Blatstein’s plans for Broad and Washington include rooftop village, 1000 apartments
Since the preliminary plans were presented for Bart Blatstein‘s project for Broad and Washington, plans have shifted. In 2014, two residential towers with as many as 28-stories and 210,000 sq. ft. of retail space were expected for the property.
Blatstein’s development is now moving forward, with him seeking zoning variances for the site, and now unveiling the updated plans for this massive project. The plans for this development include 1,000 residential units, 143,000 sq. ft. in commercial space and 25,000 sq. ft. for multi-tenant office space.
Since this project was first presented, Blatstein has scrapped one of the two residential towers for the property. Plans now show 800 residential units for the 34-story tower, a smaller residential space with 60 units accessible from 13th Street, and another 100 to 120 units of “quaint but luxurious” living above the ground floor commercial spaces.
The retail spaces in Blatstein’s old plans included a grocery store (sorry, it’s not Wegmans), restaurants, a bike shop and more. The 210,000 sq. ft. of commercial space has now been reduced to about 143,000 sq. ft., which would be split between the ground floor retail spaces with 77,000 sq. ft. and the fourth-floor roof space with another 66,000 sq. ft. for retail and restaurants. This fourth level is being called the “Village,” which would be a gathering space with a mix of small boutiques and casual and formal dining options. This area would include internalized outdoor gathering space and pathways. The village would be accessible through an entrance at 13th and Washington.
This new plan also includes 25,000 sq. ft. for a co-working-style office space and “modestly-sized business concerns.”
Updated parking plans include 620 spaces in the three floors of garage space for the use of the tenants, retail customers and visitors. This is scaled down from the 710 spots planned previously. Curb cuts and entrances for the parking are proposed for both Carpenter Street and Washington Avenue.
Want to see more of this project? The proposal for the Civic Design Review is now posted on the Planing Commission’s website.
The density is wonderful–this corner needs it. The parking is obnoxious. I don’t want people driving into or around the neighborhood to go here. Walk, bus, bike, ride the subway, take a cab, anything but drive and park your car in a major urban area. But this Village thing is totally ridiculous. Who’s going to go up four floors to shop and eat there? Most people won’t even know it’s there. I cannot fathom how he thinks this will work. It’s hard enough to keep retail and restaurants in ground-floor spaces on South Broad. It’s going to be an empty village.
Spot on in every point. Blatstein is living in the 80s. He’s more focused on a concept that he likes than on what will actually work for this space. 600+ parking spots will create a nightmare of traffic, and it will attract car owners.
And the proposal for the village in its current form is absurd. At the end of the day, Blatstein is one mess of a developer.
This is the equivalent of putting a large flat wall between South Philly and the rest of the city–blocking any view that someone might have south of Washington. It enormous and ugly1
And the lower part just feels like a mall. I can’t imagine any millennial (which is who he seems to be targeting) wanting to live there at all and the only restaurant I see in a place like this are chains like Olive garden.
Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Did I hear Olive Garden?!! Bring it on sistaaa!!!
Is Philadelphia really that hard up for apartments? 1000 units?
@Asia, read today’s paper. Philly experienced the 4th highest increase in rents in the country. So, yeah, the rental market may be just a little hot…..
That means supply is low.
The “village” is such a stupid idea that I almost wonder if Blatstein really has a plan ‘B’ in mind for it but figures it’ll be easier to slip this through community groups.