Centennial Village, the mixed-use rental project that the city hopes will replace blight and help revitalize a section of West Parkside, has broken ground. Mayor Michael Nutter joined community members and neighborhood organizations at the Centennial Village groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. The project will transform 52nd Street between Columbia and Parkside Avenues, and some areas nearby.

When completed, Centennial Village will have 52 units of affordable housing available for seniors and people with disabilities. The project also includes an apartment building with 30 new units. It will also rehabilitate eight single-family homes and one duplex. The project also includes 7,633 square feet of commercial space.

“Centennial Village is a key project for the revitalization of Parkside,” Nutter said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “The project eliminates blight and improves quality of life for residents. This impacts levels of crime, property values, and community pride.”  Continue Reading

Here’s a chance to participate in an important neighborhood planning process. Residents are invited to an open house on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to provide feedback on the draft Action Plan for the West Philadelphia Promise Zone. The open house will be held at People’s Emergency Center Community Room (325 North 39th Street). Participants are welcome to come anytime between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to review key aspects of the Action Plan, and provide feedback.

At the open house, you can learn about:

• Strategies to help residents in economic development, education, health and wellness, housing, and public safety.
• The planning process that helped develop the Promise Zone Action Plan.
• Opportunities for ongoing public involvement.

Your feedback can help guide important work in the neighborhoods, designated by President Barack Obama as the Promise Zone, and in some adjacent areas, including Belmont, East Parkside, Mantua, Mill Creek, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill and Walnut Hill.

You can register for the meeting here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/promise-zone-community-meeting-tickets-19431205258

The University City District’s recently released “The State of University City” report confirmed the worst-kept secret this side of the Schuylkill: The Meds-and-Eds juggernaut that fuels this part of the city is gaining speed.

The report, released every fall, tracks everything from rents, to occupancy rates in office buildings to the number of bike commuters in the University City District defined as the Schuylkill River to 50th Street, south to Woodland Avenue and north to Market Street and, in the Powelton neighborhoods, north again to Spring Garden Street.

According to this year’s report, a whopping 77 percent of the jobs in the area is in education and health care with “entertainment, hospitality and retail” in second with 8 percent. The University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine alone now account for more than 40,000 of those jobs.

The report shows that all of those good-paying jobs are attracting a lot of young, well-educated people. About 40 percent of the area’s population is between 20 years of age and 29. The number of children (5-14) in the area has dropped steadily since 2000.

Rents have also increased in most neighborhoods. The steepest increases have been in the Powelton Village neighborhood, where the median rent is just over $1,500 per month. The highest rents are in the “Central University City” area (roughly east of 38th Street and south of Market Street), where the median rent is just over $2,500 per month.

Median home prices grew from about $100,000 in 2000 to $300,000 in 2006, but have remained at that level since then, according to the report. But, of course, real estate prices vary widely by neighborhood. Prices in Spruce Hill, which includes the Penn Alexander School catchment, are just over $375,000. That’s a slight decrease compared to 2009 prices. The lowest median prices are in West Powelton at about $200,000.

Many residents’ fear of a loss of economic and racial diversity has followed the economic gains in the area. Technical.ly Philly talked to Seth Budick, senior manager of policy and research for UCD, ahead of the report’s release. “Prices are going up. The social consequences of that I don’t think we’re going to comment on too much,” Budick said. “For the most part, though, if you look at that rent figure … you’ll see a huge diversification.”

Here are some other tidbits:

• The population has steadily grown since 1990 and now stands at about 51,000.

• Well over 50 percent of people have at least a bachelor’s degree, while in the city as a whole that number is closer to 24 percent.

• University City District residents are three times as likely to commute on foot, bike or transportation than by car. Only 23 percent of residents reported commuting by car, compared to 59 percent of Philadelphians in general and 86 percent of all Americans. That number has remained steady since 2000.

• Occupancy rates for office buildings in the district are among the highest in the region at about 97 percent, according to the report. Developers, of course, have noticed and new office buildings are under construction or in the works.

– Mike Lyons

Renovations are continuing and the first three tenants are already lined up for the Frank Furness-designed church at 47th and Kingsessing that was saved from the wrecking ball last year.

Property owner Guy Laren confirmed by e-mail this week that two preschools, Little Learners and Children’s Community School, are still among the likely tenants for the commercial space at the former St. Peter’s Church of Christ complex, which includes a three-story parish house (formerly a school) and a main sanctuary. The church was saved from demolition in late 2014.

“There are so many moving parts to an old building like this that giving you absolute move-in dates would be difficult, but both pre-schools would move in at the earliest sometime early next year,” said Laren, whose West Philly property management company, Constellar Corporation, purchased the property in December 2014.

The Soapbox Community Print Shop recently announced it would be moving into a 4,500-square-foot space in the complex and has started a fundraising campaign to help offset the costs of renovations.

Guy said that he’s also working with an artist group to have some collaborative space in the complex as well.

“After all these are comfortably moved in we will consider other possibilities for the remaining space,” Laren said. Laren’s initial plans for the remaining space in the sanctuary included residential apartments or some other commercial use. We’ll keep you posted when we have more updates.

Matt Pestronk of Post Brothers speaking at the annual Spruce Hill Community Association meeting. (Photo West Philly Local)

Matt Pestronk did something at last night’s annual Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) member meeting that property developers rarely do anymore in the neighborhood. He voluntarily showed up and answered questions from residents about the reasons his company, Post Brothers, plans to spend some $250 million on apartment buildings, including the newly purchased Garden Court Plaza building at 47th and Pine.

Pestronk, who owns the company with his brother Michael, took questions ranging from whether they would allow pets in their buildings (an emphatic “yes” on that one) to whether Post Brothers would convert any rental units into condos and put them up for sale (probably not).

The company has acquired several buildings in recent years including: 4311 Spruce Street; The Netherlands at 4300 Chestnut; Chester Plaza at Farragut and Chester; Chester Hall at 4205 Chester; Hamilton Court at 3800 Chestnut; and Garden Court Plaza. Altogether, they have accrued about 550 units.  Continue Reading

Garden Court Plaza.

Development is on the agenda of the upcoming annual meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA), which will include a presentation by the new owners of the Garden Court Plaza.

Matthew A. Pestronk, president of Post Brothers, which recently bought the 13-story Garden Court Plaza at 4701 Pine St. (pictured) and plans to invest more than $250 million in housing development in the area, will speak at the meeting, slated for Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Griffith Hall on the USciences campus.

Pestronk will open the meeting at 6:30 p.m. His topic is “Investing in Philadelphia’s Neighborhoods, 2015 – The Challenges and Opportunities.”

After Pestronk’s talk, there will be reports on SHCA activities in the last year and election of officers.

“Come out to mingle, vote and learn about and discuss development in the neighborhood,” said Monica Calkins, SHCA president.

Eric Santoro is running for president and heads up an unopposed slate that includes Calkins for executive vice president.

The entrance to Griffith Hall is on 43rd St. between Regent Sq. and Woodland Ave.