Civic Design Review wants to see Blatstein’s Broad and Washington project again
After less-than-favorable community feedback at a recent Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition meeting, developer Bart Blatstein then took his project for the review of the Civic Design Review earlier this week.
This “gateway” project for Broad and Washington includes 1,000 residential units, 143,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, and 25,000 sq. ft. for a multi-tenant offices space. Also included in the plans is above-ground parking, which has fueled some debate based on many residents preferring underground parking to occupy less space on this “superblock” Blatstein seems to be creating. After looking over the plans, the Civic Design Review wants to have one more meeting before making a decision on this current design.
Concerns of the committee include everything including the parking situation, the walkability of a “superblock,” and the accessibility of the “village” rooftop retail, but no one has directly come out in opposition of the project.
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After reviewing his designs, the Civic Design Review (CDR) Committee asked for one more meeting, the only regulatory power the advisory board has. Since the Committee wants to see the project again, the Zoning Board of Adjustment could opt to hold its decision pending the committee’s final review. In any event, the design may be tweaked some more.
Blatstein responded to nearly all of the Committee members’ concerns with some version of the phrase, “I get it.”
He gets the various perspectives on off-street parking: that providing too much will induce demand for more cars, and that too little will overwhelm the surrounding streets. He has proposed 600 parking spaces, while the zoning code only requires around 270.
Need to catch up on the latest Broad and Washington news? Read more about this project and others here.
Blatstein should be run out of Philly by an angry mob with pitchforks. He says “I get it” while he continues to try and cram this pile of garbage down everyone’s throat without addressing how he’s going to make this a success for the city. His 4th floor village will not work. His 600+ cars and parking spots will be a massive footprint of automobile traffic. His 1000 tiny apartments will be unattractive.
If he wanted to do it right, he would reduce the number of apartments, reducing the number of vehicles and parking spots; he would get rid of the village idea and make that an outdoor park/public space for residents/visitors; he would break the super block into two and continue Kimball as a pedestrian-only corridor (or something else unique and made for the people in the neighborhood.
But he won’t do that because he doesn’t care if the retail will succeed in the long-term and he wants to make as much money for as little effort as possible.
The retail won’t make it there just like the piazza in northern liberties. Residential is great. Just trying to make a deal then flip at some point