Oct. 2

By Kellie Patrick Gates
For PlanPhilly
 
      More than a year before Foxwoods Casino officials began examining a possible move to The Gallery at Market East, The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, commonly known as PREIT, was working on a plan to revamp that property.
      Now PREIT is revising those plans to accommodate a casino, Joseph Coradino, President of PREIT Services, LLC and PREIT-RUBIN, Inc., said in a brief interview while he headed to Wednesday's Phillies game.
      He thinks the proposed casino and other changes to The Gallery would dramatically improve the Market East corridor - the same, so-far-elusive goal that city and state officials talked about last month when they announced that Foxwoods was investigating a move from its proposed waterfront location to The Gallery.
      "Market East is kind of the last frontier," said Coradino, who holds a masters in urban planning and finance from the University of Arizona and did his undergraduate work at Temple in urban studies.  "Even North Broad Street has experienced more of a positive economic growth than Market East."
      Andy Altman, Philadelphia's deputy mayor for commerce and planning, said he also would want to take a holistic view of the casino project, a revamped Gallery, and what could be done to transform that part of the city.
     "I think it could be exciting," he said. "It's a good opportunity to do thoughtful planning for the whole area." But, Altman said, that opportunity has to be balanced with the concerns of the community. 
      Coradino would not detail either PREIT’s Foxwoods plans or those for The Gallery as a whole, saying they were far too tentative at this point.  
      "They are lines on paper that are being re-evaluated and critiqued and juried on a regular basis," he said.

______________________________________

SPOTLIGHT
Joseph F. Coradino
Age 56; Trustee since 2006
President of PREIT Services, LLC and PREIT-RUBIN, Inc. since June 2004 and Executive
Vice President-Retail Division since 2001.
Director of A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc. since 2006
______________________________________

     In very broad terms, he said that PREIT is interested in attracting new and different tenants to The Gallery, such as restaurants. Some existing businesses would have to move to make way for Foxwoods. Coradino said it has not been determined which ones, or whether PREIT would help them relocate.  Currently, the mall is anchored by Kmart and the Burlington Coat Factory.
      If Foxwoods were to locate at The Gallery, it would bring more people to the shops, Coradino said. But The Gallery's tenants would not be an assemblage of businesses designed to cater exclusively to casino-goers.
      Foxwoods would "drive traffic" to The Gallery, he said. But "casinos are busy at night and on weekends. We want to be more than that."
      Within the 1.08 million-square feet of Market East, there's room for other kinds of retail, he said. "I think we want to accomplish something that will be additive in terms of the customer base of The Gallery, so that we realize patronage from the new Center City residents, visitors to the Historic District, from the Convention Center expansion, and the commuter. We want to do something that will embrace all of those constituents."
      Altman has been part of the discussions between PREIT, Foxwoods and the city. At this point, he said, design principles and concepts are more important than any particular sketch because the sketches are so preliminary.
      So far, he said, the principles he is hearing from PREIT and Foxwoods match up with the city's hopes for the area.  Altman said he would hope the final plan would "open up The Gallery with street-level restaurants and retail" and would essentially be "reskinning the building, turning the box inside out."
      "The sense I get from them and their design team is that's what they want to accomplish," Altman said. But a lot of work needs to be done - including a study to determine what physically can be done with the existing building. "It's one thing to say it, it's another thing to see how to actually make it work," he said. "You can have great design intentions, but there are any number of technical issues to work through."
      Community groups in Chinatown - and city leaders - want more information about what Foxwoods at The Gallery would look like. Some have already come out against the proposed casino.
      Terry Gillen, senior advisor to Mayor Michael Nutter for economic development and his point person on casinos, said Foxwoods has been told the city wants drawings that are ready for the public by Friday. Gillen would like to present drawings to the public at a Chinatown forum next week.
      On Monday, Foxwoods showed the city some very preliminary sketches, for discussion purposes only - casino representatives took the drawings with them when they left the meeting.
     "Those are our designs," Coradino said when asked if he'd seen the tentative drawings. "They would be the tenant."
      Would more detailed drawings be in the city's hands by week's end? Coradino said he wasn't certain.
      "We will be presenting alternatives," he said, but they may or may not be at the point where the city can take them public.
      "There is a great deal of pressure on the process," Coradino said. PREIT "wants to move as quickly as possible, but we also want quality."  PREIT officials are locals, he said. "We don't take a plane at the end of the day - we want to do something we all can be proud of and that will promote additional economic growth."
      When the plans are ready for the public, there will be room for changes based on public input, Coradino said. PREIT wants that input, he said. But the drawings will also depict something that PREIT wants and likes. "If we present something that we're not happy with, we'll have something designed by committee. And I don't think we want to get there."
      After the public comments, PREIT will weave the feedback into the design and then present a final version to the city, he said.
      Coradino laughed when asked if the arrangement with Foxwoods was similar to those on real estate signs promising would-be buyers that the seller would "build to suit."
      But PREIT is now holding meetings with architects and engineers to determine what the casino would look like, where exactly it would be, and how high it might rise above the current structure.
      The Gallery was built with three "designated pads" designed to hold additional floors. Two are at the western end of the property, and one is at the eastern end.  Experts are now determining just how much extra load those supports can manage, Coradino said. But that doesn't mean Foxwoods would be built to those maximums.
       The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust was founded in 1960. It owns 55 retail properties, including 33 shopping malls, mainly in the mid-Atlantic States.
     Altman said that at this early stage in the process, PREIT and Foxwoods have mostly been working on getting their ideas together while the city and City Council have been working on getting what information they have out to community groups and devising a process by which the plans for Foxwoods would be reviewed.
     Altman said that citizens who come to next week's meeting will learn about Foxwoods' and PREIT's intentions, but he did not know if they would see drawings.
    "Even at this point, sharing design intentions with the community is important, so that they have a sense of where (Foxwoods and PREIT) are coming from - even if it's not exactly what it will be," he said. "But that ultimately translates into many different potential designs."
     Altman said he would only endorse showing preliminary sketches next week if they had evolved to the point where they have a likely resemblance to the final product. Otherwise, people could get hung up on a design that really is never going to happen, he said.
     The Planning Commission will play a lead role in the evaluation of the plan for Foxwoods Casino, Altman said, and there will be opportunities for public input.
    "Design issues are going to matter, and there are a lot of other things the Commission would ultimately need to evaluate. We're going to need to understand traffic and transportation and community issues," he said.
     But no one knows yet just how many meetings there will be, or when they will start, or all the information the Commission will require for its evaluation, or how City Council and the Planning Commission will work together.
     "We still haven't worked out what the process is going to be yet," Altman said. "We don't have plans in front of us yet - they didn't leave anything with us - it's just so preliminary."

      Contact the reporter at kelliespatrick@gmail.com

PREIT website

Sept. 25

By Kellie Patrick Gates
For PlanPhilly

       City officials expect to soon receive plans detailing what Foxwoods Casino would look like if it moves to The Gallery at Market East.
       "I think we'll see something by the end of next week," Terry Gillen, senior adviser to Mayor Michael Nutter for economic development, said Thursday morning. Gillen was also clearly pleased with a letter the city received last week from the Design Advocacy Group in support of relocation to the Gallery.
       DAG is an organization of architects, planners, preservationists, builders, and others whose mission is to promote design excellence in the region. "A big design group has weighed in that this is a good move. We're happy about that," Gillen said.
       DAG's letter, which was approved by the roughly 20-member steering committee and dated five days after Foxwoods announced it was considering The Gallery - states that the location is advantageous because it is very well served by public transportation and is close to existing hotels, shops and restaurants.  DAG also wrote that both the site and the casino design must be thoroughly reviewed in an open process.
       "We really do welcome this. This is a remarkable option for the city," said DAG vice chairman David Brownlee in a phone interview this afternoon.
       But he and fellow vice chairmen George L. Claflen Jr., who was also part of the phone call, said while their organization has endorsed the site, much hinges on the design. DAG has invited Foxwoods' developers to a design review.  They haven't heard back.
     "We are expecting to have preliminary sketches to show the city for discussion purposes only in the next few days," Foxwood spokeswoman Maureen Garrity said in an email. Foxwoods is "at least a few weeks" away from unveiling more detailed renderings, she said.
     The developments are the latest in a series of events that began in July when a contingent of state legislators said they had joined forces to get both casinos to move. The next day, Gov. Ed Rendell joined the cause - he said there had been a change in political climate in the city, and the casinos would go up faster if they changed locations. Mayor Michael Nutter, the governor and some state legislators announced in late August that Foxwoods was considering alternative locations. The group announced The Gallery site at a Sept. 10 press conference.
       Since that announcement, city representatives and Councilman Frank DiCicco's office have worked on planning and zoning issues related to the move. They have also been meeting with neighborhood organizations that represent residents near the proposed new site, including Chinatown and Washington Square West.
       Gillen said the various community groups are "in different stages" of trying to figure out what Foxwoods at The Gallery would mean to them.  "The groups want to know that they can weigh in, and that this is not a done deal," Gillen said.
       It's not a done deal, she said. "We're very much in the early stages of figuring this out."
       Helen Gym, a board member of Asian Americans United, remains as frustrated and disappointed as she was the day of the public announcement - which was also the day that Gym found out a casino might be moving to her neighborhood.
       Of course she wants to see the plans, she said, but no matter what the casino they depict looks like, Gym said AAU won't give its support unless the process comes to a halt while studies are done to determine the impact a casino would have on the neighborhood and the city.
       "They were willing to do it for the waterfront," she said, referring to The Central Delaware Plan, which was developed by PennPraxis after more than a year of community and expert input. "It's hard to imagine they would settle for less for the very heart of Philadelphia."
       Gym said she knows the city will do some studies, and has heard that a social impact study has begun, but her organization has not been contacted regarding it. Asian Americans United is concerned about gambling addiction - Gym said studies have shown that Asian Americans are more prone to become addicted than other ethnic groups.
       The city is not doing a social impact study, Gillen said, but the Department of Behavioral Health is researching the question of gaming addiction in various ethnic groups. "The mayor asked them to think about what kind of program we might need to put in place, and do we have to pay particular attention to certain ethnic groups because of a move to the Gallery," Gillen said.
       The studies on Asians and gambling addiction that the department has seen show mixed conclusions, Gillen said - some say there is a correlation, others do not.
       The Department of Behavioral Health also convened a committee on Asian American health issues - including behavioral health issues - two years ago. The committee still exists, Gillen said, and "a lot of good work is in place that we can build on."
       Gym does not believe Gillen’s statement that The Gallery location isn't a done deal. She would start to believe it, she said, if the city removed gaming revenue from its 2010 budget.
       The city did move the casino money back a year, from 2009 to 2010, Gillen said. That's where it will stay. "People should understand it's not a done deal in Chinatown, but it is a done deal in Philadelphia," she said.
       Gillen said the pressure from Harrisburg has been "enormous." During the budget process, legislators from other states were threatening to withhold Philadelphia's share of casino revenue, since it is being generated from casinos operating in other places, she said. The mayor worked "channels in Harrisburg" hard to keep funding, she said, but that likely won't happen again.
       Gym thinks the new location was found in a completely backwards way. Foxwoods should not have been leading the process, she said. The city should have taken the lead and determined where the best site was, and presented that site to the casino.
       Foxwoods got to take the lead, Gillen said, "because Foxwoods has a legal right to build on the waterfront. They were given that right by the Supreme Court over our objections."
       The elected officials involved in the resiting have all said that there is nothing they can do to force Foxwoods or SugarHouse from the sites where the Gaming Control Board gave them licenses to operate, so any move would have to be voluntary.
       Foxwoods "came back and offered up a site that we think makes a lot of sense," Gillen said. "If we conclude that site doesn't work, I think Foxwoods goes back to the waterfront. They're not shopping around for sites."
       If Foxwoods goes back to their waterfront site, the city will go back to its previous position that they've got to meet traffic and other requirements before Philadelphia issues a zoning or building permit, Gillen said.
       But Foxwoods has already taken the city to the State Supreme Court over this issue. They have filed a request asking the Court to appoint a Special Master, saying that the city is once again dragging its feet in violation of an earlier court order.
       The Court hasn't rendered a decision yet, but Gillen doesn't think much of the city's chances, noting that the city has lost 12 casino-related court decisions already.
       DAG's Brownlee, an expert in architectural history and historic preservation, and Claflen, principal of Claflen Associates, Architects & Planners, can't wait to see Foxwoods' designs.
       They wonder whether the casino will take up existing retail space or only rise above The Gallery - its foundations were built to handle more floors. They wonder which street the main entrance would be on, and whether the plan will call for one, large gambling floor or multiple floors, stacked on top of each other. And they hope that there's not a big parking garage, since one of the big reasons DAG likes this site is that it's a public transit hub with existing garages and hotels close by.
       If Foxwoods is built at The Gallery, the neighborhoods which feel that impact "should not be shy in asking for mitigation funds and other benefits," Claflen said.
       Some mitigation could have broad benefits that might do more than make up for casino issues, Claflen said. For example, he said, many have talked about the expensive prospect of sinking I-95, but 676 is already sunken. In some places, including Logan Square, it's covered. And it could be covered in Chinatown, he said.
  

      Contact the reporter at kelliespatrick@gmail.com

• Design_Standards_for_Casinos2005.doc
• Urban_Design_Evaluation_Guidelines.pdf
• DAG_Foxwoods_Letter_to_Mayor.pdf

Aug. 13

Postcard from San Francisco 

Postcard from Pittsburgh

By Arrus Farmer
For PlanPhilly

BADEN-BADEN, Germany - “Yes, we’re going to have to go right to ludicrous speed”

It’s 717 kilometers from Berlin to Baden-Baden, quite the stretch by European standards where culture and language can change from village to village.  But the trip is impressive, beautiful countryside, an incredible piece of infrastructure, and a driving culture where the user understands that the right lane is a passing lane.  Here driving is a joy, people take pride in their automobiles, and they drive really, really fast.  For a person who is unaccustomed to riding at speed of 130 mph+ it can be stressful, especially in those curves that probably should have a speed limit, or a warning sign, or something for the love of god… 

Lucky for me, there were a few interesting planning applications along the way which helped to preserve my mental health and overall emotional stability.  No matter how interesting though, these distractions could do little to save the door handle which will from now on bare the imprint of my five sweaty fingers. 

Like Polka Dots of Civilization

The small towns that dot the German countryside are compact nodes of development contained and surrounded by working fields that produce varieties of grain, feed, and vegetables.  Farmers this time of year in southern Germany are cutting their hayfields in wide swaths and the highway is lined with freshly shorn golden fields of stubbled stalks.  Some solid planning over the past four centuries has helped to preserve these working landscapes and the towns that they surround.  Compact nodal development is prevalent throughout the country and planners use a performance based zoning to manage growth and mix uses. 

Although every town does it a little differently, German zoning can best be characterized as build to fit.  Height, density, building envelope and even use are often permitted based upon the existing built form or the context that will hopefully be achieved.  Similar to American zoning, the Germans have several residential classifications, a few mixed use categories, an industrial classification and a few odds and ends to fit other miscellaneous uses.  While the primary goal of zoning in the US has been to separate incompatible uses, Germans historically have used zoning to encourage compact mixed use development which preserves both natural and workable land (agriculture, mining and timber, industry or heavy commercial).  This solid regulatory framework produces an enjoyable and consistent form in most German cities.  Combine that with high quality European design, pedestrian primacy and a tradition of urban-green, and you’ve got what many planners would call a city well built. 



Once Baden, thrice named
Though they may be gifted in the creation of regulations for their cities, Germans have a rotten way of naming them.  There is a strange habit of calling multiple towns by the same name, usually they are specified by some other characteristic like the river nearby  i.e. Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurt on the Main River, and Frankfurt am Oder: Frankfurt on the Other River.  No kidding, those are the actual names of the rivers, and their English translation.

There are no less than three Badens though: Baden bei Wien, Baden im Argau, and of course Baden-Baden.  Why the repetition?  Baden-Baden is in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, thus the meaning Baden in Baden.

This Baden is a small hillside town at the foot of the Black Forest near the Swiss and French Borders.  It’s a popular vacation destination, especially well known for its baths which have been said to have healthful qualities since the time of the Roman Empire.  The streets here are lined with impressively preserved Villas that bare the same French influence which plays upon the region’s cuisine, language, and residents.  There are nearly 60,000 Baden-Badenites, many of whom walk the streets and sidewalks of the bustling pedestrian zone in the center of the city.  Cafés line the streets and one gets the impression that everyone is on vacation, or living out the golden years of their lives since many seem to be of my grandmother’s generation.  That could explain the somewhat outlandish prices: 3€ for a cone of lemon gelato (smacks of Capagiro on Rittenhouse Square) but its worth it to be able soak up the warm summer air and enjoy an afternoon of my favorite hobby, people watching.

Casi-Yes

One of the most popular spots in the city is the 200 year old Casino Baden-Baden and in contrast to our American standard it is a sight to behold.  The Parisian Chateau inspired building is located at the rear of a public park in the town’s center which it also shares with a small-scale outdoor concert venue, two cafes and a number of small boutiques. 

There is a lot of activity here, the café terraces, like those in the vibrant pedestrian area are filled to capacity with folk seeing and being seen.  I get the impression that most aren’t here only for the casino, and that they are both residents and tourists alike.  The design of the surrounding buildings addresses the park as the centerpiece of the locale.  The surrounding uses are accessory to the public and social use of the open space.  
 

The casino building itself is exquisitely designed and ornamented, such that it resembles a small palace or large mansion of its day.  A strict dress code of smoking jackets for men and evening wear for women is equally nostalgic. The interior of the casino is reminiscent to the gambling scenes of James Bond films: 007 could approach the bar at any moment, make eye contact with the stunning vixen across the bar, and gesture to the bartender: “Vodka martini, shaken not stirred.”  But there is some other force at work here that makes this scene belong to another time and place: there are no cars. 

It’s the Parking stupid
Although the streets bustle with passers by, window shoppers and café goers there seems to be little auto traffic here.  The roadways seem secondary to sidewalks and there are far more people than cars about.  Around the casino are all of the peripheral uses one would expect, numerous hotels, restaurants, high-end retail.  What one may not expect after having visited Vegas or Atlantic City is that folks here walk from their hotels to restaurants, gaming houses, shops and parks.  The casino is just another destination in a well planned urban system of public and private spaces.   

This pedestrian-friendly environment is made possible in large part due to an extensive network of underground parking garages.  There are few surface lots to be found here.  Hotels, restaurants, and even public spaces like parks and the successful pedestrian shopping district all stand on top of multiple levels of auto garages.

More than 2,000 spaces are managed by a quasi-municipal parking authority which collects user-fees through numerous automated ticket booths, maintains existing lots and provides parking garage planning, construction, and management services to private developers.  Additionally, the parking authority administers a bike rental system with depots located at each of their lots throughout the city.  Reasonable hourly and daily rates are made available and paid through the same automated system as the parking fares.  Through the provision of these services the Baden-Baden Parking Authority finances maintenance and expansion of their product. 

When parking is done right it facilitates design with a different emphasis: a pedestrian emphasis.  Fewer cars on the roads mean more room for sidewalks, street-side cafes, playgrounds, and other amenities. Removing the developer’s burden of building parking palettes and seas of surface lots makes it possible for public and private spaces to flow seamlessly and the value of public edges to be captured.  (Think of the hotels on Rittenhouse Square. Where would they be if there were 500 spaces separating their front door from the park?)  Subterranean parking allows for multiple entrances and exits to public and private space, allowing large uses to be integrated into the city’s fabric.  The casino and its supporting hotels and restaurants fit seamlessly into the city’s existing street grid allowing guests and passersby equal access to the private and public amenities offered.  The costs of implementing similar systems in the States are often thought to be prohibitive, a visit to Baden-Baden however reveals the invaluable benefits of an effective comprehensive parking plan.

     
email: arrus.farmer@gmail.com

Arrus Farmer is a Robert Bosch Fellow based in Berlin, Germany working in the planning and administration of large scale public-private developments.  He holds both a Masters of City Planning and a Masters of Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania which were completed earlier this year.  Farmer has worked with Praxis on a number of civic engagement projects including the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware Riverfront.

July 30

By Thomas J. Walsh
For PlanPhilly

Amid the discussions coming out of a three-day PennPraxis workshop addressing the designs of the two proposed Delaware Riverfront casinos, there were some veritable positive vibes about the gaming halls, especially from a California architect with casino experience in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

While pointing out what he considered “gigantic” parking garages, both the SugarHouse and Foxwoods casinos would be “actually an amenity to do what you want to do, which is to bring people to the riverfront,” said Tim Magill, a Hollywood architect who has worked with gaming magnates like Steve Wynn and on high-profile projects like the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

“Thinking about how development can happen north and south of both of these sites is an important aspect” of the casinos’ plans, Magill said. “On both sites ... there is potential for major public access. By minor modifications [from the casino developers], you could deliver on your goals.”

Those goals comprise the 10-step civic action plan laid out by PennPraxis for the central Delaware waterfront for the next decade. But Magill was laying out facts about the gaming industry around the country – that, if developed in a smart fashion, casinos can be leveraged to pull in the public and increase surrounding property values.

After the morning session, Magill pointed to an example on a large map, among many views of the river pinned to the walls. He told PlanPhilly that one site, now the home of Wal-Mart and Home Depot (and their accompanying mega-parking lots), would probably be redeveloped, since it sits directly south of the Foxwoods site. The big box stores represent “property values that have not been fully realized,” he said. “The developers know that. What they’ve done is sort of land-banked it” with the retail chains serving as an interim means of cash flow.

It’s about the vision
The workshop, with a couple of dozen city representatives and experts on traffic, transit, environmental and ecological matters, got started Tuesday night, with the group concluding that the two casinos are not currently compatible with the “civic values, principles and design guidelines” put forth in the Praxis vision of a redeveloped waterfront. (See previous story from earlier this morning here: http://www.planphilly.com/node/3607.)

The presidents of both casinos declined invitations to the workshop from Harris Steinberg, executive director of Praxis, in strongly worded replies (see Foxwoods' and SugarHouse's) that said their presence would be pointless, since Steinberg had stated publicly several times that he and Praxis were against the casinos ever breaking ground.

But Steinberg stressed that he’s not anti-casino, and that Tuesday evening’s conclusion that the casinos were incompatible meant “only as currently designed.” His goal, he said, is to tease out how these projects, on these sites, can contribute to the overall Praxis vision and action plan, endorsed last month by Mayor Nutter.

That’s what Steinberg charged a smaller afternoon group to come up with. Magill started that process by laying see-through drawing paper over the Foxwoods site and marking up areas where, for instance, retail could replace parking garage facades, or spots that seemed realistic as possibilities for more vertical development. With a few “minor modifications,” Magill said, the casinos could be “activity generators that will prime the pump for other properties” down the line.

“Casinos are highly public,” Magill assured the attendees. “The key is to optimize the public’s access to the river. I actually think you’re on your way.”

‘No man’s land’
But before that happy scenario can play out, there are infrastructure questions galore, not the least of them having to do with parking and the importance of incorporating the casinos’ plans for extending existing streets to the riverfront, along with the opportunity to stress impacts to the environment, from the new buildings themselves and from the traffic they bring to the problematic Columbus Boulevard (also known as Delaware Avenue), which Steinberg called a “no man’s land” for pedestrians.

“By what criteria do they contribute?” Steinberg said was the main question underlying the workshop. “Tim [Magill] is saying they could be, but not necessarily that they will be. The real concern is that there is clearly not a parking solution. And we’re going to push back hard to see where things fall in terms of the civic vision. We’re here in an advisory capacity.”

Steinberg said he’d like to deliver a report on the group’s findings by Friday, Aug. 8.

Even with the parking question, which dominated the afternoon session, Magill posited some California optimism, suggesting that encouraging bus transportation and off-site “employee parking pods” would actually enhance sustainability and a transit-oriented boulevard.

Ecological and environmental concerns were aired before lunch, with the theme of “honoring the river.” Using the water in the best way and protecting the estuary were main points. Mark Alan Hughes, the city’s first Deputy Mayor of Sustainability, admitted that any recommendations on these fronts would be “aspirational” at this point.

“We just want to know where they are,” Hughes said. “There can be no deal-breakers. There are tools [related to energy and emissions] that are just not there yet. We have a set of mechanisms that we are working toward.”

Waiting and seeing
Terry Gillen, senior adviser to Mayor Nutter for economic development and the interim executive director of the city’s Redevelopment Authority, said the most significant issues have to do with air quality, within the context of traffic and parking. “It’s a very car-centric industry, at least in the U.S.” she said of the casino business. “In Europe, they have a different model.”

Magill also said that modern casinos have been increasingly moving toward maximizing spaces for non-gaming activities, such as nightclubs and spas. Indeed, the state of Nevada reached a point several years ago when non-gambling revenues surpassed the total “take” from slots and table games, a trend that has only increased.

The proposed Philadelphia casinos are said to be “mixed-use” from the start, and attendees at the afternoon workshop wanted to make sure of that. But subsequent phases of development, contingent upon the success of the initial building phases (with 2,500 slots for each casino) have been a consistent concern among city officials since Nutter took office earlier this year.

Foxwoods and SugarHouse have had an entirely different relationship with City Hall since the change in administrations, and contend that permits have been intentionally stalled by order of Nutter. They cite nothing but favorable decisions from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the state Supreme Court.

“There have been at least five different traffic studies, including ones by the Mayor’s Gaming Advisory Task Force, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, SugarHouse, Foxwoods, and the City Council,” according to information on the SugarHouse web site.

“I can only hope that we can come up with some decisions that they’ll look at,” said Gillen. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

On the Foxwoods web site, the owners say the casino “supports the city’s long-term goal of economically reinvigorating the remainder of the riverfront, and will provide public access to the river.” For its first-phase development, it lists restaurant and lounge venues open to the public, fine dining, sports bars, a 2,000-seat showroom, retail shops, a 4,200-space parking garage and a riverside walkway, in addition to the 3,000 slot machines.

The Philadelphia problem
Regarding the possibility of later phases of development, with a large hotel and more casino space, Gillen said that’s historically been “the Philadelphia problem. Developers come in and tend not to put all their cards on the table, and don’t tell us about future plans. We want to make sure there are no surprises down the road. The problem is that no one talked about that issue until January.”

Gillen said nailing down long-term plans is especially important from the city’s point of view because only when the later developments – the hotels, restaurants, nightclubs – become reality will the city see tax revenues. For the first phase, which will mostly be income from slot machines, the state will be the beneficiary.

Paul Levy, the popular president of the Center City District and the Central Philadelphia Development Corp., said developing master plans is vital for setting guidelines for major developments, but he may have surprised some attendees by suggesting that with regard to the casinos, “the horse” is “out of the barn, or partially out of the barn.”

“These casinos started the design process, and we as a city are trying to change the rules,” Levy said. “The development of a master plan is absolutely essential. ... We’ve all got to realize that we’re playing catch-up.”

In less direct terms, others agreed, saying recommendations on street landscaping, balance of retail with gaming, the creation or reduction of traffic lanes, pedestrian metrics, access to the river, ecological concessions, safety and any other concerns – broad in scope or narrow – should be offered as an opportunity to implement smarter growth along the waterfront.

“This is a neutral analysis,” Steinberg said, as the afternoon session started. “The report that’s issued will be used as a political tool by various constituencies, so it’s important to be sure about ‘What would it look like for a casino on that site to comply?’” with the Praxis vision and Action Plan.

In the meantime, Magill said that in his experience, casino developers usually listen to well thought-out alternatives, if only to see if they would make financial sense. Also, trends in the gaming industry have been drifting toward smaller “neighborhood casinos,” even in the Las Vegas and Reno metropolitan areas, Magill said (relatively speaking, SugarHouse and Foxwoods are not considered especially large gaming destinations). These venues have generally placed interactivity with their neighbors as a high priority, even when initially opposed.

After the workshop’s findings are written up and presented to Nutter, what then? Looking at large-scale, detailed maps taking up the better part of two large walls, peppered with post-it notes and varying computer-generated images, Steinberg was asked if he thought one or both or neither of the proposed and state-approved casinos will have broken ground a year from now.

It might have been a question he’s heard before. “I’m not a betting man,” he said, without batting an eye.

Contact the reporter at thomaswalsh1@gmail.com

SugarHouse web site: http://www.sugarhousecasino.com/home/index.php

Foxwoods web site: http://www.foxwoods.com/AboutFoxwoods/FDC_foxwoodsphiladelphia.aspx

• FWOODS_Response_to_Steinberg_Letter.pdf
• SHOUSEPennPraxis_7_22_08.pdf

July 30

By Thomas J. Walsh
For PlanPhilly

The second day of a “casino workshop” featuring senior city officials, traffic consultants, planning experts and architects began early Wednesday morning under the direction of PennPraxis, the clinical arm of the UPenn School of Design.

The discussions were part of what Praxis calls an “independent, third-party analysis of the current casino site plans” relative to its recent 10-year action plan for the Central Delaware Riverfront, which was endorsed by Mayor Michael Nutter.

Per Nutter’s request, Praxis plans to issue results from the casino report within 30 days. Present for the discussion were deputy mayors Rina Cutler (transportation and infrastructure) and Mark Alan Hughes (sustainability), Nutter’s economic development czar Terry Gillen, Center City District President Paul Levy and about 20 other professionals, some of them local specialists and some from other cities around the country.

Noticeably absent were representatives of the planned Foxwoods and SugarHouse casinos. “You are not an ‘independent’ voice in the casino debate,” wrote Robert Sheldon, president of SugarHouse, in response to an invitation to the workshop by Praxis Executive Director Harris Steinberg. “Even before being tasked by the Mayor to conduct an analysis, you concluded that casinos do not fit into your vision of the waterfront.”

Likewise, James Dougherty, president of Foxwoods, wrote to Steinberg that he had spoken out several times against the casinos within the Praxis vision, but that in any case, the point was moot, since the first phase (of three) of the casino development has been greenlighted by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (during the Street administration) and the state Supreme Court.

While Steinberg, in his opening remarks Wednesday, said that the casinos as currently designed do not meet planning and transportation needs for the long-term, he stressed that the workshop was not about re-location of the casinos, or about gambling.

“It’s not about use,” Steinberg said. “It’s about form” and how we as a city talk about investment in infrastructure and sustainability. “We’re not going to be taking sides whether these are good or bad developments.”

The morning sessions were broken down into four breakout groups to discuss transportation, urban design, ecology and sustainability.

Participants were issued a “civic vision matrix,” meant to facilitate discussion of specifics, with 10 goals broken down into detailed questions about the design and infrastructure of both casinos. If the questions were deemed in the negative, the chart further answers if the problem “can be fixed” or “can’t be fixed.”

“You’ll note that there’s a lot of  ‘can be fixed’ in this,” Steinberg said.

Among the transportation subgroup, the discussion moved into not only the capacity and width of Columbus Boulevard (the location of Foxwoods), parking, parking garages and the possibilities of enhanced public transit, but also the future relationship between the casino and the big box retailers to the south, such as Ikea and Home Depot.

“We have the only waterfront Wal-Mart in America,” noted Cutler. “The whole thing was developed in a truly suburban fashion. For me, part of what needs to happen is that a.) we don’t make those same mistakes over and over again and b.) to see if there’s a way to mitigate it.”

Cutler and others in the group generally agreed that Foxwoods’ plans for re-working Columbus Boulevard would work in the near-term, but there was much concern expressed about ultimate goals for the area.

“They are prepared to make big investments, but they might not be the investments we want to see, long-term,” said Jeremy Alvarez, a traffic engineer with Center City-based Stantec Consulting, which has worked with the city on a variety of traffic and transportation issues. “How much are we tying our hands if we allow these investments to go forward?”

Cutler also reminded the group that Columbus Boulevard is the official, federally mandated “escape route” for Interstate 95.

The concept of a new light rail system, which would alleviate many of the congestion concerns, was talked about, but such a system is “10 years away and a lot of money” at best, Cutler said.

PlanPhilly will continue to update this developing story as well as bring you video out-takes of the conference.

Contact the reporter at thomaswalsh1@gmail.com

• FWOODS_Response_to_Steinberg_Letter.pdf
• SHOUSEPennPraxis_7_22_08.pdf

April 16

Previous coverage

By Thomas J. Walsh
For PlanPhilly

The ghost of Ed Bacon loomed like one of I.M. Pei’s Society Hill towers in a crowded conference room atop Three Parkway on Tuesday and at ornate City Hall chambers Wednesday during lengthy meetings of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and City Council. Just the way the legendary planner would have liked it.

Bacon’s name and planning work was invoked at least a dozen times by advocates and opponents alike during two detailed debates about re-zoning for the proposed Stamper Square project, between Front and Second streets at Pine. The hotel-condominium development would soar above the surrounding neighborhood, filling what is now a long vacant tract that was once home to the troubled NewMarket.

In the latest of a series of proposals going back 20 years, the commercial re-zoning would allow the construction of a 15-story luxury hotel with 150 rooms and 80 condos. The Planning Commission says the design is “consistent with and respectful of neighborhood context, provides a high-quality design using appropriate materials, and provides significant public benefit, namely the ‘green mid-block path’ that continues the neighborhood’s long-established greenway network.”

Nonetheless, the staff’s recommendation to the commissioners was to ask City Council to hold off on final passage of the remapping ordinance. The idea is to give the Planning Commission more time to approve a binding agreement – or a deed restriction – to make sure the developer builds what is approved, and to establish a one-year sunset provision for the re-zoning. After much discussion and comments from more than a dozen Society Hill residents and officials, the commission accepted the staff’s recommendation.

So much for holding off.

On Wednesday, City Council's Rules Committee heard more pro and con arguments concerning Stamper for four hours before quickly approving councilman Frank DiCicco's amendment to allow for a rezoning of the 1.3 acre property from C-2 to C-4. The amendment could go to the full council for ultimate approval as early as next week.

On Tuesday, Planning Commission Chairman Andrew Altman and Vice Chairman Alan Greenberger agreed with the idea of a sunset clause for changes in zoning. Developers should not receive de facto “entitlements,” they said, or the immediate ability to re-sell property where the value went up due to the zoning changes.

“What the planning staff has proposed is an important point,” Altman said. “In some ways the re-zoning is sort of an imprecise tool in terms of what we want to accomplish.”

What the new commission wants to accomplish is broad, but early efforts have been consistently hamstrung by hitches in the city’s tortuous procedural systems and complicated jurisdictional structure. In this case, the role of the Historical Commission was in question.

“City Council has given full jurisdiction to the Historic Commission [for the Stamper Square project,]” said John Gallery, executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia Tuesday. The latter has not yet acted, he said. Gallery told city council Wednesday that the Historic Commission would not likely get to the Stamper issue for several months. He cautioned council on approving zoning changes prior to Historic Commission check off. 

“I think the Planning Commission really needs to give serious consideration to how ... it coordinates with the Historic Commission. [You] should not be acting prior to the Historic Commission making a decision. We see developers coming in all the time, saying, ‘Oh, the Planning Commission approved it.’ This is premature coming here. ... You are asked to approve zoning. Zoning is a tool. In recent years, the Planning Commission gave excessive zoning changes to any developer who walked in through the door.”

It wasn’t the first time Altman and his colleagues were scolded for the real or perceived sins of past commissions. And it was just so very far from being the last time. “Is it a new day or is it business as usual?” On Tuesday, Gallery asked. “You can answer that question today.”

Representatives of Stamper Square’s development team, Bridgeman’s Development LLP and Starwood Hotels, were on hand at both meetings, including an architect and a lead lawyer. Amid dozens of renderings and drawings, Bacon’s master plan for Society Hill, engineered in the late 1950s and early ’60s, was cited twice. The project includes a green space that would be open to the public and connect Front Street with Second Street via a garden pathway. It would be similar to the well-known Three Bears Park and continue the greenway that Bacon designed to meander through his revitalized neighborhood.

Also, the developers insist that having a high-rise cheek-by-jowl with signature Philadelphia brick row homes is consistent with Bacon’s Society Hill Towers, along with condos on or near Washington Square and more recent buildings on the river, like the Dockside development. Recent long-term plans from PennPraxis, which include tall buildings up and down the Delaware River waterfront, were also cited, showing structures that would dwarf the Stamper Square hotel tower.

But Gallery said he was old enough to have been there, done that, and knew what the plan was from the Bacon days (Bacon was head of the Planning Commission for two decades, from the late 1940s to the late ’60s). Gallery said there were allocations for only two high-rise locations – the food distribution center (Society Hill Towers) and Washington Square.

“You have no plan here,” he said. “It’s spot zoning.”

The community is split over the issue. Normally, it’s the opposition that has the upper hand during public meetings about development issues, but a surprising number of residents in favor of the project also spoke for their allotted two minutes.

Tania Rorke, immediate past president of the Society Hill Civic Association, said she was in favor of Stamper Square and that Bridgeman’s “did everything they could” over the course of more than 50 meetings with residents. She said the officers of SHCA are split down the middle on the issue.

But Benita Fair Langsdorf, also of the SHCA, said the group’s zoning and historic preservation committee is overwhelmingly against the plan.

And that’s how it went for two days. Impassioned speeches for both sides took the microphone, but the years that have passed were showing. There was no yelling, no chanting or stomping of feet. Just the words of the well-heeled and articulate members of one of the most historic neighborhoods in the country, one that is situated among a decaying South Street retail district and a slowly changing waterfront.

“What we’ve got today is a big empty hole in the ground,” said one resident. “We’ve had that for 10 years.” As for Ed Bacon’s plans, he said he was no expert, but that “I’m sure none of those plans involved a big empty hole on the ground for 10 years.”

Paul Boni, an attorney and another member of SHCA, said the project was listed for consideration by the Historic Commission last week and was pulled from the agenda the day before. “I don’t know why,” Boni said. “But I think they first wanted it to go the political route” by making an end-run around the commission and going straight to City Council. A lawyer for the developer denied the accusation.

After Wednesday's council action, Boni said there may be legal challenges to council's potential approval of a zoning variance for the Stamper Square project.   

The Irish on Walnut

Also before the commission Tuesday was an “information only” presentation by Castleway Properties LLC, an Irish developer with an ambitious skyscraper hotel project for the 1900 block of Walnut, encompassing Moravian Street (and possibly privatizing it) and reaching back to Sansom and 20th streets.

Final specs, approval for the demolition of two historic buildings, financing, partnerships with neighbors and other pieces of the overall picture are months away or longer, but it was an example of something Altman wants to see more of. “This is something we are very much looking forward to,” he said. Bringing projects forward early when they are in the pipeline, especially massive ones that will impact many residents and businesses, establishes the lines of communications and gives the public a formal means of input, he said.

“The northwest corner of Rittenhouse Square needs revitalization – it’s the dead spot on the square,” said Castleway’s Mark King, while delivering a 20-minute overview in a crisp brogue. A “tall, slender, elegant building” would rise on the back end of the development which “steps back up into the city” as you look upon it from the horizon. Western-view drawings of its silhouette illustrate how the tower would accompany the taller Two Liberty. The building, King said, is “not imposing” and “doesn’t impose on the square.”

Plans for the front of the building, next to 1901 Walnut, call for a height that is less than half that of the hotel portion. The development calls for 150 condos and high-end retail on Walnut Street.

To “strike” Moravian Street in that block is what the developers would prefer, but that would need approval from every single of the nine neighbors that share the street there, just to get the ball rolling.

Altman and Greenberger, in a scenario that is becoming familiar, asked direct, if polite, questions. Good cop, bad cop they are not, but persistence is proving to be slightly devilish in its details. Where are you on circulation, traffic impact and collaborations with the Streets Department? Altman asked. “Our desire is to have an agreement with [the Center City Residents Association] that will show effects of overall conditions.” Said Greenberger: “Can I strongly suggest that you figure out restrictions” and that you work with staff?

Here, too, Altman suggested that the re-zoning process be tied to a specific project (Castleway was heard before the Stamper Square presentation). There is a time frame for performance, Altman said, and to avoid “some sort of entitlement into perpetuity” on the site, an agreement needs to be struck that is a sort of template for these kinds of issues.

Trying to fundamentally change the way the Planning Commission does business, within the “gray area” leading up to a new zoning code and the accustomed, ingrained means of navigating the city’s ways seems like a catch-22 to new observers of the body. Developing this much space with this many moving parts on the 1900 block of Walnut “is obviously a very bold project,” Altman said. “When are you coming back?”

Answer: By mid-June.

Hotel at 15th & Locust

A new limited service Starwood brand called the Aloft Hotel, aimed at the business traveler, is slated to be built at 1501 Locust Street. The Planning Commission staff recommended approval with some design caveats, which was accepted by the commissioners. The recommendation was forwarded to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a hearing later April.

Contact the reporter at thomaswalsh1@gmail.com

April 14
By Alan Jaffe
For PlanPhilly
 
Invite a couple of hundred people to become critics, and you’re bound to get mixed reviews.
 
That’s what the Kimmel Center and PennPraxis heard tonight from citizens who had been invited to respond to proposals by students of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of the Arts for redesigns of the public portions of the performing arts building.
 
The students’ ideas ranged from the whimsical (a huge rock-climbing wall) to the possible (a sidewalk café) to the inspired (a rooftop oasis with a translucent aqua floor).
 
The reactions ranged from excitement to apprehension to rejection. But it was obvious that the proposals offered much to embrace and build upon.

 
Kimmel officials began the conversation about enlivening the center’s public spaces last fall, explained executive vice president Natalye Paquin.  While its Perelman and Verizon Halls have drawn crowds and a degree of success since the building opened in 2001, it had never realized the goal of becoming a cultural mecca for events that are not performance-driven, Paquin said.
 
So the Kimmel partnered with PennPraxis, the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Great Expectations program to initiate a “dynamic dialogue” with city residents about the overall space, she said. Four public discussions, involving about 200 people, were held in January to develop guiding principles for rethinking the exterior and interior spaces. That input was combined with online suggestions to serve as the foundation of the undergraduate and graduate students’ redesigns.
 

Cafe Corner

“Tonight’s ideas are preliminary,” said PennPraxis executive director Harris Steinberg, “and they are part of an ongoing dialogue about achieving excellence in design, with the Kimmel at the heart of it.” The goal is to make the building “a beacon and an icon” for future audiences, but the ideas may take years to achieve, he said.
 
One group of students attempted to humanize the Kimmel’s public spaces, seeking ways to make portions of the grand center more intimate. Among the group’s more dramatic suggestions was a stairway that wrapped around the Perelman Hall and around a new elevator to the rooftop. The garden at the top was transformed into a sculptural playground. Comfortable lounge seating was introduced in the Commonwealth Plaza for lingering and wifi use. Large graphic signs and maps directed visitors to the seldom-visited corners of the Kimmel. A new entrance was created at Spruce and 15th Streets, and glass was added along Spruce to invite passers-by inside.
 
The second group of students tried to reconnect the center to other forms of art. A tower was erected in the middle of Commonwealth Plaza with stairs that connected to the tiers of the building. The plan also called for the creation of small performance spaces, a reflective pool on the rooftop, and a hanging mobile in a glass enclosure at Broad and Spruce.
 
The third group added sensory dimensions to the center. The rooftop floor would be glass, with water flowing underneath and into a seven-story water wall. A vertical garden with plush greenery and a rock-climbing wall to “invigorate the entire body” were among the other creative suggestions.
 
In smaller group discussions, the audience offered their critiques.
 

Humanize Perelman stairs

Many applauded the proposals to open a second entrance to the Kimmel and increase the use of glass on the ground floor to bring the inside out and the outside in. “I like anything that brings in more light,” said Sheila Rosenbloom.
 
But Rosenbloom was concerned about the cost of some of the student ideas, and she wondered if any of the young planners had attended events at the Kimmel that attracted large crowds. The proposals for new furnishings and architectural additions might work for daytime audiences but would be intrusive in the evening, she said. “The space has to accommodate the primary purpose – the concerts.”
 
Identifying herself as a psychologist, Ruth Harvey emphasized the need for spaces and uses that would take advantage of “interactive qualities,” and “not interactivity with a computer.” The rock-climbing wall was one of the few activities proposed that “people could do together.” Rather than reflective, meditative interior spaces, the Kimmel needs to create opportunities “where people can involve themselves with each other, and make connections with each other,” she said.
 
Marsha Moss was opposed to the proposed tower for Commonwealth Plaza, a vertical structure that would “undermine the integrity” of the building, which she described as “a work of art.”
 
Josepha Gayer, an opera singer, agreed that the tower was “imposing,” but she liked the idea of stairs emanating from the tower that linked the many levels of the interior. Other participants in the group discussions liked scaled-down versions of the students’ visions.
Large graphic signs would interfere with the architecture of the Kimmel, many said, but most agreed that more signs are sorely needed.
 
“I’ve been here 100 times,” said Beth-Ellen Kroope. “But I’ve only gone up to the roof once – on a tour,” because it is so hard to find. “We need easy access,” she said.
 

Water and vegetation elements

Thomas Morr liked the proposal for a water wall, but not seven stories high. He suggested a smaller version behind the bar to “create visual interest in that space.” Marsha Moss suggested a “meandering, human-scale” stream of water would be more appropriate.
 
A younger member of the discussion group, Donald Maley, cast his support for the “bolder ideas.”
 
“To me, they are more exciting. Speaking for the 20-something crowd, I like the large, bold outdoor signage” proposed by the students, which would inform him when there is a concert he’d like to attend while he was walking home from work.
 

Spruce Street facade

Maley’s friend and peer, Clinton Randall, noted that 70 percent of the Kimmel space is not used. “It’s not about adding, but repositioning what’s already here,” he said. “I like the idea of subtle modifications, which help people realize there’s more space than they’re using.”
 
A still younger participant, 10-year-old David Bulack, would like the Kimmel to add more stores to the retail space and add more color in the windows. Colors, rather than signage, could lead guests through the building, suggested his mother, Patty Bulack.
 
“We should think of this space as a hotel,” said Morr, “with many uses that can accommodate many kinds of interests.”
 

Plaza tower

Adding a closing note to the group discussion was Jack Nixon, who revealed that he is the director of engineering for the Kimmel Center. “There needs to be something to do when you get here,” besides attending a concert, Nixon agreed. “We realize there are things that need to change – and can change. There are some relatively simple things, like better seating and more programming. Anything that attracts people into the building is good.
 
“I’d like to think that this is going to be here in 100 years.”
 
Over the next three weeks, the Penn and University of the Arts students will incorporate tonight’s public feedback into a process book that will be presented to the Kimmel Center for its consideration. The contents will be made available online at www.planphilly.com.
 
 

Rooftop playgrounds

Contact the reporter at alanjaffe@mac.com

• KimmelDesignPrinciples_web.pdf

March 31

 
By Alan Jaffe
For PlanPhilly
 
Over the last 18 months, the city has had a case of “civic engagement” fever. The symptoms are a rash of Sharpie-wielding facilitators, an outbreak of breakout groups, a yen for cold cuts and cookies, and contagious debates on the future of Philadelphia.
 
• PennPraxis asked communities to rethink what can be done on the Central Delaware Riverfront.
• Great Expectations sessions were organized by The Inquirer to figure out how to make us the next great city.
• Multiple city agencies and organizations led Green Plan discussions on how to improve the environment.
• The City Planning Commission set up a circuit of Imagine Philadelphia roundtables as the first phase in drawing up a new comprehensive plan.
 
And there are more requests for your presence coming down the pike. Anyone with a mind to share an opinion has had a choice of soapboxes and a variety of willing ears.
 
But what is behind the recent spate of invitations and concern for public input? Just how much longer will people show up before they sink into civic engagement fatigue? And why does the city seem so damned democratic lately?
 
Athens, Rome, Philadelphia

Coordinating the civic engagement programs for both Great Expectations and PennPraxis has been Harris Sokoloff, director of the Center for School Study Councils at the University of Pennsylvania. Sokoloff traces the framework of that work to the senates of Athens and Rome.
 
“In every decision-making process we have where people come together in some sort of equal terms, we use some form of deliberative model,” going back to those early republics. “The tools we’re using are different; the ideas are still the same. It’s still a matter of: people get together, find a way to identify the issues, what the pros and cons are, the different ways of understanding the issues and the different forms of action, and use that in the decision-making.”
 
As in ancient Rome, “power politics” always play a part, Sokoloff adds, but there are ways to keep the process transparent and the public an important partner.
 
Beverly A. Harper traces her involvement in modern civic engagement to the early 1970s. Harper is founder, president and CEO of Portfolio Associates Inc., the agency that managed the series of Imagine Philadelphia meetings held in neighborhoods around the city over the winter.
 
Back in the ‘70s, Portfolio Associates conducted a study for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that examined how and where citizens could become involved in the transportation planning process. The agency surveyed the 50 state transportation departments around the country, then took an in-depth look at four departments’ experiences with civic engagement.
 
“We found that in the Boston area there was almost a billion dollars in projects that had been stopped because of public involvement,” which occurred at “a very late stage in the projects,” Harper said.
 
“Involving the public early in a realistic way – and realistic means letting them know all of the different factors that will go into the decision-making – does help a project have a smoother development,” she said. “If you involve them early enough and know the kinds of issues and concerns that they have, you can do things to mitigate some of those concerns.”
 
Civic involvement programs continued into the 1980s, according to Harper, then trailed off for the next 10 years or so. The resurgence in Philadelphia is the result of several factors, she said.
 
“I think that part of it has to do with federal guidelines related to the National Environmental Policy Act,” the 1970 measure that required federal agencies to prepare Environmental Impact Statements before taking action and then sharing the information with the public. “Many government-funded projects and public agencies use those guidelines to identify the projects where they need engagement,” Harper explained.
 
Another reason for greater public involvement is governments’ limited funds and resources, she continued. “So one of the ways to help identify what should be done, and how it should be done, is by engaging citizens.”
 
The third factor is increased sophistication on the part of the citizenry, Harper believes. “Thanks in part to the Internet, they can find out what’s going on. When there are things they don’t like, they know how to get involved and who they should be contacting.”
 

Sokoloff’s plunge into the deep end of civic engagement came in 1995, in partnership with Inquirer editorial page editor Chris Satullo. Each year Sokoloff and Satullo took on a new topic that included civic engagement initiatives, from national to local issues, on everything from health care to the needs of a particular school building.
 
Over the past year, their collaboration on Great Expectations was part of a larger effort, the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, which also included the Delaware waterfront project led by PennPraxis executive director Harris Steinberg. Sokoloff, Satullo and Steinberg had worked together four years before on the attempt to find a developer and the right development for Penn’s Landing.
 
Sokoloff said the civic trend is due to the realization on the part of government leaders and agencies that “those who must be involved in supporting or solving a problem or challenge ought to be involved in naming and framing the problem, and in helping to find a solution.”
 
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, for example, recently acknowledged that he can’t do anything without the support and involvement of other people, Sokoloff said.
 
“The leaders can no longer say ‘do this’ and it happens,” he said. “Issues are too complex; the solutions are too complex. Everything requires adaptation. …It requires a different kind of citizen involvement and engagement, and that’s why you’re seeing all these community forums.”
 
The Right Model
 
There are many models for conducting civic engagement, Sokoloff said, and he doesn’t claim to have the best one, “though we try to make it better and are constantly revising it.”
 
In too many cases, the process takes the form of an expert- or advocate-driven discussion. “An expert gets up in the front of the room, makes a presentation, and has a question-and-answer period. Or there may be a group of people who have developed an agenda and all they want to happen is for all the people to bless the agenda,” he said.
 
Liz Gabor, a real estate manager at the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, was a participant in two civic engagement efforts in recent months. The Imagine Philadelphia session, she said, was an “organic” interchange in which neighbors were asked to brainstorm solutions to city problems. “People were imaginative and came up with very good ideas.”
 
But Gabor said her experience in the Great Expectations did not seem as productive. “We were told, ‘read this report and comment on it.’ It was too guided.”
 
Another participant in both the Imagine Philadelphia and Great Expectations sessions found them equally constructive. “I heard similar comments at each meeting and a consistency in what people were saying,” said Jo Ann Desper, a senior consultant for a healthcare services company. “They were both good, open forums.”
 
Public involvement means more than meetings at which participants offer opinions and possible solutions, Harper said. “That is one tool that you can use to get reaction and input. There are lots of others that can be used,” including surveys, focus groups, and online interaction.
 
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is in the midst of a public outreach effort for its long-range strategy, entitled “Connections – The Regional Plan for a Sustainable Future.” An online survey is underway through the end of March that will help refine planning in the areas of transportation, land use, economic development and the environment. The survey will be followed by planning exercises, focus groups and public workshops.
 
The public meetings have dimensions beyond surveys, Harper said. They serve as an educational tool that shows participants how the next person thinks, and they provide “directly and subtly an empathy and understanding of the position that the agency or organization has in trying to come up with a plan, knowing that everyone is not going to be of one mind.”
 
Those differing views are a vital component of civic engagement. A diverse group of participants is a primary goal in calling the meetings. “I was very pleased with the diversity of the Imagine Philadelphia sessions,” Harper said. “It was diverse in lots of different ways. The meeting in West Philadelphia had lots of young people, and I thought that was terrific. In the Northeast, there were lots of Eastern Europeans, but they were from different ethnic groups. I’m very happy with the cross-section we achieved” over the course of the nine citywide meetings.
 
Sokoloff also seeks a diverse group of participants. “The idea is always to make the group as inclusive as possible – by gender, ethnicity, race, and different levels of expertise,” he said. “The more diversity, the richer the conversation.”
 
While different viewpoints are sought, the civic engagement sessions organized for Penn’s design department or the meetings for the City Planning Commission did not specifically invite developers to the table.
 
But they would not have been turned away, either. “For Imagine Philadelphia, we wanted to hear from ordinary citizens,” Harper said. Developers may have attended, but they would have probably been there in their roles as residents. “The only people we explicitly invited by letter were elected officials.”

In the Central Delaware engagement process, separate meetings were held with developers to gather their input and expertise. “That’s where you say, ‘We’re going to have a closed session with developers.’ And when you do that, you let people know you’re doing it,” Sokoloff said. “It is a matter of transparency, but I like to think beyond transparency to co-production – the idea of experts working with citizens.”
 
Too Much of a Good Thing?
 
Even an engaged citizen may need to rest his voice occasionally. To prevent civic exhaustion, Harper suggests more collaboration among agencies. Portfolio Associates is currently undertaking public research into two projects – one looking at ways to ease traffic congestion on the west side of the Ben Franklin Bridge and the other exploring an extension of the PATCO line along the waterfront – with a combined questionnaire and meetings that will ask stakeholders about both issues.
 
“This is to recognize that people’s time is valuable. I think we need to do a little bit more of that,” she said. “So that you’re not asking the public to come out too many times.”
 
A more serious problem arises when organizers of civic engagement create “unrealistic expectations about how much say people will have in a project. I think it’s something you have to repeat early and often – that this is just one of the factors you use in the decision-making process,” Harper emphasized. “I think it is incumbent upon organizations who are managing this process to be truthful with people about what their involvement is going to mean.”
 
There must be an implementation mechanism in place, she said, to show participants their input had a result. If there is no implementation, “I think that hurts other efforts,” she said.
 
The new Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey, conducted his own form of civic engagement, a round of six town hall meetings in the six police districts, when he took office earlier this year.
 
“The commissioner had said he wanted to get the public’s input for developing a plan for Philadelphia,” explained Lt. Frank Vanore, of the police public affairs department. “He knows about policing, but he didn’t know Philadelphia. He was following a format he did in Washington, D.C., where he held town hall meetings to create his strategy.”
 
According to Vanore, Commissioner Ramsey took notes at every meeting in Philadelphia and shaped a plan to fit each neighborhood. The result? “Some of those things the people said went verbatim right into his plans.” The commissioner’s Crime Fighting Strategy was then posted on the police department’s website for town hall participants to read.
 
Every municipal or regional issue does not require public involvement sessions, Sokoloff said. “You don’t want to do it with every decision. … You’d get stuck. You don’t have time to do it all. There’s so much that has to be done quickly.”
 
The problems that require the most “citizen adaptation” are those that call for citizen participation, he said.
 
But keeping the public engaged through rounds of meetings is “a real challenge,” Sokoloff said. “It’s a possibility that they will get fatigued. I think it’s less likely to happen if what comes out of the engagement – the action steps, policies, proposals, whatever – is responsive to the citizen voice.
 
“The minute you engage the public in this kind of conversation, you have a responsibility to tell them what you heard, what you did with what you heard, and how what you heard impacted your decisions,” he said.
 
“People need to know their time is being well spent. They need to know they’re making a difference.”
 
Desper, the healthcare services consultant, hasn’t tired of civic engagement after participating in two projects. “The more of these the better, as far as I’m concerned. They are a wonderful example of our government working the way it should. They are opening up opportunities for what citizens want at a very basic level.”
 
Contact the reporter at alanjaffe@mac.com

Feb. 27
Previous coverage
 

By Matt Blanchard
For PlanPhilly

Society Hill's civic association has rejected the 15-story hotel and condominium project called Stamper Square. The vote was incredibly contentious and could not have been closer.

After three hours of lawyerly arguments, points of order, and impassioned appeals to principle, the board came down 12 to 12, which, according to Robert's Rules of Order, means the heavy effort by some on the board to approve Stamper Square had failed. The meeting then broke up suddenly, with scattered shouting and recriminations.

If Wednesday night revealed a troubling split among community leaders, it was also better than cable. As one resident quipped: “Who needs the Walnut Street Theater when you've got drama like this?”

The evening’s climax came at the vote tally itself. Normally a quick procedure, it raged back and forth for 35 minutes as the two sides battled to disqualify their opponents from voting.

“I am absolutely offended by your zealotry!” exclaimed Stamper supporter Jim Moss when opponents challenged the proxy vote of an absent board member.

But the victory – and victory seemed to matter deeply Wednesday night – went to lawyer and board member Paul Boni, who appeared to strike a killing blow to the Stamper Square approval with one well-aimed Google search.

But first, some background.

The latest – and perhaps final – designs for Stamper Square envision a 150-room boutique hotel, run by Starwood Resorts as part of their “Luxury Collection” line, as well as 77 condominium units priced above $1 million apiece. Both uses, along with a restaurant and spa, would be housed in two towers on the vacant NewMarket site, just east of Headhouse Square. After 10 months of negotiations with Bridgeman Development, it is the building’s 15-story height that brought the matter to a crisis on Wednesday night.

Opponents say the building is simply too tall for the historic “urban village” of Society Hill.  In response, Bridgeman has dropped the height of their proposal from 18 stories to 15. But last week they said 15 was their “final offer” and threatened to walk away unless civic leaders come to heel.

Is Bridgeman bluffing?

Supporters of the project believe they’re not. They say enforcing the area’s 60-foot height limit (Stamper would scrape 166) will only kill a very worthy project and leave Society Hill staring at the empty hole of NewMarket for another 10 years.

“I’m satisfied that this is as much as this developer will give, given the economic environment,” supporter Moss said of the 15-story plan. “We’re taking a gamble if we reject this project, and it’s a gamble I don’t want to take.”

It was then Boni played his Google card. A simple search had turned up an interview with Bridgeman principle Ryan Roberts from March 2007. In it, Roberts predicts that Stamper Square is “likely to be no taller” than 11 stories. To Boni, that meant it was time for the board to call Bridgeman’s bluff:

“The developer himself told the press this thing would be 11 stories,” Boni told the board. “I see no reason to think that if we bargain hard, they’ll walk away… It comes down to your confidence, in your heart and in your head, that he’s truly at his final offer and cannot come down.”

By the thinnest possible margin, the board went with Boni. And after it was over, he was approached by a friend from the audience.

“How’d it look from the stands?” Boni asked.

“Pretty ugly,” she joked.

But whether Wednesday night’s decision will truly be regarded as ugly now depends on Bridgeman. In the coming days, the Philadelphia development firm, who all sides agree is offering Society Hill a mostly fantastic opportunity, will through their actions provide an answer to the only question that matters now:

Were they bluffing?

Link to Roberts Interview: http://www.globest.com/news/877_877/philadelphia/159452-1.html

Contact the reporter at blanchard.matt@gmail.com

Inga Saffron's take on high-rise hopes 

Feb. 21

By Matt Blanchard
For PlanPhilly

Call it a deluxe ruckus: Bitterly divided residents of tony Society Hill look poised to reject a luxury hotel development slated for Head House Square.

Named “Stamper Square,” the plan envisions a 150-room boutique hotel operated by Starwood Resorts, and another 77 condominium units, housed in two towers on the vacant NewMarket site. Unable to agree this week, the Society Hill Civic Association said it will decide on Wednesday night whether to oppose the project.

While most neighborhoods might find it hard to reject a $300- to $400-per-night hotel with condos selling for more than $1 million apiece, opponents have their reasons. After 10 months of negotiations with developer Marc Stein, it is the building’s 15-story height that has brought the matter to a crisis.

Because it exceeds the area’s 35-foot height limit, the 166-foot Stamper Square needs Civic Association support if it hopes to secure a zoning variance. Stamper's chances were hurt when the board's zoning subcommittee voted 10 to 3 against.

Should Stamper go down, it will be the latest in a long line of failures at NewMarket, a 1.5 acre site that appears to need an exorcist as much as it does a developer.

Named for a shopping mall that struggled almost from its opening day in 1975 until its demolition in 2002, the NewMarket site is today a large hole. Neighbors rejected a supermarket for the site in 1996 but signed onto a plan by actor Will Smith to build a hip “W” hotel there in 2000, a plan that fell apart when the hotel backed out the following year (Another W plan is now slated for 12th and Arch).

Stein, developer of the proposed Bridgeman’s View skyscraper in Northern Liberties, made what he said was a final effort to win over Society Hill at a hot-tempered meeting in the Old Pine Church on Wednesday night. Over 100 people were in attendance.

“It’s been a long ten months,” Stein told the crowd. “Either I walk after [this meeting], or I come back and build something else.”

That something else, he suggested, was a by-right development that would not require the neighborhood approval (Read: it will fill every available inch of the zoning envelope and might be ugly).

The ensuing debate revealed a neighborhood profoundly alienated from its bustling neighbor, South Street (called a “garbage pit” by one speaker), and fiercely suspicious of developer promises.

It also revealed a minor identity crisis:

Is Society Hill a full part of Center City that should welcome wealthy hotel visitors and high-density urban living? Or is it a strictly low-rise urban village that must guard against tall buildings even on a vacant lot?

“We are almost like a village within a city,” argued board member Benita Langsdorf, who opposed the project for violating height limits. “We moved here because we are a different kind of community.”

Paul Levy, head of the Center City District, adduced the example of Ed Bacon’s Society Hill Towers to defend the project:

“This neighborhood began with high rises.  It was always designed to be both modern and historic … And it’s the high density buildings that bring the people,” Levy said. “Some would like to see townhouses, but it’s been 20 years, and where are those townhouses?”

A “potential treasure”

Design-wise, Stamper Square is a collaboration of two architecture firms, locally-based H2L2 and the global giant Gensler. Advocates say its genius lies in the site plan, which places the 15 story towers on Front Street where renderings suggest they will not be visible from most locations in Society Hill.

That site plan also includes a mid-block passage – inspired by Ed Bacon’s greenways – between 2nd and Front. Stein has offered to make a sculpture garden of the passage, which appears to be the hotel’s main entrance.

All 412 parking spaces will be in an underground garage, and stalls will be set aside for the project’s adjacent neighbors. The actual units are contained in two conjoined towers, glass with irregularly spaced vertical panels, rising from a brick base.

Thirty nearby neighbors signed onto a statement of support for the project, calling the proposed passageway “a potential treasure in our community”. Others hailed the project as a high-class balance to the déclassé clientele of South Street.

Doubts

Doubts about the project came from the board’s own zoning committee.

Paul Boni, noted anti-casino lawyer, argued there was only reason why Society Hill was being asked to consider so large a project: The owners paid too much for the site and want to recoup.

According to The Inquirer, the Chawla brothers of Sant Development bought the site from Will Smith in 2005 for $10.5 million – three times what Smith had paid just five years before.

Boni extolled the neighborhood’s 35-foot height limit as a “blanket of protection,” and accused Stein of simply bluffing when he said 15 stories was his final offer.

“He’s already come down,” Boni said. “What confidence do you have that this developer can’t come down further? ... We don’t want to kill the project. We want to give the civic association the ammunition to bargain harder.”

A flawed process?

In the end, board president Richard de Wyngaert declared that his conscience would not allow him to vote on the changing project after four hours of wandering argument. By a close vote, the vote on Stamper Square was postponed to Wednesday.

For board member Steve Weixler, who favored the project, the Stamper Square affair is one more reason why the city should take planning decisions out of the hands of community groups and return that power to trained professionals in the City Planning Department.

Calling the evening’s debate “subjective, personal, unfounded and unfriendly,” Weixler said proponents who had cheered for the project at 6:30 p.m. had by 10 p.m. grown tired and left.

“Eventually people got so tired they desert the process.” He said.
“This underscores the need for government and serious planning to step up in this city… Government needs to stop this process.”

Contact the reporter at blanchard.matt@gmail.com