the share of the exhibits. Okay. I see your hand raised. We can do that. Yes, I'm promoting this
O'Neill to our panelists at this time. Thank you so much. Thank you. So very briefly, the property
is in a CMX 5 zoning district. This building is actually completed from the exterior. It's a large
building, which is going to be called the Medical Office Building or Pavilion from Thomas Jefferson
University. It's part of the Girard Estate parcel that's been under development from Marcus Street
all the way to Chestnut Street by National Realty. And it's been a transformative project
uh throughout the process as you cross chestnut street to the south o'neill could you miss o'neill
could you put the photos up yeah it's uh i hit share and it's are you not seeing what i'm showing
no we're we'll see anything let me see if i can back out of this one second
mr primavera are you able to come on the can turn your camera on oh i'm sorry you should be on
I'm sorry, Ms. Emerson and Mr. Primavera, Ms.
There we go.
So we see the exhibit. Am I visible at this point?
We do not see you.
All right. How about...
Well, as we're working on that, with your permission, I'll just proceed.
Proceed.
Thank you. So you'll see in the red,
the location of the pavilion. And as we head south, we are pretty much in the Thomas Jefferson
campus area. So this plays an important role of connecting the Girard Estate redevelopment with
the expansion of Thomas Jefferson University and hospital. This is a special exception because
the special exception is required for use of the 15-story roof as a wellness deck for patients
and their families. And we'll have a photo of that. And that's the exterior. Let's go back,
Gussie, on that. You'll see a view of the exterior there. And the lower portion of the building is
the 15-story roof, which we intend to use for the roof deck for patient care. People who will be
coming to this facility will be primarily receiving treatments either as part of the
Kimball Cancer Center or some of the other facilities, urology, cardiology. And, Gussie,
if we move to the picture of the terrace, you'll see what a great opportunity for patients and
their clients and patients and their families to be able to have what we're calling an open
space for reflective wellness and for some other, you know, activities, no necessarily.
and for some other activities, no necessarily medical treatment, but part of the wellness
experience. And we've been through a very elaborate process originally with the building,
and we had CDR, and we had the other process for the as-of-right permit for the building.
And more recently, in November, we were in front of Wash West, and we have their letter of no
opposition. The one thing that they did ask us to confirm, and we're confirming here today,
there will be no heliport. There was a rumor somehow that there was going to be a heliport
on this terrace or on the building. There is not. That was a rumor that was unfounded.
So we are stipulating and we are committing that there is no heliport component
to this project at all. We believe that under the criteria for special exceptions,
this is an additive and beneficial part of the building and of the community,
no adverse impact. So we believe that we certainly meet all the criteria.
What I would like to do is have Bill McDowell, if he's available from National Realty,
uh just state his name on the record and adopt his adopt my testimony as his own if he's available
to do that he's been allowed to speak sir i could you could you state your name please and spell for
the court reporter hi it's bill b-i-l-l mcdowell m-c-d-o-w-e-l-l right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel and bill uh you
You heard my testimony. I'm not going to repeat it, but do you believe it's accurate and truthful to the best of your knowledge as probably the most informed person about this project with National Realty?
Yes, absolutely. And I think as you stated, Carl, we have a setback of the building on the 15th floor.
and basically would like to occupy that floor and have designed it as a healing garden for the
cancer center, which begins on the 15th floor. It's been designed with some sun shading
protective devices, some above paver containers with plants and loose seating around. It also has
a glass protective wind barrier around the entire perimeter that goes up to about seven feet.
And we think that this will be a very beneficial addition to the hospital and especially to the
cancer center. Now, what condition or what is the state of the building in terms of completion?
the building is nearing completion we have national development is delivering the core
and shell of this building to jefferson and we will complete our work in june by june of 2023
and then this this terrace will be you know nearly complete but for the ffne for that jefferson will
then be performing, is already performing, but then they will spend some additional months
completing the tenant improvements and the clinical build-out, and will be opening the
building in accordance with their schedule sometime in 2024. So the terrace would be in
operation when they open the building for patients in probably the second quarter of 2024.
All right. And as we get to the closing, I just want to make sure. So the design of the building, including the terrace, has been done with specific input to the TJU requirements?
Very much so. TJU really performed the design of this based on their clinical needs and, you know, based on what they perceive as the best practices for the patients. They gave us the design and we're now in the process of completing it.
All right. I have no further questions.
All right. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chair.
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands mr chair hi planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s a r a h b a n h the proposed use is not likely
to cause detrimental impacts beyond what might reasonably be expected the city planning commission
recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2022-004-118-1101-53
0-0-4-1-1-8
11-0-1-to-53
Chestnut Street.
Chestnut Street. I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote
is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
You have the votes,
Mr. Primavera. Thank you very
much. I appreciate you're
indulging us with the technology snafus.
Thank you.
Bye now.
Number 7, MI
2022-003-965-334-South 24th Street, letter of non-opposition from Center City Residents
Association. Applicant also provided two form letters of support, non-opposition from neighbors
on the 300 block of South 24th Street. Mr. Orphanetes. We're joining us as a panelist, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, Mr. Orphanides. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Certainly. David Orphanides. Last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Certainly. My clients are Zachary Shapiro and Devin Maley. They are the owners of the property.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Orphanides. Do you agree to read the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, on all the questions.
Okay, great. You may proceed, and I see that the screen is up.
Great. Okay. Again, my name is David Orfanides. I'm with the law firm of Orfanides & Toner here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 800, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102.
And again, I'm representing Zachary Shapiro and Devin Maley, who are the owners of the subject property.
This is a project. It's not an investment project. It's a project for them to reside here at this property.
um the uh you'll see in a couple minutes um that there is an existing three-story building
um located at the subject property which is on the northwest corner of south 24th and panama
street across from fitler square um that proper that existing structure uh takes up a large
portion the lion's share of the property it occupies there's 85 occupied area um and we're
looking to erect two one-story additions in the existing open area that reduces it to 93 point
or increases it to 93.8 percent of open area but you'll see or occupied area I'm sorry but you'll
see with the presentation materials that we have that there are existing structures that surround
us that are as deep or if not deeper than our than our proposed structure that create kind of a well
in our backyard, that we won't have any impact on the air and light to neighboring properties.
Existing structure across the street on the southwest corner of Panama and South 24th Street
has a similar non-conformance in occupying the lion's share of the property with a small carve-out.
And you'll see that the basis for the granting of the variance will be established.
again as far as the rear yard depth presently it's a non-conforming rear yard depth
that there's an area that is presently covered with a shed roof and we're looking to just build
a one-story addition in that area that would bring us up to the wall sidewall the property
to the west of us on Panama Street again these additions will not be any deeper than the property
to the north of us and we have a letter of position letter support from that owner as well
as the next owner to the north of us and it will to the extent extends deeper closer to our rear
property line is up against you'll see the side wall uh the eastern wall of the property that
abuts us to the west on panama street again as indicated there is a letter of we did meet with
the coordinating rco which was ccra we advertised and emailed or not emailed but mailed by first
class certificate mailing to the list of addresses from the planning commission's website so it was
properly noticed in accordance with the requirements of the zoning code and again that meeting was back
in july and the ccra's position following that meeting was one of non-opposition and as reference
and the CCRA's position following that meeting was one of non-opposition. And as referenced,
the two neighbors to the north of us are both in support. Here's a letter from the abutting
property to the north of us at 332 South 24th, signing off on the drawings and a notice of
refusal, as well as the owners to the next property to the north. Judy Wicks is the owner
of the property butting us to the north and then um inga saffron and ken calvis are the owners of
the next property to the north so as i mentioned um the subject property is located right off of
fitler square um this is the property right here it's right off the south or northwest corner of
Fittler Square. There you'll see in a minute with both the zoning map and the Sanborn maps,
existing structures around us. The lot sizes, most of the lot sizes are larger to the extent
that they have more open area, more rear yard depth. The lots that are of a similar small size,
our lot size is only 711.6 square feet. At our longest point, which is along Panama Street,
We're only 46 feet, two and a half inches deep.
You'll see in a minute that it's a very irregularly shaped lot and that we're only 15 feet wide at Panama Street.
But the other lot, there are a couple other lots, including the property across the street from us at 336 that are of a similar size, but similar to what we're looking to do here.
Their structure occupies most, if not all, of the property.
Here you can see a zoning map.
I'm just going to zoom in for a minute.
And you'll see a little bit of the irregularity here.
You can see here, but you'll see more in the zoning drawings.
But again, you'll see the property to the west of us occupies a large portion of the property, as well as the properties across the street.
Yes, sir.
Here's the zoning plans.
We do have revised plans.
we made two changes. One was to revise the occupied area to reflect the existing shed roof
at the subject property. The other was a streets issue regarding the curb, the ADA ramp at the
corner. And if approved, we would ask you to stamp those. That's one page that we've included
with our exhibit book and submitted. You can see right now, and I'll show you photos presently,
there's this open area here there's a shed roof over this area right here you'll see photos that
were installed by the prior owner my clients purchased a property in July of 2021 and have
been working on this project since then they have not moved into the property as of yet and then
here you'll see the one-story addition here that brings us up against the close to or up against
the western eastern wall the property abutting us to the west 2403 Panama Street and again you
can see here there's an existing fence wall and our property line actually extends on the other
side of that. That's been built over and is occupied by the property to the north of us at
332. And again, you can see that their building actually extends further to the west than ours
does. And then you can see again that we're in line with the depth of the building abutting us
to the west 2403 Panama Street. So one story addition here, one story addition here, and then
we're leaving an open area in this area right here. I will say that there was some communications
this morning from on the, I guess, the server for the some residents on the block. There may
have been some confusion regarding what was being proposed. Originally, we had gone to the
we had gone to historic commission to extend the third story roof to increase the height of it
and you can see that right here and it was that this addition additional bump up
and that you can see right here that was we elected following our meeting with the historic
commission they did not approve that even though you can see it's kind of in keeping with the
other properties to the north of us. And so the change that we've made is instead of increasing
the height at the third floor level of the existing roof, was just to do these two smaller
one-story additions. So some existing photographs again right off the corner of Fittler Square.
there is um this this is the area of the addition um there's an existing
There's an existing fence wall with a gate in it.
fence wall with a gate in it there's an existing glass structure
There's an existing glass structure right here that you can see, you can presently see from the street.
The idea, and you'll see in a minute, is the addition is going to have a sloped roof that's going to be made of all glass.
That's going to extend about the same height above the existing fence wall and then slope down.
And then beyond that, you'll see the one-story addition, but that's to the rear of the existing extension of the building to the west, that again, largely concealed by the existing fence wall.
This is the shed roof that the prior owner installed, and that's basically the area where the one-story addition that I had indicated that goes up to the western, the property to the west of us will be located.
And then this is the location. We'll remove this glass structure, remove this planter, and that's the location of the other one-story addition with the sloped roof.
And this is the existing fence wall that exists there right now that will remain.
We're going to keep that there and then build within that so we're not altering that fence wall.
Here are renderings of what the proposed addition is going to look like.
so you can see right here this is the roof of the addition it's going to be all glass
and the fence wall again will remain with a new door that's going to be located in it
and then some here's some additional renderings
there's not a lot of visibility uh other than directly across the street
of our property. As you extend down Panama Street, and these are photos that I took,
that rear yard area quickly becomes less visible. This is a 2414 Panama, 2416 Panama,
and you can see by 2420, 2422, you can't see it at all. It's a narrow street, a lot of trees,
a lot of foliage. This was taken, you know, back when the trees still didn't have leaves.