12 new Philly high-rises opening in 2018: Including Philly’s first supertall!

   

Photo by Melissa Romero

It doesn’t take much more than a short walk around the city to see that Philly is on the rise—literally. At Curbed Philly’s last count, 27 high-rises were under construction, and many more are in the pipeline.

But after a year of navigating construction sites and peering up toward soaring construction cranes, we’ll all be able to breath a sigh of relief when at least 10 of the new high-rises finally finish construction in 2018. In fact, 8 million square feet of construction is expected to deliver next year, including Philly’s first supertall tower, the 60-story Comcast Technology Center.

There are a lot of high-rises that are currently undergoing major renovations and overhauls, but for the purposes of this map, the following 10 points only include new towers built from the ground up that will open their doors in 2018.

Did we miss a new tower set to deliver in next year? Let us know in the comm

Rittenhouse Square tower plan tweaked to add hotel-length stays and $2.5M-and-up condos

 Nashville-based developer Southern Land Co. has tweaked its plan for a condo and apartment tower on the last major building site around Rittenhouse Square to add short-term stays on the floors set aside for rental units.

Administrators, Trustees Talk Grad Student Unionization

Penn State Provost Nick Jones on Thursday updated the Board of Trustees Committee on Academic Affairs and Student Life about the process graduate students are currently going through for potential unionization.

Pennsylvania’s Labor Relations Board ruled earlier this month that Penn State’s graduate students are considered employees and are therefore entitled to unionize if they so choose. No election date has yet been set.

DC 47 City Contract Update

Contract talks between the City of Philadelphia and AFCME DC 47 representatives have continued weekly (generally more than once a week). The existing contract has continued to be extended.
We just received, within the past few weeks, information the Union requested from the City of Philadelphia concerning the economic impact of changes that the City wants to make regarding the defined pension plan. In consultation with your leadership, we have made several counterproposals regarding pensions, in an effort to reach a settlement.

Montco real estate company buys Pa. shopping complex for $55.3M

A New York-based real estate investment trust disclosed the $55.3 million sale of an Allentown shopping center in its latest earnings report released Wednesday. 

Urban Edge Properties's portfolio includes 16.7 million square feet in 90 properties that are scattered along the East Coast from New Hampshire to South Carolina, and are also in California, Illinois, Missouri and Puerto Rico.

New Jersey Construction Company Cited After Wall Collapse Leads to Workplace Fatality and Injuries

Onekey, LLC, was cited for exposing employees to crushing hazards after a concrete retaining wall collapsed at a Poughkeepsie, N.J., worksite. The collapse led to the death of a subcontractor’s employee, and injured another employee. OSHA inspectors determined that the retaining wall was not designed or approved by a registered engineer. The company was cited for failing to train employees to keep a safe distance from the wall and soil pile, and failing to provide adequate fall protection. OSHA proposed penalties totaling $281,583. Read the news release for more information.

Acadia to start work on $110M Philadelphia psych hospital this week

Acadia Healthcare is breaking ground Thursday for its new $110 million psychiatric care hospital, which is being built next to the existing Belmont Behavioral Hospital in the Wynnfield section of Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Business Journal first reported in 2105 on Acadia's long-term plans to build a replacement hospital at the site, as part of a campus revitalization project.

Opening the Delaware waterfront to the city

Two proposed developments along the Delaware invite pedestrians and play, promising (finally) a living, breathing urban space on river, Inga Saffron writes. At Piers 34-35, across from the I-95 exit, Digsau architects took cues from Standard Hotel by the Highline and lifted their 22-story apartment building above the piers supported by concrete stilts. The stilts open views of the water, offer places for visitors to enjoy the breeze, and also serve as a flood mitigation tool. Up the Delaware, Atrium Design Group's design for the proposed 169 rowhouses at the Foxwoods site breaks up the site by organizing the homes around garden blocks akin to those on St. Albans Street in Graduate Hospital (made famous in the Sixth Sense). The design provides walkways to the river and the architects elevated the living rooms to the second floor to deal with flooding issues. Notably, both projects include parking without letting cars own the precious waterfront real estate. Both projects still need government approvals.

Right-to-work holdouts face new efforts to change labor laws

Backers of so-called right-to-work laws are focusing on changing labor laws in a handful of holdout states in the Midwest.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Hemmed in by a growing number of states that block mandatory union fees in workplaces, holdout states in the Midwest are facing renewed attempts to enact so-called right-to-work laws.


Missouri's new law will go to a statewide referendum in November, while a pair of Republican lawmakers in Ohio announced last month they want to put the issue before voters in two years.