What's Lacking in Philadelphia's New Condos

The condo boom hasn't brought much good new architecture to Philadelphia, but one of the nice surprises is the clean, elegantly understated '23,' the refurbished AAA garage on 23rd Street, south of Market Street. When I first saw developer John Turchi recoating the red concrete garage with white stucco, it seemed like a waste of a good muscular loft building. But Cope Linder Architects hit the right balance, preserving the building's industrial integrity while luxifying it (if I can use that word). The exterior is now a layered progression of limestone on the lower floors, and stucco, composite panels and stainless steel trim. Because of the large floor plate, the architects cored out the center of the building, creating a remarkable light-filled and serene garden space. Only about a third of the 83 units have been sold, but the project should have a huge impact on this little no-man's land of Center City, just around the block from one of Philly's last surviving porn theaters. With the conversion of the After Six and the old Daily News (aka Belber) buildings to residential, and the construction of the Murano tower at 21st and Market Streets, the gap between the Rittenhouse and Logan Square neighborhoods is shrinking fast. The new residences promise too help bridge the unpleasant gulf between Center City, 30th Street Station and the West Philly universities. All good.

What's not good, though, is Turchi's decision not to include any retail at street level in 23 and to devote the entire space to parking. The ground floor has room for 102 valet-parked parking spaces - way more than is required or needed for 83 units, especially when you consider the availability of surface parking next door, the Philadelphia Parking Authority Garage across the street and one of America's greatest urban transit hubs two blocks away. When I visited 23, there was a food cart strategically parked at 23rd and Chestnuts and it was doing a bang-up business. The line was around the corner, with workers from Kling, Greenfield School, the Design Center and the area's many offices. One reason people have to stand in line at a cart to get lunch is because developers aren't providing the retail lots for tax-paying businesses.

John Turchi isn't the only developer who'd rather not bother with retail. If you go to the new Tivoli condos on 19th Street, near Whole Foods, you find the same situation. The Tivoli overlooks Buttonwood Square, which must be one of Philadelphia's ugliest parks, but could become the Rittenhouse Square for the blossoming neighborhood once the Barnes and the Library expansion are complete. But again, the ground floor is blank and dark.

And it looks like the story will be the same if Toll Bros. goes ahead with its project to convert the old Graduate Hospital garage on Gray's Ferry Avenue to loft condos. The streets around the Odunde triangle there have been filling out nicely with shops, so it makes sense to put retail in the side of the building facing Gray's Ferry. But with local residents clamoring for a special parking deal from Toll, the developer was only too happy to not to wade into retail. The same thing happened at the Murano garage. The developer agreed to a neighborhood request NOT to include street level retail in the tower's garage at the request of the neighborhood group. If greater Center City is going to be a denser, more varied place, with more high-rise living, people are going to need convenient shops and services. Those businesses also make the city more walkable and nicer for everyone. Seems like it's time for the newly aggressive city planning department to take up the issue.