will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected.
However, there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property
that would require the addition of a smoking lounge.
The appellant has also not shown why the proposed roof deck
is required to ensure viable use of the property.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant
their proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment
and the accessory off-street parking variants and the dimensional
and the accessory off-street parking variance, and the dimensional variances for rear yard, occupied area, and additional height,
but deny the proposed use variances for a smoking lounge and a non-residential roof deck, and the dimensional variance for a roof deck setback.
Just brief response, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I thank the Planning Commission.
So the smoking aspect of this is part of the comprehensive entertainment use that he's providing.
We were surprised not to receive any objections from the RCO and the neighbors about it.
The open areas are part of that, to have the high-end entertainment building.
And the cigar lounge and the open decks were part and parcel of that.
So while I understand the Planning Commission's position, the high-end smoking lounge, and it's intended along the lines of Ashton's or Mahogany, the old Mahogany, was part, is part, integral part of the plan.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
So we're going to hold this vote and vote this in the next week or two.
Hillary, it dates out to you, Councilman.
Yeah, thank you, Hillary.
Yep, no problem.
and the record will be closed except for the corrected
refusal. Perfect.
Number 11
MI 2020. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Have a good afternoon.
You do the same. Number 11
MI-2023
004813
1200 South Broad Street.
Stephanie Boggs
Magana
Is she available?
Stephanie Magana is coming back
and is a panelist now, chair.
Good afternoon.
I got to get up.
Good afternoon, Stephanie.
How are you, counsel?
Thank you.
Can you please state your name
and spell it for the court reporter?
Stephanie Magana, M-A-G-A-G-N-A.
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Can you please identify your client?
Sure. My client is 1200 South Broad Street, LLC.
They are the actual owner of the property.
Albert Staromanski is here today on their behalf.
We're also joined by Representative for the Owner,
Programs Employing People,
as well as Restaurant Alert or Project Architect.
Okay. Bear with me.
Mr. Halamiki has a few questions to ask you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or referral and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Sorry for the technical delay.
Okay, so this project is for 1200 South Broad Street. The property is located at the corner of Broad Street and Federal Street. It's an existing two-story building that includes a courtyard, recently nominated for historic designation by the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.
But here's some pictures of the current condition of the property.
The building has suffered from deferred maintenance for several years and is in need of significant repairs in order to kind of revive it and reestablish viable use of this site.
It's been owned and operated by Programs Employing People for the last 30 years, and they've operated out of this location during that time.
programs employing people as a nonprofit organization that serves individuals and
their families with developmental disabilities. They are one of only a few such organizations
that serve this community in the city and the only one that remain in this neighborhood.
And as I said, they've occupied this building for a number of years, but its size and its scope and
the changing nature of their own operations have meant the building is significantly underutilized
And they have run into a situation where it's difficult for them to maintain it to the point where at the end of 2023 or end of 2022, early 2023, they came to the position of needing to sell the property in order to continue their mission generally as an organization.
So they solicited offers from several different developers for this property, our client being the one that ultimately entered an agreement of sale with them because they were the only developer who proposed an option that did not call for the demolition of the existing building.
Instead, the proposal for this site specifically looks to maintain programs.
the proposal for this site specifically looks to maintain programs employing people and their
services at this location within its building under lease terms that are sustainable for PEP
at a term of at least 50 years under financially sustainable conditions for them and the project
is intended to make sure that that is a key component of the revitalized development here
on site. So in addition to revitalizing their space and reserving about 13,000 square feet for
PEP, including the PEP bowling alley in the basement, there will be an addition, a two-story
overbuilt addition and a four-story addition within the courtyard to accommodate 53 multi-family
dwelling units above, six of which will be dedicated to portable units maintained on site.
And there is also an existing, you can see here the back of the building on Carlisle Street,
there's an existing warehouse space on the back of the building that's currently an accessory
storage space for programs employing people. And the owner, the equitable owner is looking to use
that as storage space for their own properties going forward. So we are looking for approval
for that to become a non-accessory storage and warehouse space. As far as refusals for this
project who are seeking a few in connection with the redevelopment of this site. They include
certain landscaping requirements that are related to the existing conditions along Carlisle Street
where there is accessory parking and a setback of the building off of the street line. We're also
looking for a height variance. 45 feet would be permitted by right with the affordable dwelling
units here and we are seeking a max height of 55 feet as well as the variance for the non-accessory
warehouse space, as I mentioned, so that that can be an existing loading dock and warehouse space
can be used by the owner of the building for their own use off-site. As I mentioned,
Programs Employing People is the owner of this project, and they are a future tenant of the
redevelopment as well. And this project is essential for their future to be able to continue
their services in this location. As I mentioned, I am joined today by Michael Tucker, who is the
CEO for programs employing people to speak on their behalf, but I did want to mention
that their letter regarding this project and it's important to their organization is included
within our exhibit package, as well as a petition of support from numerous members of their
community and their families about their support for the project and what it means to them.
We're also thankful to have the support of the South Broad Street Neighbors Association.
well as discussing this with their zoning committee as we went through the historic commission review
process recently um so their letter of support is included within our packet and we've been
grateful for the support that they've shown us as well um and finally i will note that we did
recently receive approval for the redesign of this building from the philadelphia historic commission
the property is still under nomination but we do expect that to be designated formally for historic
APPROVAL AND THE PROPOSAL AND SPECIFIC PLANS THAT YOU'LL SEE THAT RUSS AND OLLER WILL PRESENT
IN A MINUTE WERE RECENTLY APPROVED. SO A COPY OF THEIR LETTER OF APPROVAL IS INCLUDED WITHIN
OUR EXHIBIT PACKAGE AS WELL. AND FINALLY I'LL NOTE THAT IN CONNECTION WITH THE HISTORIC COMMISSION
REVIEW PROCESS THERE WERE MINOR CHANGES TO THE SUBMITTED ZONING PLAN, NONE OF WHICH AFFECTED
THE VARIANCE HERE. THEY ARE VERY MINOR IN NATURE BUT WE ARE SUBMITTING TWO PAGES OF REVISED PLANS
for approval should the board the board look to grant relief in this matter um but these are our
revised plans and a copy of the proviso form all of which is consistent with the plans that were
shown to the historic commission and to the community through that process and finally i
would like now to take a brief pause for some housekeeping and ask albert staraminski from
1200 south broad street llc to identify himself to adopt my testimony and then i'll call michael
Tucker from programs employing people. Albert, can you raise your hand if you haven't already
and identify yourself with the board? Albert Starominski has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon. Albert Starominski speaking. How are you? All right. Can you state your name
and spell it for the record? Sure. Albert Starominski, A-L-B-E-R-T, last name S-T-A-R-O-M-I-N-S-K-Y.
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed council
thank you albert um can you just confirm that you're appearing today on behalf of 1200 south
broad street llc yes that's correct did you hear the statements i made to the board this evening
i didn't okay are they true and correct based on your understanding
yes they are would you adopt them as your own i would thank you um with that i'd ask michael
Thank you. With that, I'd ask Michael Tucker to raise his hand and identify himself.
Tucker to raise his hand and identify himself.
Again, he's the CEO of Programs Employing People.
They are the current owner of the property and the future of China to the building.
And we would like to give him an opportunity to speak on this project.
Michael Tucker has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Am I on? There we are.
Yes, Michael, I can't see you.
Let me...
hmm it's not letting me show my camera but i'm here sure that's okay uh can you please state
your name and spell it for the record certainly michael tucker m-i-c-h-a-e-l-t-u-c-k-e-r
he's ready to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel
thank you michael um i'll turn it over to you i can go through these slides as you wish but please
If there's anything you would like to add to my statements to the board this evening, please do so.
Thank you. You did a great job, Steph. I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to speak.
PEP was founded in 1969 by a group of families who recognized there was a need for service in the city of Philadelphia.
We provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
And about 20 years ago, we opened a senior center, began providing services to the senior population.
In 1995, we purchased the building on South Broad Street. It's about 35,000 square feet.
From 1995 to 2024, we put in to the building itself to maintain it $2,900,000. In 2024,
the agency did a strategic assessment to repair the building and bring it up to a standard at
that time. That was estimated at $5 million, and that was 10 years ago. Since that time,
the entire system under the past governor and this governor has changed to be a more community-based
program. Whereas we used to provide services to thousands of people here in the building and in
the community, now 90% of what we do is community-based. In October of 2022, the board came
together and we sort of did an internal strategic review. We went through COVID. We survived it. We
didn't lay anyone off. We did everything we could do to maintain the service we provided to the
people who needed it most. The board decided at their October board meeting in 2022 to sell the
building. We engaged CBRE, who put our plan out in January of 2023, and we got a number of proposals.
Of all of those proposals, all but one wanted to tear the building down. When we met with Spring
Hill and they presented their plan, and then through our conversation with them, their entire
outlook was positive to us. They wanted to keep the building. They wanted to allow PEP to remain
in the building. And greater than that, they offered us space back. So they offered us about
18,000 square feet. When we were going through this process, we looked at alternatives if PEP
sold the building and moved. The cheapest space for the size we needed was $21,000. We couldn't
afford that. At the highest end of our lease with Spring Hill staying in the building, it will be
just about $10,000. And that's in a couple of decades from now. Most of the families we serve,
just about 50% of them live within this area. They live in this community. They walk here,
their families walk here, their participants walk here. It was so important to them that we stay
where we're at. This proposal was the only one that said, we will take care of upgrading the
building, doing a new build out that's ADA accessible, and the people could still stay here.
The community still uses our facility. They will continue to do that in the future.
Today, what we deal with, as Stephanie showed some of the pictures, you know, we're a small nonprofit, but we deal with graffiti, vandalism, trash, drug use.
The police are constantly outside moving people off of Broad Street.
When you look at the building at night, we have lights on, but this proposal brightens up the entire corner.
It provides security, but it's not just for our neighbors, but for us coming and going in and out of the building.
We know most of our neighbors, a number of our board members literally live within blocks of the organization.
There is almost no opposition. We heard one, and that was about a parking spot, literally one in our entire year-long process.
So people in this community know PEP because they use PEP. They're participants of what we do.
So we hope that you will vote in favor of this because it is vital to what we do and our continued success. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Tucker.
um with that i would like to call rustin oler who's our project architect to review go through
our design materials very quickly um rustin i will let you share your screen
if you can raise your hand and identify yourself for the board rusted old it is coming back in as
a panelist now so council you said you wanted to come on and do what because we're a little behind
on timing i agree rustin rustin oler is our project architect i'll ask him to be very brief but i
like him to go through our plans and explain the proposal and specifically the elements that require
relief you can keep it brief that'll be good please understood thank you
You can keep it brief. That would be good, please.
Understood. Thank you.
I will keep it very brief for you.
So Stephanie showed some of these, so I'll go through this really quickly.
But essentially we're looking at a two-story overbuilt on top of the existing building.
Least minimal amount of addition and relief that we can ask for based on the existing structure of the building,
the pending historical nomination
and the interaction with the interdepartment agencies.
We are essentially keeping the existing building footprint
except for a small info in the courtyard.
On the rear of the building,