Development Archives

Last week, City Council President Darrell Clarke proposed the creation of a Neighborhood Improvement District for the Temple University neighborhood in North Philadelphia. The bill was apparently introduced based on longtime complaints that developers have been short-dumping construction debris on the streets and in vacant lots, as well as that students routinely party and make loud noise late into the night.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission voted to approve a new master plan for development of the Delaware Riverfront, which will include the construction of more low-rise buildings, a waterfront trail, improved public access to the river, parks ever half-mile and extension of the street grid to the waterfront.

Our Philadelphia readers may be aware of the new hockey arena to be built in Allentown. The new arena will reportedly be a multi-purpose complex, and is estimated that it will cost $160 million. The complex is set to open next year.

On December 22, 2011, Mayor Michael Nutter signed Philadelphia’s new zoning code. We have previously mentioned the new code on this blog, and pointed out that it is intended to replace the old one, which had been recognized as cumbersome, outdated and economically stagnating for the city of Philadelphia.

In our previous post, we began recounting the various development projects that have been planned in the last year. We have already mentioned the city-wide comprehensive plan that was adopted back in June, individual district development plans, and plans for the Central Delaware Waterfront.

PlanPhilly recently ran a short reflection on the planning milestones of 2011 for the city of Philadelphia. As can be seen, there has been a lot of development planning activity this year, and more to follow in the coming year.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. will soon be engaging in a stadium-area development project in South Philadelphia by the name of Philly LIVE! on Pattison Ave. Plans for the restaurant-entertainment district were presented at the stadium complex on Thursday.

A nearly year-long suit between Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania and developer Brian O-Neill-one of the region’s most active developers of residential and commercial properties, reportedly ended in a settlement last Friday. O’Neill initially sought $8 billion in damages in the suit, which he filed in January in the midst of a difficult construction economy.

Officials in Camden County recently announced that the Pennsauken Mart site, which was set be demolished and replaced with a hockey arena and convention center seven years ago, will now become the site of residential development next summer.

Philadelphia city officials and supporters from the three-block branch of the Reading Viaduct-an abandoned railway that operated from 1893 to ‘984-have reportedly come up with a development plan intended to revitalize the area. The project is reportedly being led by the Reading Viaduct Project.