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Thu
Oct 20
2011

AAA Building is Growing Up

In the heart of Philly’s CBD lies the glass-faced former AAA Mid-Atlantic Headquarters building at the southeastern corner of 21st & Market. 2040 Market St was purchased by PMC Property Group in early 2011 and they have pretty grand plans for this part of Market West. This five-story building, built in 1968, will be converted into 281 rental apartments with retail and parking. How can you fit 281 apartments into only four upper floors?  You can’t - that’s why PMC, along with their architect, Stephen Varenhorst Architects, will be adding 8 more stories to the existing structure, and 2 L-shaped “wings” to the back of the building, to create a new, high-end, luxury apartment building. The additions will increase the square footage from 120K to 300K; 32 of those 281 apartments will be 2-bedroom units, to attract more families to the area.

There she is

Of course, what new Center City housing project is complete without parking? There will be indoor parking below grade, according to Jonathan Stavin, Executive Vice President of PMC. From the looks of the plans presented at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission meeting, the cars will enter on Market St and exit on Ludlow St. The renderings also show a rear courtyard for the residents of the building, a great idea for some outdoor space. Also noted: two retail spaces on the first floor could work well for restaurants who want to keep the existing terrace space for outdoor dining options. By our calculations, the first floor contains about 30K SF, which could hold a nice-sized restaurant and then still have enough room for an affordable housewares and furniture store that Philly is lacking (cough-CB2-cough; they just opened a 12K sqft store in Chicago, so why not Philly? Just sayin’.).

Retail and some terrace

Rendering from the Planning Commission

Construction/rehabbing will supposedly begin very soon, occupancy will be ready by the Summer of 2013. Rental figures have not yet been disclosed, but we can imagine they could be on par with a lot of other neighboring apartment buildings, such as PMC’s own 2121 Market, where a 1-bedroom starts at $1,140 and a 2-bedroom goes for $1,675+. Prices at condo buildings in the area, where owners rent apartments privately, seem to have slightly higher rents. 2200 Arch has a 1-bedroom available for $1,895 here. We found a for rental listing at the Murano here, which is catty-corner to 2040 Market, and a 2 bedroom has a rental asking price of $3,600!  So maybe not all units in the neighborhood are created equal…
So what do we all think?  Can this area support more housing – even families, or will it forever be thought of as a concrete jungle of high-rise office complexes? Our experience is that the residential rental market is fairly strong in Philadelphia. The commercial market? That may be a little tougher, as several storefronts in the surrounding area have been a tough sell. And sure, maybe we’re getting our hopes up for a CB2 or the like… but we’ll never stop dreaming.
21
COMMENTS
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Posted in Logan Square | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments
  • Philly Tipster

    They really want a curb cut on Market Street for this thing?  There isn’t one there now, correct?  They really should have the entrance and exit of Ludlow.  Residential is certainly welcome on west Market St though.

  • Guest

    Welcome?  I don’t know.  I always hope that more middle class residents will spur demand for more office buildings.  I do worry about new residential being built in the heart of the office district.

  • http://twitter.com/iPhillyChitChat PhillyChitChat.com

    I look forward to it, this area is dead at night with very little foot traffic.

  • Mitch Lawrence

    Twisted city.

    This dreary beaten  part of town is supposed to become a residential hub. Who the hell wants to live at 22nd + Market?  Meanwhile  beautiful riverfront property(Naval Square) which would make a dramatic residential neighborhood is being set aside for companies vacating Center City.

    Stupid City. Stupid Planning.

  • Guest1

    I never understand why people feel the need to post these negative and cynical comments. What good is it supposed to do? I guess we’re all just supposed to pack up and head for the suburbs…

  • Guest1

    By the way, just because there is new residential development on Market, doesn’t necessarily mean that Naval Square is being “set aside.”

    And as to your question, “who wants to live at 22nd and Market”? Uh, hmm… perhaps people who work on Market St?

  • Anonymous

    Or people who commute out of 30th St. Station every day.
    Or people who just need to be as close as possible to Trader Joe’s.
    Or people work at Penn or Drexel.
    Or someone who values easy access to I-76
    Etc etc etc

  • http://philadelphiaheights.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/large-new-apartment-development-on-market-street-west/ phl

    I did an article about this on my blog. It’s hardly the only residential development about to be built in the area. There’s the tower across from my real estate office at Riverwest Condos and a highrise at 19th & Arch. I think new residential development was inevitable over there because the area is within walking distance of just about everything. The new residential will create a market for more retail soon, and when the economy improves, there will be new office space mixed in.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WVOX4M5VWHZQY6BT44H3VMDIRM Dude Solarsystem

    I wonder what moron “liked” your fourteen year old rant.  You must have another forum name I guess.  I swear you have to be a parody type character. 

  • Slavinrj

    I would love for Ludlow to have more parking options and tucked away garages. If our back streets (Ludow and Chancellor especially, Sansom at parts) became places to put lots and garages instead of Walnut/Chestnut/Market I would be a happy camper.

  • guest

    You obviously have no idea about what you are commenting ……
    1)Naval Square is a large residential development on a formal naval residential barracks  owned By Toll Brothers in the greys ferry neighborhood…… 
    2)The actual Navy Yard…which is what you actually mean was owned by the Federal   
      Government and when it was transferred to PIDC and the City of Philadelphia there was 
       long-term Deed Restriction Against Residential development…. so that has nothing to do with the city’s planning process or even it’s desires for residential development..The Navy yard’s purpose in transferring the property to PIDC…was to drive job creation and retention for the jobs lost by the closing of the majority of naval operations down there….not a new residential neighborhood….

    3) The US Navy actually still has a large research operation at the Navy yard….there are a ton of companies that down there that were relocated to the city from other states and cities as well as the U.S  operations of International companies that never had locations in the U.S. as well as many new start-up technology companies ….

    4).The City and PIDC which actually run the NAVY Yard are actively lobbying the Federal Government to have the residential deed restriction lifted in the future but that is a long difficult process…….

    5) so before make dumb uninformed comments ….please do some research..ie read…

  • Anonymous

    There’s so many vacant spaces in the existing office buildings in the area, doesn’t seem to make much sense to build more offices.  However, other residential buildings noted above, are nearly at capacity and bring much needed life to a dead part of town once the clock hits 5:00 pm.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WVOX4M5VWHZQY6BT44H3VMDIRM Dude Solarsystem

    So this is your other screen name “Mitch Lawrence”?

  • Guest

    I don’t disagree.  I’m not opposed to this project nor do I know what is feasible in the business real estate market.  I can only say that I hope we maintain and grow professional middle class jobs in Center City.

  • http://twitter.com/brianbrews Brian Marsh

    Have no fear!  A growing residential base along west Market only buoys local job/office demand. This is a boon for business along Market St.

  • barryg

    Center City turning into a residential “bedroom community” is a real possibility. More residents living in and near the city center could create more demand for jobs here IF the city gets their act together on business taxes.

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    [...] the fall, we told you about the upcoming reimagining of the 2040 Market St., formerly the AAA Building. Passing by the other day, we observed quite a bit of progress. Down [...]

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    [...] $140M, which breaks down to about $500K per unit. The site was purchased by PMC Property Group in early 2011. By last summer, the exterior had been subjected to the surgeon, if you will, and transformed [...]

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