Blatstein: The Provence has best location, is most transformative

Ask Bart Blatstein why the casino he proposes for Broad and Callowhill streets should get Philadelphia's remaining gaming license, and he takes out graphics from the city administration's recent testimony to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The bar charts and circles show consultant AKRF's findings that Blatstein's planned casino, hotel and entertainment complex, The Provence, would generate the most city and state tax revenue and bring in the most money through both gaming and non-gaming activity.

“This is not slots-in-a-box,” he said. “It's a full, Vegas-type complex.”

Blatstein said in a recent interview that his proposal should beat out the other five license contenders because it's in the best location and has the most ability to create economic growth around it. And also because he has already proven he can positively change a neighborhood with other large, urban projects.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger told the PGCB that The Provence had the most potential in those areas and others, “if executed as proposed.”

Blatstein said he'll build the project in a single phase, as proposed: A hotel in the towered, Broad Street portion of the former Inquirer Building; a second-story gaming floor in the former newsroom and in new construction stretching back to 16th Street; retail and restaurants fronting on Callowhill and a roof-top village with a swim club and entertainment and music venues. An existing 820-car parking garage between 16th and 17th on Callowhill stays, but will be connected to the complex via pedestrian bridge over 16th Street. See more here: http://theprovencecasino.com/

“You also heard Mr. Greenberger say I was the developer who has experience with large, urban development,” Blatstein said.

Previous success, but this would be bigger

From the rooftop of the former state office building his company has turned into apartments, Blatstein pointed out Avenue North, a development near Temple University with student apartments, retail and a movie theater. And he referenced The Piazza at Schmidt's in Northern Liberties – a project he said was much harder to complete than the casino and entertainment complex.

Blatstein said he had to assemble more than 100 parcels, using eminent domain “to fill holes in the donut.” He had to clean up environmental issues and navigate city zoning.

“I have experienced complex development,” he said. “I do what I say I'm going to do.”

Blatstein built about 1.5 million square feet on 30 acres in Northern Liberties. The Provence would be 1.4 million square feet. The Piazza cost more than $200 million, The Provence would cost about $700 million, all told.

Casino license fees alone cost $70 million, and buying the land in Northern Liberties back in the early 2000s was much cheaper than buying the former Inquirer properties. “Think about Northern Liberties then,” he said. “It was then the middle of nowhere. Everybody thought I was crazy and overpaying for cheap real estate.”

An Econsult study done on the Northern Liberties census tracks where Blatstein developed “shows $1 billion of increased market value,” he said.

From another part of The Tower Place apartment building's roof, Blatstein points to the shiny, pointed tops of Liberty Place. The Provence would be the most transformational project in Philadelphia since that was built, he said. Its impact would not be as big as Liberty Place, but it would be bigger than the Piazza's.

“The difference is there is a lot of available development space on North Broad Street,” he said.

Walking from Tower Place to the Inquirer building, Blatstein points out single-story buildings and parking lots. “Look at all of this. This should be dense. This is Broad Street!” In Northern Liberties, one can build five or six stories, he said. But on North Broad? Twenty.”

To bring people to North Broad

While Blatstein was looking forward to an evening card game with old friends, “I'm not a gambler in casinos,” he said. “This had to be much, much more than a casino.”

The second-floor casino portion of the Provence makes up about 9 percent of the proposed building. “We needed something for late night in Philly. After dinner or a show, there's not much for people who are out of their 20s,” he said. “It needed that dimension.”

The project needs that 9 percent casino, though, Blatstein said. He compares it to a grocery store in a plaza with many other destinations. “The casino brings in the steady flow of people. It's like the anchor tenant of an entertainment complex.”

Blatstein said its important to transform this part of Callowhill into a walkable community. New Urbanism is about creating what he grew up with, he said. “We lived in Oxford Circle, and we walked everywhere,” he said. Except when, as young as 8 or 9, Blatstein and his friends took the bus or El to town – to King of Pizza, or the Automat for lunch, or to hang out near Franklin Field.

“Urbanism is how I was raised,” he said. And to that end, a sloping loading dock on the Callowhill Street side of 400 N. Broad will be replaced by about 1,500 feet of street level retail. While the hotel's entrance would be on Broad Street, the main complex entrance faces Callowhill. The sidewalk will be widened and also, re-graded to a less severe slope – walking there now is uncomfortable.

Lights and more people will make the neighborhood safer, which will in turn bring even more people, he said, and that's good for all businesses, and The Provence will also provide work for other local businesses, such as suppliers.

Location, location, location

From the rooftops of his new apartment building and the concrete parking garage that would be torn down to make way for new construction, Blatstein pointed out several other landmarks.

Being able to see the barrel roof of the convention center's Broad Street expansion means that conventioneers are a short walk away, he said, and a casino and entertainment complex within walking distance of the convention center means more groups will want to book it.

He points to the office towers clustered on the western side of the Center City business district. “Seventy percent of the office space in the city is nearby, on the west side of Broad Street.,” he said, and those who work there could easily walk to The Provence, or take shuttles that it would provide. And the Broad Street Subway stops in front, too.

So, does all this talk about walkability and the business district and conventioneers mean The Provence won't be a destination for out-of-towners?

Blatstein says no. The city attracts 41 million unique visitors a year, and The Provence would become a “must-see” destination for them. “It will become that iconic place – when you go to Philadelphia – you go to The Provence. It will be on the bucket list.”

Blatstein breaks into a big grin when he points out The Phoenix building at 1600 Arch Street. That's where the Wynn Philadelphia team set up a media center chock full of information about the Wynn proposal for Delaware Avenue and The Provence and the other four license competitors. It's where Dan Keating, head of the company that is Wynn's project manager, made the case that the Wynn proposal was the best one for the city to PlanPhilly and other media, officials and the community.

“He didn't set up his war room near his site,” Blatstein said. “He made my point for me.”

Note: Keating has offices in The Phoenix building, and Keating made the presentations personally.

One of Blatstein's favorite characteristics of the proposed location is the sunny, southern exposure. “We'll have unobstructed sunlight all day long,” he said. “We're south facing, and nothing will ever be built along side of it” because of the Vine Street highway ramps.

What about traffic?

A great number of the potential casino's customers would come by car. The site is adjacent to an exchange of the Vine Street Expressway, which drivers would use to connect to I-676, I-76, I-476 and I-95.

It's not just Keating who asserts that The Provence would create traffic problems in the area. Greenberger described it as “already congested” and said the casino proposal would create additional traffic issues that would require work with the city streets department and PennDOT.

Blatstein highlights the planned walkability, the business district shuttle, the conventioneers and subway-takers. He adds that there is not one way in and one way out of The Provence, and says the traffic will be absorbed across the grid of streets.

And he said the peak busy times for The Provence will not be during rush hour. Much of the time, the streets and parking garages and lots in The Provence's neighborhood are now well below capacity, he said.

Blatstein said he has applied with PennDOT for a vegetative permit that would allow him to landscape the Vine Street exchange. Combined with landscaping he would do on the Provence property, this would become an important city gateway, he said.

Some preservation, some improvements

The former Inquirer newsroom is quiet, dusty and empty now, with ghost outlines of desks on a rather ragged carpet.

Before it was the newsroom, it was the press room, where the newspaper was actually printed. An elevated catwalk surrounds the space, left over from those days. The catwalk would stay “because I think it's cool,” Blatstein said. The large windows would also stay, and so would the globe chandelier hanging in the lobby.

The former newsroom would become a portion of the casino floor, but that gaming floor would stretch to 16th street, 74 feet above grade, in new construction meant to be a modern twist on the non-tower portion of the Inquirer building.

“We're going to embrace the historic past while adding to it,” Blatstein said. “We're going to do this grand building proud.”

The former Reading Terminal Viaduct is another bit of history that interests Blatstein. There is an effort underway to turn it into an elevated, linear park, something like New York's High Line. If he gets the license, Blatstein said he would help extend the Viaduct to Broad Street, through a side lot he owns at 401 Broad.

Swan song?

The man who grew up in Oxford Circle currently lives in the suburbs, but recently purchased a historic mansion on Rittenhouse Square. When renovations are complete, he's moving in.

The Provence proposal is “the best I can do for my city,” he said. If he gets the license, Blatstein said it will likely be his last big project, and he'll be hanging out at The Provence with his friends. “It will be the clubhouse,” he joked.

If the license goes to Market8, Wynn Philadelphia, Live! Hotel and Casino, Casino Revolution or Hollywood Philadelphia? “There is no Plan B. I've spent no time thinking about that.”

When asked if he would sell the property if there can't be a casino there, Blatstein said, “I've never been one to walk away.”

Source: PlanPhilly.com

Ortlieb's Brewery is being demolished

Crews with cranes are picking off the bricks of Ortlieb’s Brew House and Stock House, beginning the slow demolition of one of the last great remnants of Northern Liberties’ industrial past.

The demolition began a few weeks ago. Bart Blatstein, who turned the nearby Schmidt’s Brewery into the mixed-use mega-project called the Piazza, and who’s owned the Ortlieb’s property since 2000, said the demolition is likely to be finished by the end of the year.

Blatstein said he spent some years trying to figure out an adaptive reuse for the brewery, but decided in the end that the condition of the buildings was just too poor.

Blatstein is also the owner of 400 N. Broad Street, the former home of the Inquirer and Daily News. He is in the running for a casino license from the state gaming board, which he’d use to transform the former news tower into The Provence, a Frenchified gambling complex with a hotel, restaurants and other uses.

Blatstein says he’ll replace the Ortlieb’s buildings with a residential use, which he says will contribute to the street’s transformation into the nicest in the neighborhood, though he could offer no further details about what the project would entail or when it would move forward.

“It’s a living thing,” Blatstein said.

Referring to his plans, of course. The old brewery is a dying thing.

Source: PlanPhilly.com

Construction resumes after International Union of Operating Engineers ends four-day strike

There are some very interesting components of a settlements here that somewhat parallel past negotiations in Philadelphia and implications on 2014 negotiations in the region.

EASTHAMPTON — Construction work on the Manhan Bridge Wednesday was a welcome sight to Mayor Michael A. Tautznik, evidence that a four-day strike by members of Local 98 of the International Union of Operating Engineers had ended.

“It’s a good outcome,” Tautznik said. “We’re certainly happy the parties were able to find common ground.”

The strike by 1,300 unionized heavy equipment operators shut down the $3.75 million Manhan Bridge project completely Friday, along with a number of other construction sites in the Pioneer Valley, including at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Interstate 91 in Deerfield.

While work resumed on the Easthampton span over the weekend, it was not at the usual pace, due to the absence of the engineers.

A statement from the Construction Industries of Massachusetts announced that a new, three-year agreement had been reached Tuesday with Local 98, ending the strike.

The new contract stipulates that:

∎ Operating engineers will receive a general wage and benefit increase of 3 percent over the current contract distributed over three years.

∎ A new crane operator premium will be created, adding another approximately 11 percent to the general wage and benefit increase.

∎ A study group will be formed to examine the necessity of having an entry-level “oiler” position on cranes under 100 tons.

∎ A guaranteed 40-hour workweek will be suspended from Dec. 1 to March 31 for some categories of construction workers.

Peter Bennett, an attorney for the Construction Industries of Massachusetts, said in a statement that while there were “significant and disparate issues to address in these negotiations, we worked hard to reach an agreement that ensures our members remain strong and competitive in the region.”

Eugene Melville Jr., a business agent for Local 98 based in Longmeadow, did not return phone calls from the Gazette seeking comment on the new pact.

Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, confirmed in an email message Wednesday that not just the Manhan Bridge job, but “all projects that had been effected by the Local 98 operators’ union strike are back working today.”

Tautznik said the brief stoppage does not appear to have slowed overall progress on the Manhan Bridge, which is still gearing up to reopen ahead of schedule sometime this month. “The railings are up now and it’s nice to see an open road,” he said.

Tautznik said the state has not yet informed the city of exactly when the bridge near downtown will reopen.

Source: Gazettenet.com

LABOR DISPUTE: Post Brothers, Trade unions rail against non-union worksite

As you read through the article, there is an interesting quote made about adding 10 million to the cost of a 38 million dollar project if the project was performed all union.  That number simply doesn’t add up assuming that the bulk of a project’s cost is normally tied up in material, entitlement and land development costs and not labor itself.  The project was originally estimated at 38 million total as quoted in Phllymag.com on 10/25/2012, “The Brothers Who Busted Philly Unions. For Good.” 

Assuming some very generic cost ratios of 60 % material to 40% labor on a 38 million dollar project, that equates to a 15.2 million dollar labor component.  With the additional 10 million, that is 25.2 million for labor; a 67% increase in labor over the 15.2 million.  If union labor is often argued to be 30-40% more expensive than non-union labor, on a good day, at a 40% premium, it only added 6 million to the project.  Given that some of this project may have been performed by organized trades, 40% as originally quoted in the Phillymag.com article, the higher end of the ratio should not apply.  I simply do not place any faith in these assertions and believe that every side is grandstanding a bit.

At the end of a day, a developer is free to develop their property as they see fit and in a manner that balances their risk and rewards appropriately for them.  It’s their money and they assume all of the risk.  I’m saddened that this has gone on for a s long as it has.     

Trade unions rail against non-union worksite

PHILADELPHIA Trade unions have taken their dispute with developers Michael and Matthew Pestronk to a new level, producing a sleek documentary that accuses the brothers of safety and health violations at their signature project, the unfinished Goldtex building.

The 20-minute documentary, unveiled Wednesday at a campaign-style event at the headquarters of electricians union Local 98, includes videos, photos, and interviews with two unidentified "undercover workers" at the job site, just north of Chinatown.

The documentary shows sheetrock walls splashed in mold, a diesel fuel line allegedly run through a trash chute, and an "undersized crane" used to hoist material to upper floors among other purported safety violations.

At one point, the video depicts a man scraping a ceiling while standing precariously on a bucket perched on scaffolding - a scene that drew guffaws from the large union crowd gathered for the viewing.

Local 98 leader John J. "Johnny Doc" Dougherty described the Pestronk brothers as committing "economic vandalism."

"This has to be stopped," he said.

The Pestronks, who do business as Post Bros., did not respond to the individual allegations, but released a statement calling them collectively "false and reckless."

"The labor union's 'Johnny Doc-umentary' should have been called 'Labor Gone Wild,' " the statement said. "It's nothing more than a video Hail Mary from a desperate group whose fearmongering is standing in the way of Philadelphia's real growth."

The brothers launched a rehab of the 10-story former factory into 163 apartments without an all-union workforce, the first major project to do so in the city in decades.

In March 2012, protesters organized by the Building Trades Council began picketing the site at 12th and Wood Streets, slowing deliveries and engaging in scuffles with workers. Two union members eventually were charged with assault, while the Pestronk brothers had to devise a ruse to sneak a crane onto the site.

The brothers started a website called phillybully.com to document the confrontations and rail against the unions.

They said Wednesday that they would create a section on the site devoted to posting documents on the progress of the building, including permits, air quality and mold testing reports, and tax, worker compensation, and insurance records.

The documentary cites the June building collapse at 22d and Market Streets as an example of what can happen when nonunion crews perform substandard work. Six people died in that collapse, when an unsupported wall from a demolition site fell on a Salvation Army thrift store.

"A poorly constructed building is scarier than a poorly deconstructed building," Dougherty said. "And we all know what happened at 22d and Market."

The video also compares the Goldtex project with the union-built 35-story apartment tower at 2116 Chestnut St. Two officials from the Hunter Roberts Construction Group brag that the project was done ahead of schedule and without any safety violations.

But even union supporters acknowledge that many builders are cheering on the Pestronk brothers because of the city's high cost of labor. Many of the city's biggest projects can be built only with subsidies and tax incentives.

Michael Pestronk has said the Goldtex project would have cost an additional $10 million with an all-union workforce.

Councilman Mark Squilla, one of four Council members at the Local 98 event, said unions "get a bad rap" because of the costs of their workers.

"It's not too expensive," he said. "Construction and demolition are dangerous businesses and you need competent people doing it."

Source: Philly.com

See the original Phillymag article here...

Eight-screen movie theater and restaurant planned for old Boyd

The Boyd Theater at 1908 Chestnut St. - a 1920s landmark movie house shuttered for 11 years - is poised to get an eight-screen, 744-seat movie theater complete with an upscale Italian restaurant.

The Florida company iPic Entertainment, which has nine theaters in seven states, is meeting this morning with Philadelphia city officials to spell out the features.

The project's completion date is estimated at 2015.

The new iPic Theaters at The Boyd will feature reclining chairs, pillows and blankets, as well as buttons that will allow patrons to summon a waiter to deliver food and cocktails. The theater will also have a Tanzy restaurant.

The auditoriums will seat 40 to 120.

Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks attended the 1993 world-premiere screening of the drama Philadelphia there. 

Previous plans to develop and operators, including Live Nation, have fallen through. Live Nation, though a subsidiary Boyd Development LP, still owns the bricks, according to city records.

Friends of the Boyd, a group of preservationists, opposes iPic’s plans, said its president, Howard Haas.

Haas met Tuesday with iPic representatives. He said he was told that the only aspect of the 1928 Art Deco building that would be preserved would be the Chestnut Street façade.

“They’d demolish the auditorium, and that is the theater,” Haas said. “Trendy multiplexes last 10 years [before they’re remodeled]; iPic should build elsewhere in the city.”

Asked if he’d rather see the landmark remain boarded and empty, Haas mentioned other historic theaters that remained empty even longer before they were redeveloped with historic preservation in mind, including the New Amsterdam in Times Square and the Kings, now undergoing restoration in Brooklyn.

“Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever,” he said.

Source: Philly.com

Carnegie Hall cancels opening night concert after labor dispute

NEW YORK — Carnegie Hall canceled its season-opening concert tonight featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and superstar violinist Joshua Bell.

The announcement followed the calling of a strike by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local One, the union representing stagehands at the famed venue. As Bloomberg reported in July, a senior Carnegie Hall stagehand’s annual pay in 2011 was $465,000.

“The season-opening concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and featuring violinist Joshua Bell and vocalist/double bassist Esperanza Spalding, was scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.,” according to a statement released by Carnegie Hall. “All future performances remain on Carnegie Hall’s schedule, and daily updates will be issued pending resolution of the strike.”

A message from Local One President James J. Claffey Jr. at the I.A.T.S.E. headquarters confirmed the strike and instructed union members to gather at the hall’s West 57th Street address to staff picket lines. “The strike is on,” Claffey said in a message recorded on his answering machine.

The Carnegie Hall statement attributed the strike to failure to reach an agreement regarding jurisdiction over a new education wing, which the hall said “would not only restrict education work within the new spaces, it would divert significant funds away from the Hall’s music education programs and into stagehand fees.”

According to the statement, “Local One also demands that Carnegie Hall displace other union employees currently performing maintenance work in the new Education Wing, insisting that stagehands perform this work, which will involve a substantially higher cost.”

Source: The Blade

NLRB files another complaint against W. Pa.'s UPMC

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The National Labor Relations Board has filed another complaint against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, claiming four workers have been fired for union activity.

UPMC spokeswoman Gloria Kreps says, "The NLRB has not determined that UPMC has violated any labor laws and any representation that a violation has been found is false." She says the hospital network, which dominates western Pennsylvania, is looking forward to presenting its side.

That will happen at a hearing Dec. 16. Earlier charges were settled in February, but SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and the NLRB contend UPMC has retaliated against some workers -- including re-firing one employee previously reinstated under the earlier agreement.

The NLRB also contends UPMC threatened workers with poor performance evaluations for trying to unionize and disciplined workers who testified about the earlier NLRB charges.

Source: WJACTV

Slow going on plans for N.J. transportation projects

In December 2009, NJ Transit announced four major advancements in transportation for South Jersey, with an initial cost of $13.5 million.

Nearly four years later, none of the projects has moved beyond the study phase:

  Planners have spent the four years and $735,000 studying how to improve rail service on the Atlantic City Line, with nothing to show for their efforts yet.

By contrast, it took only 90 days to build the Philadelphia & Atlantic City Railway in the first place, back in 1877.

In 2009, NJ Transit said it would build a $3 million bus-loading center in downtown Camden, to be completed in mid-2012.

So far, nothing.

Plans for an 18-mile light-rail line between Glassboro and Camden were delayed when Gov. Christie objected in 2010 to a no-bid $8.9 million contract from the Delaware River Port Authority for an environmental impact study. Now, with an $8.1 million contract awarded to the same engineering firm, the study is supposed to be done by next fall.

But no operator has been selected, and no source has been found for $1.6 billion to build the line, currently proposed to start operating in 2019.

A plan for a $46 million "bus rapid transit" route in South Jersey is in the midst of an $839,500 environmental impact study, after a $750,000 alternative routes study.

The environmental study is supposed to be done next spring. If the project is funded, the current plan calls for construction to start in mid-2014 and the bus routes to be in full operation by 2020.

NJ Transit spokesman William Smith said the completion of a $735,000 Atlantic City Line study by LTK Engineering Services of New York, approved in December 2009, was delayed because the state's priorities shifted after Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012 "to focus on restoration of service and system resiliency going forward."

Now, the Atlantic City Line report is expected to be released in early to mid-2014, Smith said.

Planners are looking at the feasibility of adding stops at the Woodcrest PATCO station and the Atlantic City airport, and restoring a second set of tracks for part of the route.

"This is a major study that involves multiple modes of transportation across the entire region of southern New Jersey," Smith said. "In reality, completing such a large endeavor, with statistical projections, environmental issues, and compliance regulations can take a significant period of time."

The 2009 plan for a new $3 million bus-loading center at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden called for a canopy, better lighting, closed-circuit cameras, a public address system, and new signs, as well as repaving and streetscape improvements on Broadway.

The DRPA agreed in January 2010 to provide the $3 million for the makeover, and NJ Transit engineers said at the time that construction would start in late 2010 or early 2011 and be completed by mid-2012.

But nothing was built, and the money remains with the DRPA.

The project "is currently on hold," Smith said, "due to ongoing discussions with local stakeholders about a more comprehensive approach to the redevelopment of the area" around the transportation center.

Much of that conversation involves the prospect of turning the existing transportation center into a grander "signature station" to serve a proposed light-rail line from Gloucester County as well as the existing NJT buses and PATCO trains, said Jeffrey Nash, Camden County freeholder and vice chairman of the DRPA.

Local officials are trying to figure out "what does a solution look like and what does it cost?" said Anthony Perno, chief executive of Cooper's Ferry Partnership, a nonprofit real estate development corporation in Camden.

A comprehensive remake of Walter Rand would require more than the $3 million approved by the DRPA in 2010, he said.

"The first step is to decide where the new light rail line cuts through Camden," Nash said.

That decision connects to one of the other two projects touted by NJT back in 2009: the $1.6 billion proposal for a Glassboro-Camden Line to restore passenger rail service to towns along tracks that are now used only for freight trains.

The light-rail trains likely would be similar to those operating on the River Line between Camden and Trenton.

Preliminary plans call for trains running every 71/2 minutes during rush hours and every 15 minutes during nonpeak times. As many as 18,000 daily riders are predicted by 2030.

Currently, an environmental study is underway by STV Inc. to examine impacts of noise and vibration, air pollution, social and economic changes, and historic preservation efforts, as well as the estimated costs to build and operate the rail line.

A draft version of that study is supposed to be completed by early spring of 2014, with a final report expected by fall of 2014, according to STV officials.

If approved by the Federal Transit Administration, the environmental impact statement would serve as a blueprint for design and construction of the line, with construction starting in 2016 and operations beginning in the second quarter of 2019.

But financing remains elusive for the rail line.

The DRPA has said it will not pay to build or operate the line, and NJ Transit has not committed itself to paying for it, either.

The light-rail line would run alongside a Conrail freight line through Glassboro, Pitman, Mantua, Wenonah, Woodbury, Deptford, West Deptford, Westville, Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, and Camden.

The fourth NJT project is a $46 million "bus rapid transit" plan to speed bus travel between Gloucester and Camden Counties and Philadelphia.

The plan envisions rush-hour buses traveling in dedicated lanes, on highway shoulders and medians, on a 23-mile main route north from Avandale, in Winslow Township, with a branch that would take riders from Deptford along Route 55 to join the main line at its merger with Route 42.

The NJ Transit board in February approved an $839,500 contract with engineering firm AECOM Technical Services Inc. of Newark for an environmental study of the route. That follows the completion of a $750,000 study of possible routes.

The rapid-bus service could be in full operation by 2020, with some parts phased in before that. Construction is supposed to begin in mid-2014.

Source: Philly.com

One step closer to Water Treatment Plant construction in Phillipsburg

Phillipsburg Town Council approved the second reading of an ordinance allocating $390,000 for construction phase services of the Phillipsburg Wastewater Treatment Plant and the relocation of water during Tuesday night's meeting.

The water that currently goes directly into the Lopatcong Creek will now go into the Delaware River.

Funding for the measure will come from the Sewer Utility Capital Improvement Fund, according to the ordinance.

In addition council heard six resolutions ranging from approving liquor licenses for two establishments - Shaken Not Stirred Liquors, located on 206 Lincoln St., and The Snack Bar, located at 7 Filmore St. The fee for each license totaled $1,400.

Council also heard two resolutions to submit applications and execute a grant contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the improvements to Main Street for Phase Six and Phase Seven work.

The previous five phases involved streetscape improvements to the town's South Main Street business district, which included resurfacing of two blocks of South Main Street, plus new sidewalks, curbs, trees and lights.

Source: WFMZ.com

Teachers Union Rejects Contract Agreement

The West Chester Teachers Union voted down a tentative contract agreement.

The following is a press release from the West Chester Area School District.
The West Chester Area Education Association has voted to reject the terms of a tentative contract agreement that followed nearly two years of negotiations. Both the WCAEA negotiating team and the West Chester Area School Board’s negotiating team had agreed on September 25, 2013 to the tentative settlement. The settlement was a modification of a fact-finder’s recommendation issued September 3rd.

“I am extremely disappointed with the union’s rejection of the tentative agreement,” said Board President Vince Murphy. “The Board went above and beyond by adding additional concessions and more than $500,000 in salary increases to the fact-finder’s report.”

At some point, both sides will return to the bargaining table to continue to work on negotiating a settlement. In July, both sides had agreed to enter the fact finding process. The independent fact finder appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board submitted a report to the WCASD on September 3rd and the School Board voted to accept those findings, while the teachers union voted to reject the report’s recommendations. In a subsequent negotiating session using the fact finder’s report as a basis of discussion, the union presented its areas of concern and the School Board offered modifications to contract language in several key areas.

The term of the tentative agreement was three years. The settlement went above what the fact-finder recommended. It called for no salary increase in year one (2012-13 school year), followed by increases of 1.7% for 2013-14 – at the Act 1 Index - and 3.1% for 2014-15. The fact finder’s report had placed the increases at zero for 2012-13, 1.3% for 2013-14, and 2.7% for 2014-15. 

Four areas representing the Education Association’s greatest concerns were addressed by the School Board in the negotiated contract agreement, rejected by the union membership on October 1.

Salary

In the area of salary, the contract language moved the implementation date for increases from the 14th pay period up to the 12th pay period of the school year. That modification represents an addition of $168,000 to the contract.

 Course Credits

Another area of negotiation arose over course credits earned by teachers over the past two years. Credits for previously and properly approved courses completed by teachers would count towards salary, representing a change from the fact finder’s report which had allowed only limited use of some credits by teachers to advance on the salary scale. That modification accounted for an additional $381,000 cost for the District in the contract.

Healthcare

The healthcare issue raised by the Teachers Association involved an ability to “buy up” to plans that offered improved and more costly benefits. The implementation of the national Affordable Care Act will cause premium insurance plans – referred to as “Cadillac Plans” – to be assessed a special tax. Buying up to these premium plans will now be allowed only if the employee pays the added costs. As a result, teachers will be able to move up from the Independence Blue Cross PC320 plan to either a 10/20/70 or the PC 10 levels but will be responsible for any additional expense of those plans.

Retirement Benefits

The fourth area of concern being addressed by modifications in contract language involved retirement benefits. The tentative contract agreement called for coverage by a modified healthcare arrangement in which retiring employees would be provided a stipend of $6,000 per year, for a period of up to five years, towards single employee healthcare coverage to purchase a plan of their choosing. Retirees must be 50 years of age by July 1, 2014 in order to qualify. Current retirees would start with PC320 and could buy up to maintain their existing plans until reaching the age of Medicare eligibility. Anyone under the age of 50 after July 1, 2014 would not receive district-paid retirement benefits.

Source: West Chester Patch

AREA STANDARDS PICKET: Post Brothers: Unions release scathing Post Bros. documentary

The Philadelphia Building Trades and Post Brothers appear to be doing battle again.

A media advisory went out yesterday afternoon from the building trades inviting the press to a news conference to view a video called “Deconstructing Post Brothers: Exposing the Truth Behind the Cheap Facade.” According to the advisory, a video has been made that will expose “health-and-safety violations at Post Brothers’ Goldtex Apartments construction site, as well as the economic abuse of its workers.” After the viewing of the video, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. at IBEW Local 98 Union Hall, a panel of elected officials and labor leaders will answer questions. The media will receive a DVD of what the building trades are calling a “documentary.”

Mike and Matt Pestronk, who run Post Brothers, issued a statement calling the video a “Johnny Doc-umentary” after John Dougherty, who is the business manager of Local 98, and said it should have been called Labor Gone Wild. "It’s nothing more than a video Hail Mary from a desperate group whose fear-mongering is standing in the way of Philadelphia’s real growth.”

The Pestronks, who converted the former Gold-Tex building into apartments, have experienced big problems with organized labor for not using union-only labor for its project.

For their part, the Post Brothers call the allegations in the video “false and reckless.” The company has set up a website called PhillyBully.com where it has detailed the battle it has waged with Philadelphia unions on the apartment project.

There is expected to be more on this from both sides in the coming days and weeks. Already the Post Brothers have lobbed: “We call upon the unions and political cronies they support, to also release their political contribution information. Based on what we’ve seen in this town, we don’t expect they’ll be that honest with the public. But when you don’t have the truth on your side you have to resort to bribes, lies, and videotapes.”

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

See the Deconstructing Post Brother's Web Site here...

School panel won't push to ditch seniority - for now

PHILADELPHIA Despite being urged to unilaterally ditch seniority rules, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission said it would not do that - at least not right away.

For the time being, the SRC will focus on negotiations with the teachers' union to get changes in the use of seniority in teaching assignments.

"We're going to continue to negotiate at this time in good faith," spokesman Fernando Gallard said Monday afternoon, moments after a coalition of education and parents' groups held a news conference calling on the SRC to get rid of seniority rules.

Gallard declined to comment on whether the SRC has the authority to throw out seniority provisions in the existing contract and give Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. a free hand in teacher assignments.

"I cannot at this time speak specifically on the district's legal opinion," Gallard said.

That may be just as well. It is unclear whether the SRC has the authority to unilaterally change work rules under the law that allowed the state to take over the district in 2001.

Mark Gleason, executive director of the Philadelphia School Partnership, said that under state law the SRC has the power to dump seniority rules and should use it.

"Moving away from seniority as the basis for personnel decisions is the right thing to do for our children," Gleason told reporters on the steps of the district administration building at 440 N. Broad St.

Gleason said that negotiations with the 15,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers had dragged on too long, and that it was time for the SRC to assign teachers to classrooms without regard for seniority and ignore seniority for layoffs and rehires.

But at least one former SRC member who had been briefed by district lawyers on the law in the past said the legality of unilaterally making such work-rule changes was not clear cut. "I think on the issue of this, the district has a case and the union has a case," said Michael Masch, an original member of the SRC. He served for a year before he became budget secretary under former Gov. Ed Rendell in 2003.

The section in the law cited by the coalition says the SRC is not "required" to negotiate "staffing patterns and assignments, class schedules, academic calendar, places of instruction, pupil assessment, and teacher preparation time."

Despite that language, Masch said, the SRC has bargained with the union over those issues since 2002. "In three contracts, they bargained over all these things," said Masch, who was involved in negotiations when he was a district financial official between 2008 and 2011. "They didn't have to, but they did."

PFT attorney Ralph J. Teti has said the union would wait to see what the SRC does and then weigh its options. But he said he thought the law gave the PFT the upper hand.

Mike Churchill, a lawyer who works with the Public Interest Law Center, called the takeover law complicated and subject to different interpretations. Sections include broad language as well as specific exemptions.

None of it, Churchill said, has been tested in the courts.

Gov. Corbett, Mayor Nutter, the SRC, and Hite all have said they want to toss out seniority and give principals the authority to select new hires.

The PFT, however, has defended the practice, one of the union's most cherished rights. "The seniority provisions in the school code were implemented to protect school employees from the atmosphere of patronage," union president Jerry Jordan said in a statement. "Instead of focusing on how to turn every teacher into an at-will employee, we should be discussing ways to recruit and retain the best educators for our students."

Gleason and other advocates said they were calling on the district for action now because it could persuade the state to free $45 million, allowing the district to rehire counselors and other vital personnel. Gleason was joined by Jonathan Cetel, executive director of the state group PennCan, and several parents who urged the commission to act. "I have witnessed firsthand the downside of seniority and the impact it has on our students," said parent Nina Liou, president of the Bache-Martin Home and School Association.

She said the school lost a new, well-regarded teacher two years ago when a central office administrator near retirement was forced back into the classroom.

"We ended up losing a younger teacher who clearly was the better choice to be in the classroom with our first-grade students," Liou said.

Source: Philly.com

ML buyer seeks Philly tower; no FMC HQ yet

"We would like to own more in Philadelphia. And we will, in the next 12 months," Doug Fleit, chief executive officer of Herndon, Va.-based American Real Estate Partners, tells me.

Fleit's firm and partner Independencia Asset Management today said they've spent $90 million to buy 1100, 1150 and 1200 Merrill Lynch Drive, three of the 12 buildings on the Merrill Lynch office campus that Bank of America Corp. sold to Fortress Investment Group and its partner Sansome Pacific Properties last fall for a reputed $375 million. BofA has been reducing employment at the center, which once employed 6,500, plus room to grow, on 700 acres in Hopewell Township outside Trenton. Merrill Lynch will stay in AmRe's three buildings, Fleit says.

AmRe last high-profile Philly investment was the conversion of part of Two Liberty Place's vacant office space into condos and the R2L restaurant. But Fleit told me he's looking at Center City's lately ho-hum office market, not its red-hot apartment market, for his next Philly deal. "We like Philadelphia's market dynamics," Fleit says. "There are nice assets there."

In other Center City office news, FMC spokesman James Fitzwater says his company isn't planning to announce a new headquarters before September's over, after all. "We'll keep you posted," he told me.

Real estate sources say FMC Corp. was negotiating a major tenancy in a proposed high-rise west of Comcast headquarters, but Liberty Property Trust, which is also Comcast's landlord, pulled the plug on that deal. Liberty says that rumor is false.

Source: Philly.com

Union: Merck seeking job cuts

The job cuts are continuing at drugmaker Merck & Co., which has offered buyouts to experienced union workers a year earlier than it expected amid talk of more layoffs of management and salaried employees.

"We hear more cuts are coming in the management ranks," said Paul Mercurio, recording secretary for United Steelworkers Union Local 10-00086, which has just under 2,000 members at the Merck facility in West Point, Montgomery County.

Merck is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and has several other facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In April, when Merck and the steelworkers reached a new agreement, which runs through 2016, the pact allowed the company to seek to eliminate up to 90 positions through buyouts. At the time, according to Mercurio, the company did not expect to seek those until 2014. However, he said, Merck went to union leaders on Sept. 20 and offered buyouts of two weeks' pay for each year of service. Union members, who would also get two weeks of union medical and dental coverage for each year of service, have until Friday to decide and, if they accept the terms, must leave the company by the end of 2013.

Merck spokesman Steve Cragle could not be reached for comment Monday evening. After management layoffs occurred in June in the Merck Research Laboratories unit, Cragle told The Inquirer in an e-mail, "The new design has been established to ensure that MRL leaders have the authority to take appropriate actions to facilitate rapid pipeline progress. It is too early to provide numbers or comment on any individuals that may or may not be affected by these changes."

Like other big drug companies, Merck has struggled to keep revenue and profits high in a changing economic landscape. Profitable drugs lost patent protection, and the company has not found similarly lucrative replacements. Public and private insurers have pushed for lower prices on drugs that reach the market.

"I'm not surprised, but I haven't heard anything," Roger Pomerantz said Monday night. Pomerantz was senior vice president and head of infectious diseases until June, when he was let go as part of the ongoing changes that have accelerated since Roger Perlmutter was hired in April to replace R&D chief Peter Kim. Perlmutter previously worked at Merck, but most recently at Amgen.

"When you bring in a new guy with a fresh set of eyes, there are going to be some changes," Perlmutter said May 1. "I'm doing a detailed review of programs, processes, and people. Already two weeks into the job, I can say there are some opportunities for acceleration and productivity enhancement."

Merck said in an SEC filing dated Aug. 7 that it had set aside $418 million in the first six months of 2013 for restructuring costs, mostly employee severance. That was less than in the same period of 2012, but both are part of a new phase of downsizing that began after the late 2009 purchase of Schering Plough. From 2010 through June 30, 2013, that program eliminated 23,810 positions, including full-time employees, contractors, and vacant positions, according to the SEC filing.

Source: Philly.com

Merck says it will cut 8,500 more jobs

Drugmaker Merck & Co., said Tuesday morning that it will cut about 8,500 jobs from commercial and research-and-development departments in hopes of reducing annual operating expenses by $2.5 billion by the end of 2015.

Merck is based, for the moment, in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and has operations elsewhere in New Jersey and suburban Philadelphia, including West Point and Blue Bell.

A Merck spokeswoman would not specify how many jobs will be eliminated at each facility or whether Philly-area facilities will be shut entirely.

The company did say it was again changing plans for moving its headquarters, also in hopes of saving money. Previously, Merck said it would vacate the Whitehouse Station office and move those people to an existing facility in Summit, N.J. On Tuesday, Merck said it will close the Whitehouse Station building and the Summit campus, with remaining employees moving to another existing facility in Kenilworth, N.J. The moving will commence in 2014 and be completed by 2015, Merck said.

 “These actions will make Merck a more competitive company, better positioned to drive innovation and to more effectively commercialize medicines and vaccines for the people who need them,” Merck chief executive and Philadelphia native Kenneth C. Frazier said in a statement. “Today’s announcement further underscores that we are committed to improving our performance in the short term while also investing for the long term to create value for patients, customers and shareholders.”

In Tuesday's Inquirer, Paul Mercurio, recording secretary for United Steelworkers Union Local 10-00086, which has just under 2,000 members at the Merck facility in West Point, said the company offered buyout packages to union workers on Sept. 20 amid talk of other cut backs.

"We hear more cuts are coming in the management ranks," Mercurio told the Inquirer Monday evening.

Tuesday's cuts are on top of more than 20,000 job cuts that Merck has made since it bought Schering-Plough in late 2009.

Merck said in an SEC filing in August that it had set aside $418 million in the first six months of 2013 for restructuring costs, mostly employee severance. That was less than in the same period of 2012, but both are part of a phase of downsizing that began after the Schering-Plough deal. (The Schering-Plough phase followed a 2008 downsizing.) From 2010 through June 30, 2013, that program eliminated 23,810 positions, including full-time employees, contractors, and vacant positions, according to the SEC filing.

Source: Philly.com 

Wal-Mart plans 'largest ever' warehouse in Pa.; Amazon boosts Pa., Del. hiring

Biggest-ever Wal-Mart warehouse rises in Bethlehem

Wal-Mart plans 'largest ever' warehouse in Pa.; Amazon boosts Pa., Del. hiring

Pennsylvania, once the Workshop of the World, is now just America's Warehouse:

- Wal-Mart says it will open "its largest ever" warehouse in Bethlehem, Pa., in the Spring, and hire 350 workers to ship electronics, toys, guns and other popular items. Liberty Property Trust says it has leased to Wal-Mart the newly-completed 1.2 million sq ft facility at 2785 Commerce Center Blvd.

- Amazon.com says it will hire 70,000 new workers to ship Christmas orders through its warehouses in Pennsylvania, Delaware and ten other states. Amazon has 3 warehouses in east-central Pennsylvania -- more than any other state except Indiana and Kentucky -- and two more in Middletown and New Castle, Del.

Wal-Mart, like other store-based retailers, is trying to boost its warehouse operation so it doesn't end up like Borders, Best Buys and other online-retailing victims.

Source: Philly.com

Northeast Region Bidding – July – September 2013

Retail construction project bids continued to dominate all industries in the private sector for our Northeast region bidding landscape during the third quarter of 2013. The Northeast region encompasses the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. CDCNews reported on 8,316 construction projects that had a bid date between July 1^st and September 30^th.  Of those 8,316 projects, 7,009 were bid by the public sector and 1,307 were private sector projects.

Of the 7,009 public projects, 1,938 were classified as General Building, 1,639 were Specialty Trades, 3,256 were Heavy/Highway and 906 were Sewer & Water projects.  There is some overlap in the numbers since projects can fall into more than one classification. General Building projects are all general construction projects regardless of size. Specialty Trades are projects with three or less trades involved where subcontractors can bid as a “prime contractor”. Heavy & Highway projects include projects involving road paving, tennis courts, athletic fields, drainage, dredging, demolition, traffic signals, site improvements and bridges. Sewer & Water are projects involving pump stations, water treatment facilities, force mains, septic work, inspection services, drainage, etc.

The public sector saw a healthy mix of projects across all industries. Engineering projects maintained their dominance by making up 49 percent of all public sector bids. This was followed by Governmental at 16 percent, Educational at 12 percent and General/Civil Joint Projects at 11 percent.

 

Construction bids for the Retail industry made up 44 percent of all private sector projects that bid during July, August and September. This was followed by Office at 14 percent, Medical at 12 percent and Educational at 10 percent. The projects bid cover everything from simple alterations to fit-outs and renovations all the way up to new construction and additions to current structures.

Following is a sampling of the projects that bid out in the Northeast region from July 1^st through September 30^th, 2013:

Bids were received on July 23, 2013 for the Culinary Institute of America Student Recreation Center Expansion. Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management was selected as the general contractor on the 37,000-SF addition and construction is expected to start by the end of the month.

Agostini/Bacon Construction Companies, Inc. of Rumford, RI was the apparent low bidder for the Greater New Bedford Vocational-Technical High School Renovations & Addition that bid on September 10, 2013. The 72,000-SF addition was designed by Drummey, Rosane & Anderson, Inc. of Newton Center, MA.

Construction is expected to start on two Wal-Mart Supercenter projects in New Jersey this month. Carlson Construction & Carlson Brothers, Inc. of Joliet, IL is the general contractor for the construction of Store No. 3078-00 in East Brunswick. MMA Architects of Neptune, NJ was the architect on the 154,000-SF store. March Associates Construction, Inc. of Wayne, NJ is the general contractor for the renovation and 32,000-SF addition at Store No. 2651-02 located in Manville, NJ.

Jett Industries, Inc. of Colliersville, NY was the apparent low bidder for a WWTP Carbon Addition Facility that bid on September 26, 2013 for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. They submitted a low bid of $73,569,000.

Preliminary Pricing bids were received on September 19, 2013 for the Moody & Main On The Common development. The 436,000-SF mixed-use project is being developed by Northland Investment Corporation of Newton, MA and the architect on the project is ADD, Inc. of Boston. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014.

Ernest Bock & Sons, Inc. of Philadelphia was selected as the design-build firm for the Buckshutem Elementary School & Quarter Mile Lane Elementary School Addition & Renovation for the Bridgeton Board of Education.

Source: Construction Data Company

Singh Center for Nanotechnology to open Friday

Construction of the building for Engineering and College research began in early 2011

The new Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which began construction two and a half years ago in February 2011, will be opening this Friday.

The building, designed to accommodate researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Arts and Sciences, is built around two massive labs specially designed to maximize precision in scientific experiments. “The dogma for the first floor is no dust,” said Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt. “The dogma downstairs is no vibration.”

On the first floor, he’s referring to the giant cleanroom, a scientific facility with a low concentration of particles in the air to conduct nanoresearch. “We had a very primitive one before, but now ours is state of the art,” Glandt said.

One wall of the 10,000 square feet cleanroom faces the sunlit entrance. It’s a beautiful view, but ultraviolet rays from the sun pose potential harm to the experiments inside. The architects decided to counteract this by building an amber colored wall to filter out the damaging rays.

This wall of amber in the sea of glass and white columns sets the color scheme for the entire building. Marigold lounge chairs and tables stand out against pristine white staircases and pillars. Booths of the same color fill one wall of the second floor.

“We added lounges and booths to have the space be colonized by students once it opens,” Glandt said.

The second floor contains 10 new labs, which are for “new faculty growth,” according to Glandt. Current College and Engineering scientists in departments ranging from bioengineering to physics, as well as new hires, will share this space.

Continuing further upstairs, one reaches the cantilevered floor, which juts out and above the second floor. Glandt and University Architect David Hollenberg call it a “daring civil engineering gesture.”

The cantilever soars above the rest of the 3200 block on Walnut, offering a view all the way up Walnut street past Huntsman Hall. “If there is beachfront property on campus, this is it,” Glandt said.

The Singh Center is also an environmentally conscious building. On top, a green roof with a terrace looks out over the courtyard below as well as the Walnut street block. “This green roof is a lot rawer than other green roofs,” Hollenberg said, pointing to the six new magnolia trees and the shrubs surrounding them. “It really presents a contrast.”

The plants on the roof will be regularly watered with stormwater collected by specially designed pipes in the courtyard, another green feature. “We’re shooting for a minimum LEED silver [award], but we’re hoping for gold,” said Anne Papageorge, vice president of Facilities and Real Estate Services.

Downstairs below the cleanroom in the Garden Lobby, the building has more features designed to keep vibrations to a minimum. The walls have special metal plates built into them to guard against outside electromagnetic fields, and the front courtyard was built to shield the lower level from the noise of the street. “If there is nuclear war, we will meet there,” Glandt jokes of the lower level.

The measure is necessary since that floor contains experiments which use electron microscopy — a very precise scientific technique that allows researchers to see things directly on the molecular level. “The temperature control is plus or minus 0.1 degrees centigrade … and the metal cabinets had to be replaced with wooden ones,” Glandt said, giving examples of some of the measures taken.

As much as the building itself is a work of architecture, it also has several installations of fine art placed throughout. Most prominently, jutting out from the manicured courtyard lawn is Tony Smith’s famous 1962 “We Lost,” a monolithic black polygon. Many years ago, it could be seen in place of the Love statue on College Green, but it was put away for storage until now.

“It is much better here than it was there,” Glandt said.

Source: The Daily Pennsylvanian