall be made once daily and as settlements are reached until all settlements are achieved.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Iron Workers Local Union #401 and the Steel Erectors Association of Metropolitan Philadelphia and Vicinity
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Tentative agreement has been reached in advance of expiration.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Millwright and Machinery Erectors, Local Union No. 1906, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and Philadelphia and Vicinity and the Millwright Contractors Association
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Negotiations are ongoing at this time.

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements: Temple University, Hospital Employees: We’re Ready To Strike

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Just days before their contract is set to expire, the union representing around 800 Temple University and Hospital employees held a rally yesterday in Old City. They say they’re ready to strike if they have to.
Dressed in blue shirts reading, “We Are One” dozens of members of 1199C, clerical workers and other employees from Temple University and Hospital, rallied for a new deal, saying if there’s no deal by July 1st, then they’ll go on strike.
Rene Nelson is on the executive board. She says healthcare and raises are the sticking points.
“We’re going from a 12 percent increase (over four years.) They’re trying to take us down to 2 percent over a four year period.”
Nelson says talks with Temple have been “OK” but not where they want them to be.
“It’s always personal. Anytime you’re talking about not giving us a raise, it’s always personal. You’re talking about taking benefits from our members, not giving us a raise, taking away our livelihood. That is very personal.”
A Temple spokesman says they quote, continue to negotiate in good faith and look forward to reaching an agreement in the near future.”
Source: Philadelphia.cbslocal.com

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements: Temple nurses, technicians ratify pacts

Temple University Hospital nurses and allied-health professionals ratified new contracts Thursday that include cost-of-living and experience-based wage increases which boost pay to most employees by 9 percent to 10 percent over the three years of the agreement.
The contracts cover 1,100 registered nurses and 600 professional and technical employees at the North Philadelphia hospital.
Current benefit packages will continue unchanged.
The agreement was reached three months prior to the Sept. 30 expiration of the current deal, signed after a 28-day strike in 2010.
“This round of bargaining could not have been more different than what we saw four years ago,” said Jerry Silberman, chief negotiator for PASNAP.
Silberman said among the commitments made to nurses and professionals was paid time for education and training and increased nurse staffing levels.

Luxury-apartment tower to open Friday at 22d and Chestnut

A 34-story luxury apartment building, 2116 Chestnut, opens to its first tenants Friday, 16 months after ground was broken for the $100 million project.
The 321-unit building is at 22d and Chestnut Streets. Rents include $1,700 for a studio apartment and $1,950 for a one-bedroom.
Although 2116 Chestnut will not be finished for four to six more weeks, tenants will begin moving Friday into its first 14 floors.
"Almost 100 people have rented apartments through our preleasing efforts," said John A. Buck, chairman and CEO of the Chicago development and leasing firm John Buck Co., which bought the property in October 2011. More than 100 units have been leased.
The Indure Fund, a union-backed real estate investment fund managed by National Real Estate Advisors, partnered with Buck on the project. The state also provided financial assistance of about $10 million.
The building, Buck's first in Philadelphia, is on the former site of the Sidney Hillman Medical Center of the Male Apparel Industry Union, operated by the Philadelphia affiliate of Workers United. Buck is building a five-story replacement at Van Pelt and Sansom Streets as part of the agreement for acquiring the Chestnut Street property.
The addition of apartment units to the Philadelphia market comes as "all signals point toward an incipient recovery in the housing market and a correction in the rental market," said economist Kevin Gillen of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
Many people who have been renting "represent a lot of pent-up demand for new housing," Gillen said. "They may have been fine with renting during the recession, but now they're older, possibly married and with kids, and the recovering economy has improved their personal financial situation.
"Rents have peaked, house prices have bottomed, rental supply is also at a peak, and the housing-for-sale supply is nearly back to its historic average," he said.
Even this week's spike in 30-year fixed rates for mortgages, to the nearly 4.5 percent Freddie Mac reported Thursday, is unlikely to block a shift to buying over renting.
Sales contracts for houses nationwide in May reached a nearly seven-year high, according to the National Association of Realtors. In the eight-county Philadelphia region, they were up nearly 18 percent from May 2012.
Source: Philly.com

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Domani Developers converting former Fishtown baseball factory into 30 residences

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted Wednesday to grant a handful of variances to Domani Developers, which is planning to convert a former baseball factory at 1701 Tulip Street in Fishtown into a 30-unit apartment complex. (Yes, that’s an empty factory that used to make baseballs: the A.J. Reach sporting goods company.)

The building has been vacant since 2004, according to developer Ronald Kassis, and he was unable to find a viable industrial use for the property, which is zoned I-2. Kassis said that the city in general and Fishtown in particular have seen a growing demand for small, one- and two-bedroom apartments, which is what he intends to put in the building. According to the zoning application, the developer intends to build a fifth-story addition, roof deck space, and a canopy over the first floor.

The project, designed by architects at Cecil Baker Partners, won the support of the local RCO, Fishtown Neighbors Association, by a vote of 107 to 77. A quick calculation shows that that is not a unanimous vote, and the reason seems to be parking: the planned apartment complex contains none.
Kassis said he believes the project, which is a short walk from Berks Station on the Market-Frankford subway line, will attract residents who are willing to forgo cars in favor of public transportation. Kassis also said that he’d asked the owner of the nearby Memphis Flats whether any of its surface-parking spaces were available for lease, but got turned down.

Council President Darrell Clarke, who represents the neighborhood, did not take a position on the project because of the somewhat divided RCO vote. The Planning Commission lent its support, saying it was consistent with several goals of the comprehensive plan, including finding adaptive reuses for industrial property and building residential units within walking distance of transit stations.

Kassis said he hopes to open the building to residents in about a year, and plans to market the 1-bedroom apartments for between $750 and $1,000..

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements (UPDATE) for Philadelphia Contractors that Expire at Midnight, June 30, 2013:

Daily updates on the progress of negotiations shall be made once daily and as settlements are reached until all settlements are achieved.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Iron Workers Local Union #401 and the Steel Erectors Association of Metropolitan Philadelphia and Vicinity
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Negotiations are ongoing at this time.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Millwright and Machinery Erectors, Local Union No. 1906, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and Philadelphia and Vicinity and the Millwright Contractors Association
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Negotiations are ongoing at this time.

Commerce Square Redevelopment continues to push the city center area west towards Drexel and 30th Street, narrowing the great expanse that separates these two major centers and building on Comcast’s earlier success of redefining public space

Thomas Properties Group Inc. has completed a $25 million, multiphased capital improvement project at its Commerce Square office complex in Center City.
The work is dramatic.
The upgrades at Commerce Square was intended to make the property stand out in a competitive office market and seize on trends influencing how office buildings are used today and who uses them: a younger, more female work force. It also seeks to capture the changes that have taken place over time at the far west end of Market Street in Center City where more residential activity has been added in the mix.
The courtyard experienced the biggest change and is where the landlord dedicated the bulk of its money. About $12 million was spent on the courtyard and the remainder spent on systems and maintenance upgrades. Some of the work included waterproofing over a parking structure. The majority of the work involved place making, or creating an inviting public space for office tenants and those living nearby to gather and hang out.
A fountain, which is the centerpiece of the courtyard, was reconstructed and new furniture, colorful umbrellas and landscaping was added and a huge “media wall,” or large television screen, dons a portion of a wall. It has a range of content streaming from it. It’s cool.
Some of the content that Thomas Properties puts up includes such programs as high-profile sporting events, say the U.S. Open at Merion or the French Open to artwork from a cadre of artists and other non profits. You could even watch shows such as Mad Men on the weekend while having a meal and glass of wine at one of the restaurants. The landlord can also put up special messaging such as welcoming a prospective tenant.
“They get a kick out of it,” said Morgan Murray, director of leasing at Thomas Realty Partners.
The entrance to the building also got attention. Large pylons create a striking entrance to the building and its courtyard and an area where tenants can have signage. The landlord also constructed an area fronting Market Street for additional tenant signage.
Some parts of interior also got a re-do with the most significant change in the lobby. Once dark and cavernous, white marble was installed on the walls, a color feature that pops was added as well as new lighting. The guards even got new uniforms. A new fitness center has become popular and already has 800 members.
Commarts/Stantec of Boulder, Colo., designed the renovations.
“We’re very pleased with the way it turned out,” said Joe McManus, senior vice president at Thomas Realty.
One Commerce Square was constructed in 1987 and Two Commerce Square was built in 1991 at 21st and Market streets in Philadelphia's Central Business District. The two, matching 41-story buildings total about 2 million square feet. Take a look at this photo gallery of some before and after shots of the work at Commerce Square.

Developer buys prime piece of Main Line real estate

Developer Eli Kahn has snagged the former Waterloo Gardens property on Lancaster Avenue in Devon, Pa.
The property was sold by LeBoutillier family-related entities that are separate from the Waterloo Gardens business. The LeBoutilliers operated Waterloo Gardens at the site at 136 W. Lancaster Ave. beginning in 1942 and it became a venerable part of the Main Line. The nursery and garden center closed its doors last July, relocated it operations to its Exton, Pa., store and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Devon property, which totals six acres, was then put up for sale. It reportedly traded for around $7 million.
Kahn is still working on plans for what is a prime piece of real estate.
“How often does six acres on the Main Line on Route 30 across from a train station come up for sale?” Kahn said.
Kahn initially thought a multifamily project with some retail space would work for the site and be similar to a project Kahn is developing with Cornerstone Communities in Malvern, Pa., but those plans might change.
“It’s a phenomenal piece of real estate, and I didn’t anticipate the tremendous amount of interest from retailers,” he said. “I’m working on several different scenarios. Some with a multifamily component and some without.”
Kahn is hopeful he will have a concept to present to the township and neighborhood sometime this summer.

Closing of Star-Ledger possible

NEWARK - Owners of the Star-Ledger plan to close New Jersey's largest newspaper by year's end if production unions don't make concessions in contract negotiations, the publisher said Wednesday.
In a letter to staff, publisher Richard Vezza said the company felt "pushed into a corner" by the unions, whose contracts expire in July. Vezza said they have until Sept. 27 to make compromises or else the paper will shut down.
"This is not a threat. This is reality," Vezza said in an interview.
The paper's website, nj.com, is owned by a separate company and will continue to publish "no matter what happens with the Ledger," Vezza said.
The unions issued a joint statement saying their studies of the paper's ad revenues came up with different figures than the company's, and accusing the Ledger of trying to force the press workers, drivers and other production employees to accept a steep wage cut.
"Vezza's announcement that he will cease publication unless a settlement is reached with all the unions is another sad and pathetic attempt to pound all of our union brothers and sisters into a state of submission," said Ed Shown, president of the Council of Star-Ledger Unions and one of the Teamsters locals.
Vezza said the unions had shown little interest in "meaningful negotiations." Shown said the Ledger demanded a 55 percent cut in the entire wage package, which he said showed a lack of meaningful negotiation on the part of the company.
He said the unions were willing to "do whatever we have to so that the Star-Ledger may remain a thriving newspaper in these challenging economic times."
In his letter, Vezza said the paper lost $19.8 million last year, and is on track to do the same in 2013. The Star-Ledger lost $12 million in 2011.
In January, the paper laid off 34 employees from its newsroom, which is not unionized. In recent years, wages and benefits have been cut and staff members have been forced to take unpaid furlough days.
Vezza said the paper asked the unions to negotiate in December over the possibility of outsourcing production, a move he said could save $9 million a year. He said outsourcing without a union agreement would likely lead to a protracted court fight.
Shown said the unions do not believe the company was ever serious about outsourcing production but still wants the $9 million the company says it would save by doing so.
"This is a very serious and painful situation," Vezza said. "It is certainly something we wouldn't have done unless we felt that we really sort of had our backs to the wall on this."
This is not the first time the Star-Ledger has threatened to shut down. In 2008, the then-publisher said the paper would cease to print if union concessions weren't met. The two sides reached an agreement a few months later.
"I am optimistic that we're going to be able to strike a deal with the union," Vezza said.
Shown said the unions "look forward to settling their differences with the company so the Star-Ledger will remain a vital resource providing valuable news coverage to our state."
The Star-Ledger is part of Advance Publications Inc., a privately held company owned by the Newhouse family.
Unlike some of its sister papers, the Star-Ledger has no plans to reduce its print edition to three days a week, Vezza said. The company has said the market is too competitive to make that a cost-cutting option.
The Star-Ledger has 771 employees, 240 on the production staff and 170 in the newsroom.
Source: Philly.com

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements (UPDATE) for Health Care Workers and Temple reach Tentative Agreement

-- Two Nursing Homes also settle; Hahnemann, Jefferson to continue talks
PHILADELPHIA, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Representatives of District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE), AFSCME today reached a tentative contract agreement with representatives of Temple University Health Systems. A ratification vote is expected on Sunday.
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Donald Schwarz stopped by negotiations earlier today at the Sheraton Hotel and encouraged the bargaining teams from the union and Temple to reach a settlement.
Tentative Contract Agreements also were reached today with Golden Living Center -- Stenton and Golden Living Center -- Lansdale.  Members are to hear contract details and vote on ratification at Lansdale on Thursday and at Stenton on Friday. A tentative agreement between the union and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was reached Tuesday; a vote on that contract is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the hospital.
The union still is engaged in contract negotiations with nine other area employers including two major hospitals: Hahnemann University Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Contracts at all nine facilities are set to expire Sunday, July 1 and if agreements aren't reached by 11:30 p.m. June 30 (Saturday night), picketing is to begin at 6 a.m. Sunday.
Union members distributed flyers outside Thomas Jefferson University Hospital this afternoon to inform workers and passersby about management's efforts to create a hostile environment through anti-union mailings sent directly to members.  The letters to employees' homes, sent as contract negotiations are in progress, seek to undermine members' relationship with the union, according to 1199C President Henry Nicholas. 
Besides Jefferson and Hahnemann, contracts talks are currently underway between District 1199C  and the following employers: Sodexho at Hahnemann University Hospital, Crothall at Hahnemann University Hospital, Chestnut Hill Lodge Health and Rehabilitation Center, St. Monica Manor (Licensed Practical Nurses); and in New Jersey: Genesis HealthCare - Cooper River, Genesis HealthCare Burlington Woods, Genesis HealthCare - Kresson View.
SOURCE National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees
Source:  PR Newswire

Health Workers Reach Tentative Agreement With Temple U. Health System

PHILADELPHIA (CBS ) — Some 1,600 nurses and related healthcare workers for Temple University Health System have reached a tentative contract settlement, months ahead of the expiration of their current contract.
The members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals issued a joint statement with Temple Hospital announcing the tentative, multi-year contract.
Voting by the rank and file is scheduled throughout the day tomorrow at separate union meetings.
Jerry Silberman, a spokesman for PASNAP, says both sides agreed not to discuss terms of the deal pending its ratification.
“The fact that we were able to settle early is indicative of the fact that there is a better relationship, much better relationship, between the parties,” he said today.
The Temple nurses and healthcare workers staged a contentious, month-long strike in April 2010 which saw the hospital bring in replacement workers to fill several positions.
Silberman says he anticipates that details of the new pact will be released sometime late Thursday night or early Friday.
Source: CBS Philly

Charter-school teachers try to unionize in N. Phila.

BROTHERS DEREK and Kyjuan Bolling no longer complain about going to Aspira Olney Charter School, and their great-grandmother Jean Bolling gives much of the credit to their teachers.
Kyjuan attended Olney when it was a district school and the environment was "awful," Bolling said. Now, Derek, 14, and Kyjuan, 16, look forward to going to school, they complete their assignments and have improved attitudes, she said.
"The teachers care," said Bolling, 75, of Olney. "The teachers have really helped them."
What Bolling doesn't like, however, is the way Aspira Olney administrators have treated the school's 187 teachers, guidance counselors and aides as they have sought to establish a union.
Teachers announced in March that they wanted a voice in the school community. They want due process when filing a complaint, structures for communicating with school administration and professional development, teachers say.
Messages left by the Daily News for Aspira Olney principal Jose Lebron and Alfredo Calderon, the chief executive of the charter operator Aspira Inc. of Pennsylvania, were not returned.
"We really do want to work with the administration for our school," said Amelia DeGory, 25, a ninth-grade world-history teacher.
The American Federation of Teachers, which is helping the teachers' effort, filed an unfair-labor-practice charge in April against Aspira Olney, claiming it interfered with employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
"The [Aspira] board and Calderon . . . refused to recognize us and refused to take a neutral stance toward their staff," said teacher Katrina Clark, 34, a ninth-grade English teacher.
The school, according to the charging document, allegedly threatened "employees that a vote for union representation would be futile" and threatened to lay off workers "as a direct result of union organizing," among other charges.
Teachers and the AFT believe that Aspira Olney or Aspira Inc. is using taxpayer money to stop the organizing effort.
A group of three teachers met with an assistant principal, who pleaded with them not to form the union because it would cost "$300,000 to $400,000" in legal costs, said one teacher, who asked that her name not be used because she feared recrimination.
The high legal bill would lead to school cuts and staff cutbacks, the administrator told the teachers
Source: Philly.com

School staff union uses new strategies to raise support

For years, Unite Here Local 634 placidly represented lunch ladies at the Philadelphia School District, both the cooks and kitchen staff and the aides who kept peace in the cafeteria.
But these days, with 1,202 of their members laid off and the school district's budget hanging in the balance in Harrisburg, the ladies - and their male counterparts - are placid no more.
With a revolving crew of hunger strikers, stationed at a hard-to-miss location on South Broad Street, they are attracting attention.
"A year or two ago this would have never happened," said former cafeteria worker Nicole Hunt, 37, of North Philadelphia, a longtime member of the union and now staff organizer on her third day of fasting. "We wouldn't be sitting out here."
The story of Local 634 and its hunger strikers represents the convergence of a national trend in union activism and changes particular to this union, in this city, at this point of time.
The key point in time is Sunday.
That's when the school district, facing a $304 million shortfall, finishes laying off 3,859 employees - the largest shedding of jobs in decades. Entire categories of employees are going, from assistant principals to secretaries to counselors.
But the biggest group is 1,202 noontime aides - more than half of Local 634's members.
Sunday is also the state budget deadline in Harrisburg. Local 634 and district officials are hoping legislators will deliver $120 million for the district, while also blessing the city's efforts to raise $74 million through a new cigarette tax and aggressive tax collection.
In September, district negotiators and the remaining members of Local 634 will sit opposite each other across the bargaining table, adversaries perhaps, as they work on terms of a new contract.
But for now, they are allies, each with an interest in swaying public opinion to bring more money to the schools, and perhaps, to restore the jobs of the noontime aides.
"It is understandable to see the amount of passion with these individuals to call attention to what we also consider to be an untenable situation," said district spokesman Fernando Gallard.
"Our public schools must be fully funded and fully staffed to be able to provide adequate education," he said. "We understand the passion, but we ask that individuals do not put themselves in harm's way."
The union isn't just relying on fasting, the marquee arrow in their quiver of strategies. Each day brings a new rally.
On Tuesday, two busloads of local activists, among them the Local 634 hunger strikers, traveled to Harrisburg to lobby. On Wednesday, representatives of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, the city's largest federation of unions, stopped by to bring support.
On Thursday, politicians, including U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, were scheduled to fast, and on Friday, a larger rally of Local 634 is planned on Broad Street.
Patrice Mareschal, public policy professor at Rutgers University-Camden, describes what Local 634 is doing as part of a national trend she calls "social movement unionism."
"In part it's in response to declining union density and in response to a weakening of labor protections," Mareschal said.
Instead of framing the discussion as employer-employee dispute, she said, the unions "try to send out the message that this is really a community concern, in this case, the safety of children during their lunch periods at school."
How this national trend came to this particular union in this particular city is a different story.
For years, Local 634 was part of a national union representing hotel and restaurant workers. In 2004, the national merged with another national union.
In 2009, that merger dissolved. In most cities, union locals simply went back to their old leadership structures. That didn't happen in Philadelphia.
Going into the merger, the city's two hospitality worker locals, Local 634 in the schools, and Local 274, which represented hotel workers, did not have strong leadership. They had relied on leaders from the textile workers' union.
When the merger dissolved in 2009, a custody battle ensued, with national operatives coming here to sway local members. Eventually it was settled, with all of Local 634 and much of Local 274 staying in the hospitality union.
That had a direct effect on what is happening on South Broad Street now.
As a result of the divorce, the two locals had a void in leadership, a void filled by the international union by putting both locals under its control.
Longtime Unite Here union organizer Rosslyn Wuchinich moved from New York to run Local 274. She's now president. And Cheryl Brandon, another longtime Unite Here organizer from New York, is the trustee for Local 634.
Hunt, who had been an officer in Local 634, said: "We were a service union. We took care of everybody's problems," maintaining the contract and helping members with benefits.
"But now," she said, "we're a fighting union."
The New Yorkers served, along with others, as consultants, teaching local leaders about effective ways of reaching out to politicians, to the media, to other influencers. For example, in a city concerned about school safety, they unilaterally changed the name of the laid-off workforce from noontime aides to "Student Safety Staff."
They also provided expertise in staging events to unions that had not staged much in years.
One Unite Here specialty: hunger strikes.
In 2010, Unite Here shepherded a hunger strike at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, and in April, the union helped organize a fast at the Hilton Mission Valley hotel, also in California. A Unite Here staffer who worked on at least one of those campaigns is in Philadelphia helping with this one.
None of the laid-off noontime aide/student safety staffers are fasting.
Union officials, including Brandon and Hunt, have fasted. The others are either members of Local 274 such as Demetrius Jackson, 29, a food service worker at Citizens Bank Park who has a daughter, 7, in public school, or cafeteria workers such as Roberta Thomas, 58, of Southwest Philadelphia.
"Sometimes you have to step in for people when they don't have the courage to do it," Thomas said.
Patrick Eiding, head of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, admits he was skeptical when he first heard about the hunger strike.
"Ideas come out of desperation," he said, "and sometimes they are good and sometimes they are bad. When it was first put forth to me, I was worried. If you don't sustain this, you look weaker in the end . . ..
"But they proved me wrong."
Source: Philly.com

Former psychiatric hospital in East Falls up for sale

The former Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute property in the East Falls section of Philadelphia is up for sale, State General Services Secretary Sheri Phillips said.
The property, on Henry Avenue near Route 1, consists of nearly 14 acres of land and several large multistory buildings.
The institute, known as EPPI, was authorized in 1949 and operated as part of the state hospital system until 1981, when its operations were turned over to the Medical College of Pennsylvania, the state said.
It closed in 2006, and in 2008 was leased to the City of Philadelphia to house Youth Study Center until a replacement was completed in West Philadelphia.
Source: Philly.com

Multimillion-dollar hospital expansion readies for debut

Patients will begin receiving care next week in a new addition to Chester County Hospital.
The $45.2 million expansion is the culmination of a project that started in March 2012. The patient tower will accommodate up to 72 private patients rooms and a telemetry unit in at the 220-bed West Chester medical center.
The first 24-bed private patient rooms and the telemetry unit are set to open July 1.
“At the core of the project is the need for more beds and specifically for private rooms,” said Michael J. Duncan, president and CEO of The Chester County Hospital and Health System, when the project was announced last year.
Chester County Hospital is in the process of merging into the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Among the features of the new private rooms are sofas that convert into a table, a desk or a bed for guests who wish to stay the night; original artwork donated by Healing Art Works, an Exton-based non-profit organization; communication boards for nursing care, and technology that gives patients control of the window shades and the temperature in their rooms.
The tower itself has a 1,600-square-foot, roof-top garden that sits on top of the new linear accelerator vault below. The garden is designed to reduce heat build-up from the roof and provide green views for guests.
The tower’s TrueBeam linear accelerator, for use in radiation oncology, is expect to be available for patient care in August 2013.
Chester County Hospital expects to open the third floor, and another 24 private rooms, by the end of the year.
At least 20 private maternity rooms and an additional well-baby nursery are scheduled to be completed during the first half 2014. The hospital will convert its existing maternity rooms to private rooms.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Regional Collective Bargaining Agreements (UPDATE) for Philadelphia Contractors that Expire at Midnight, June 30, 2013:

Daily updates on the progress of negotiations shall be made once daily and as settlements are reached until all settlements are achieved.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS – Iron Workers Local Union #401 and the Steel Erectors Association of Metropolitan Philadelphia and Vicinity
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Negotiations are ongoing at this time.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS - Millwright and Machinery Erectors, Local Union No. 1906, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and Philadelphia and Vicinity and the Millwright Contractors Association
Agreement expires at Midnight on Jun 30, 2013. 
Negotiations are ongoing at this time.

NJ Turnpike toll managers, supervisors agree to contract givebacks to avoid outsourcing

Toll supervisors and managers on the New Jersey Turnpike agreed Tuesday to a four-year contract that strips them of snow bonuses, reimbursed commuting expenses and other benefits the Christie administration deemed excessive.
In exchange, the Turnpike Authority agreed to keep their jobs in house, rather than farm them out to a private firm.
The bargaining agreement between the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 200/200A, which represents about 260 supervisors and managers on the turnpike, was approved unanimously Tuesday by the authority board.
About 100 members are toll supervisors and the rest are maintenance supervisors and administrators, said John O’Hern, deputy executive director of the authority.
A call to the Local 200/200A offices was not returned. Turnpike officials, however, said the contract ensures the jobs will remain with the state at least until the contract expires in October 2015.
“These people will not be replaced by a third-party contractor through the end of their contract,” said Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim. Two years ago, under a threat by the Christie administration to turn over manual toll collection positions to a private firm, the toll workers agreed to take a dramatic pay cut and to surrender several other benefits over two years.
The authority put out a public request for companies to submit proposals for taking over the manual collection operation. The request did not include the privatization of the roads itself, just the employees. Four firms submitted proposals, but the authority ultimately agreed to keep the toll collectors after the unions agreed to multiple givebacks.
Under a memorandum of agreement, Local 194 of the IFPTE, which represents 199 full-time turnpike toll collectors, and Local 196 of the IFPTE, which represents 136 full-time parkway toll collectors, agreed to cuts that took annual base salaries for full-time toll collectors from roughly $65,100 in 2011 to $49,500 by July 1, 2012.
They also agreed to accept that their positions would be eliminated as of July 1, 2013.
On Tuesday, however, Hakim said the authority remains in talks with the unions. She declined to provide details, but said there is a 90-day extension that keeps the existing agreement in place.
“We’re in negotiations with them so I really don’t want to comment on that,” Hakim said of negotiations with union workers.
Earlier this year, Hakim said the agency was working on a new request for proposals from companies to take over manual toll collection and electronic toll collection in phases. Currently, Xerox handles electronic toll collection, while the authority oversees all manual collection services.
Hakim declined to say whether the privatization of manual toll collection would be a part of the request for proposals that will go out to companies, but indicated it could be.
Franceline Ehret, president of Local 194, is trying to stave off privatization.
“We want them to respect the workers,” she has said. “We’ve already given back huge pay cuts. How much more would it be fair to bleed?”
The agreement with Local 200/200A gives that union the same wage package state workers got, said O’Hern. The four-year contract covers the period from Sept. 21, 2011, through Oct. 4, 2015. The union members got no increase in the first two years, a 1 percent increase this year, and a 1.75 percent increase next summer, he said.
Among other perks, the union had gotten bonus pay for working during certain snowstorms or during a state of emergency declared by the governor, and got a “productivity bonus” for doing their jobs, O’Hern said.
He said the most significant win for the authority was the elimination of toll-free commutes for members of Local 200/200A.

Court to referee union-company agreement

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will decide whether a business and a union's agreement is valid after the business helped the union organize in return for help with a ballot initiative.
The high court on Monday agreed to hear appeals from UNITE HERE Local 355, which wants to challenge a ruling saying its deal with Hollywood Greyhound Track, Inc., known as Mardi Gras Gaming, may be illegal.
The union agreed to help the company win a gambling ballot initiative legalizing slot machines at racetracks and said it would not picket, boycott, or strike. Mardi Gras officials agreed to give the union employee addresses, access to the facility and not ask for a secret ballot election on unionizing.
Labor law says companies cannot give unions that want to represent employees something of value
Source: The Associated Press, Philly.com

Four Falls looking to get some of its luster back

Four Falls Corporate Center, brushing off a bout of bad luck and looking a little dated, is getting $2 million in upgrades and is finally seeing an uptick in leasing activity.
“Four Falls is the come back of the century,” said Dan C. Dagit Jr., a broker with CBRE Inc. handling the leasing of the building. “When we got involved, it was in receivership and the property was in poor condition and tenants were leaving. This building was just getting creamed.”
In the summer of 2011, the property, which consists of two, six-story structures totaling 254,000 square feet, was put into receivership. In a deed in lieu of foreclosure, Thomas Properties Group Inc. relinquished the West Conshohocken, Pa., office complex.
LNR Partners, the special servicer, is also the owner of the building that can be seen from the Schuylkill Expressway. Under that arrangement, LNR is making its own value-add play with the building and is investing the money to make the improvements.
“This is different than any situation we’ve seen,” Dagit said. “They are committed to maximizing value through investment and leasing.”
Typically, a special servicer looks to lease up a property as quickly as possible and then hire a broker to sell it.
The capital improvements include making repairs to the building’s parking structure, the plaza entrance, deck around the parking including planters and railings. On the inside, the lobby and common areas will be refurbished and all new elevators will be installed. A new deli has moved into the building as a tenant amenity.
“The place is buzzing with activity,” Dagit said. “Leasing activity is brisk and tenant retention way up.”
When Dagit took over the leasing, Four Falls was about 70 percent full. Dagit is hoping by year-end that occupancy is up to about 85 percent to 90 percent.
Some new tenants include: Brian Communications, which is moving into 13,000 square feet; New Horizon Computer Learning, which leased 7,000 square feet for its headquarters; and Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel, which opened a 2,000-square-foot office. Some existing tenants that stayed put include Merrill Lynch, Rhino Investment Partners, Brandywine Financial and Burns White, which also expanded by 5,000 square feet.

Budget cuts spur PHA auction

In response to major funding cuts, the Philadelphia Housing Authority is auctioning off over 200 properties in hopes of raising funds for community programs.
Real estate auction company Max Spann will hold the auction at 10 a.m. on July 16 in First District Plaza at 3801 Market Street.
The PHA saw $32 million cut from its budget following the federal government’s sequester. The organization receives over 90 percent of its funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
If the past is any indicator, the auction could offer PHA’s coffers a substantial boost. The agency’s first auction, in fall of 2011, netted approximately $6.4 million. The funds will finance a new PHA program designed to help community development organizations create housing for the same low-income population served by the PHA.
“The Philadelphia Housing Authority knows it cannot meet the demand for housing alone,” said Nichole Tillman, a PHA spokeswoman.
The program, called the “6 in 5” initiative, seeks to create or preserve 6,000 affordable housing units over the next five years. The PHA has already issued a request for proposals to community development organizations. Winners will receive long-term subsidies to help serve low-income households in existing, newly constructed or renovated units.
The PHA requires all purchasers to develop auctioned properties.
“PHA hopes these properties will return to the tax roll, improving neighborhoods,” Tillman said.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

Waterfront path could spur riverside development

Runners and bikers now have another good reason to head to the Delaware River waterfront.
Mayor Michael Nutter opened the first segment of the Delaware River Trail with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) on June 17. The trail runs for 1,400 linear feet from Spring Garden Street to Ellen Street. This segment is part of the five-mile waterfront trail that will run along the river.
“We’ve raised the bar for Philadelphia by providing a world-class amenity for bikers and pedestrians. This is another example of the type of strategic investment that will attract high-quality private development and new residents to help revitalize the Delaware River Waterfront," said Nutter. "I’m looking forward to the finished project, a trail running the length of our central waterfront. My administration is committed to working with DRWC to accomplish this goal.”
The trail includes Philadelphia’s first separated on-road bicycle and pedestrian path, which has a 12-foot bidirectional bikeway and a 10-foot walkway. Rain gardens on the trail will collect up to the first inch of storm water, helping relieve the city sewer system during storms.
The trail will also be a part of the East Coast Greenway and the Circuit, connecting the bicycle network to the city. Street furniture includes benches, bike racks, and solar lighting. DRWC is a nonprofit created in January 2009 to develop and manage the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia.

King of Prussia is a hotbed of development activity

King of Prussia is undergoing a building boom. A dozen projects in a range of sizes are in the works along the Route 202 Corridor and other parts of Upper Merion, according to a tally by the King of Prussia District. Here’s a list of some active developments.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is constructing a 120,000-square-foot specialty care center at the Village at Valley Forge on North Gulph Road.
• CarMax Auto Super Store is building a 17,060-square-foot showroom at 181 S. Gulph Road.
• Shake Shack will open up in a converted former Wachovia bank branch at 253 Mall Blvd.
• Franklin Maps Car Wash is under construction at 333 S. Henderson Road.
• Valley Forge Shopping Center is getting a facade renovation and 165,335 square foot Target at 224 W. DeKalb Pike.
The Container Store is building a 24,000-square-foot retail outlet in front of the Court at King of Prussia Mall.
• Super Wawa, totaling 4,800 square feet, and Chick-fil-A totaling 6,000 square feet, are being built on Route 202 between Henderson Road at Town Center Road.
• Porcelanosa is building a 7,150-square-foot showroom at Route 202 and Long Road.
• The Village Mart Laundromat, a new laundry facility, is under construction at 520 Shoemaker Road.
• An old Chili’s restaurant was razed and a new eatery will occupy the site at 739 W. DeKalb Pike.
• A Burger King was torn down for a new version of the restaurant called Wired Your Way Cafe at 568 W. DeKalb Pike.
• Courtside Square at 150 Allendale Road is undergoing facade renovations.
• Beginning next year, Simon Property Group will start a 140,000-square-foot expansion of the King of Prussia Mall.

Officials seeking bidders for Verizon building and other parcels in Conshohocken

CONSHOHOCKEN ­­— Conshohocken officials and the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority (RDA) are seeking a comprehensive plan from prospective developers to purchase the borough-owned Verizon building at 402 Fayette St., then lease it back to the borough as office space for borough employees and the Police Department.
The request for proposal (RFP) published Monday would allow a developer to lease 45,000 square feet of space in the building to other office tenants while reserving 20,000 square feet in the three-level building for borough operations.
The developer is required to “include an adaptive and commercially viable reuse of the existing historic Washington Firehouse” at 15 West Hector St., “including the restoration of the exterior facade.”
The three-story, red-brick building, built in 1874, includes an attached, one-story “apparatus” building and a 15,768-square-foot vacant parcel.
“The borough is excited about the RFP,” Borough Manager Francis Marabella said. “If everything is met in the proposal, it would give a single home for the administration and the police. The Verizon building would be back on the tax rolls generating real estate tax income from the rentable space.”
Conshohocken owns the Verizon building and the historic firehouse, while the RDA owns the apparatus building and the vacant parcel.
The RDA has more flexibility in working with developers than the borough does, Marabella said.
“We (the borough) either have to bid a project or auction off the building,” Marabella said. “The RDA has experience in redeveloping properties. They do this across the county and they have contacts with developers.”
Borough officials purchased the Verizon building for $3.25 million from the Verizon Corp. in September 2007. Council rejected several purchase proposals, including one for $3.25 million, in December 2008. A proposal to replace the roof of the building for $408,000 in November 2010 was tabled by council.
“We bid the building twice over the term that we have owned it,” Marabella said. “We did get a bid each time but it was not a qualified bid and the price was not acceptable to borough council.”
Marabella was enthusiastic about the potential development of the vacant parcel near the corner of Fayette and Elm streets.
“It is a prime site for development. As you come into Conshohocken, that is the first site that you see there,” Marabella said. “We have always gotten requests from developers about that lot.”
The RFP requires the developer to provide a public meeting space for council in the Verizon building and “a plan to accommodate on-site parking for 3.5 cars per 1,000 square feet of rentable space, with exclusive and secure parking for police vehicles. In addition, the plan must provide for a drive-up sally port and for separate and secure police entry into the building.”
Marabella said that if a developer has a plan to create a parking garage in the lowest level of the building, it would reduce the rentable square footage in the building and lower the required number of parking spaces. If the building was redeveloped with the full square footage in the building, the formula would require 227.5 parking spaces. He said a developer could also propose a parking garage over the parking lot that could satisfy the off-street parking requirement.
The Verizon building has 49 existing parking spaces at the rear.
The RFP also requires a developer to provide 300 additional parking spaces “available to downtown Conshohocken businesses and residents/visitors.”
“The redevelopment plan must provide for the dedication and maintenance of a significant public open space or other public amenity and for the dedication of not less than 300 new publicly available parking spaces,” the RFP states.
“This could require a developer to acquire other land,” Marabella said, “to satisfy the borough requirement for 300 parking spaces in the downtown area.”
Another complicating factor is that the borough has an office lease for its administration workers that runs until August 2015.
“The proposal must provide for a means to extinguish the borough’s present lease obligations and to accommodate transition of all borough offices to the Verizon building without financial penalty to the borough for early termination of its existing lease,” the RFP said.
A July 3 pre-proposal site inspection has been scheduled for prospective bidders. Questions from the developers to the RDA are due on July 8, and an addendum to the RFP will be distributed on July 9. The proposals are due on July 24 to the RDA.
The award of a development agreement by the RDA and Conshohocken council may be made on or before Aug. 14, according to the RFP.
 Source: Timesherald.com