that come from the board at this particular time.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let him finish his,
Let's allow him to finish his testimony, then we'll go back.
Thank you.
So just a quick review of the floor plan, the architectural floor plan.
So the first floor, as we discussed, the commercial space, parking, lobby, elevator,
and we have 44, we propose 44 bicycle storage room, more than what required by the code,
and some amenities.
The second floor, you can nicely see the linear garden all around, and there are 10 units located on that floor.
Those will be a visitor accommodation units with the gym located in the center.
The ratio of the units for, as seen in this table, two studios only,
46 units of one bedrooms which is 62% of the number of the units proposed and of the two bedroom
we have 26 units so we're not trying to get 50% studios that is not appropriate for this particular
area of the city. A typical floor plan the southern wing and the northern wing with the
connector piece in the garden and the seventh floor you see the setbacks that we proposed
to create a better architectural articulation and appearance of the building and the roof decks
with that i am ready for any questions yeah i i have no i have a couple questions for further
questions shimmy in preparing plans for the project what challenges were confronted by the
mosaic so many challenges of course we are working within an envelope which is a very unique
condition but removing the structure the roof structure that is now part of what is holding
this masonry walls together and adding supports temporary support so we can get excavators in
or machines in to drill for those piles
that I was talking about before.
That just by itself, that's a great challenge.
Making sure that there will be no significant vibrations
that may damage the mosaic is another challenge.
Adding the steel into the building,
those columns and beams that will support the new addition
and many other aspects of the construction.
It is not just challenging in the way of making it, staging it and making it happen, but also has a huge effect on the financials behind the project.
It's going to be way more expensive than an ordinary foundation work.
And why is it impossible to preserve the mosaic without the requested variances?
Because the mosaic is a very large building.
In some areas, it's exceeding 24 feet in height.
And in order to keep this entirely, we really start from about, by the time I add the strip of light that I was referring to before showing the section,
with the size of the beams that we need to use
in order to make the podium strong enough
strong enough to support the above building.
to support the above building,
I'm starting the stick framing area
I'm starting the stick frame.
in about 36 feet from the sidewalk.
So in order to fit the number of units we need
in order to make this project work financially,
justify the efforts we need at minimum,
the 80 units originally proposed.
We did took a small chance here and we were listening to the neighbors and we reduced six units of the total count.
So we're now proposing 74 units for this building, which is really the minimum that we can have in order to make, to justify this challenging project.
pardon the interruption uh did you say the revised plan would be 74 units that is correct
we had 80 units on the original uh zoning application okay my because my my notes were
i had a mistake on my notes i had 70 versus 64 it's 80 versus 74 that is correct 64 64 units
long-term rental units with 10 visitor accommodation units.
Understood. Thank you.
And is there stabilization work necessary to preserve the mosaic?
And explain that to the board, please.
So as I mentioned before, we have to make sure that there will be no
significant damage happens to the mosaic during construction.
We will have to stabilize the envelope building
while doing the demolition of the interior of the building.
And that by itself is going to be quite challenging of a task.
And do you have an estimate of the extra time involved
to preserve the mosaic?
We don't know exactly how long it's going to take,
But we anticipate that this by itself will be over a million, million and a half dollars in cost just to make this happen, close to even $2 million in additional costs.
And extra time as well to shore up the mosaic.
It's almost like a surgery in many ways.
I mean, you need to work within a very delicate site.
You need to make sure that as much as we can, of course, that there are no accidents, there are no potential conditions that can increase the option for any hits or disturbance of the mosaic, of the walls, the sub-wall that the mosaic is attached to.
Can you preserve this cigar mosaic without the requested variances? Is that possible?
No, I'm not. To my opinion, it's impossible. In this particular project, for sure, I need this amount of square footage and this amount of units to make it happen.
And will the variances, if granted, adversely impact public health, safety or welfare?
And why not?
As I said, I showed a study, the shadow study, and that is a good representation of what this project versus a by-right project means.
And as we all see, the effect of a variance 20 foot taller building than what zoning code allowed does not really affect any of the neighboring building more than if we were go with a multifamily building, removing the building, paint the bride and build this from ground zero, a 65 foot tall building with 42 inch parapets and pilot houses.
and will the variances on newly burdened public facilities if granted but if i'm allowed i will
continue answering the previous section just by not excavating in this particular site because
we're keeping the existing building and i'm not proposing a basement to be added to the building
just by that it makes a lot of sense and create in many ways a better project you know almost
a green project. We do not remove soils from the site and transfer it to another site and dump it.
So a new building that will be proposed there to replace the building obviously will then
propose a deep basement excavation and a greater, maybe even risk.
and a greater, maybe even risks to the buildings surrounding us.
Are the variants proposed, the least variants necessary for this project to move ahead?
And is the grant of the variances in harmony with the zoning code and plan for the area?
Absolutely.
Even though we're asking for a variance, it is in many ways an appropriate building
in massing, in size, in scale, in density, to what already exists in this particular area of
old city and of the city, and in what is proposed on those empty lands around us. There are many
multi-family buildings that are that already got zoning approvals around us on empty lands
and and what will likely happen if the variance is denied
um we will need to recalculate our um our next steps we are holding in our hand a by-ride zoning
permit to remove the painted bride building and erect eight 65 foot tall buildings each one
contain two dwelling units so 16 dwelling units to replace the painted bride and that that is
the alternative option we that was approved about two years ago and it's still an active
permit but together with the with my team and magic garden and listening to the people around
And we took a stop to try to preserve this building and to propose something that I was humbled by the amount of support that we were able to get from not just neighbors and people in the city of Philadelphia, but other people who are very actively working and writing about architecture and design in the small architecture and design community.
Philadelphia, like Inga Saffron, David Brownlee from Doug, Hilary Jay from the architecture,
from the co-founder of the Design Philadelphia.
I would never imagine that I would read so many good words about work that we were able
to put together.
And as I said, humbled by that.
I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman, for the witness.
Thank you.
I think Mr. Anastasio would be next up.
Mr. Chairman, I think we're going to withdraw our request to cross.
Just to say, however, that none of what you heard is going to be helpful to this board
in making a legal determination with respect to zoning law.
The beams, the machinery, the stabilization work, it's all irrelevant.
you know the witness testified that it's like performing surgery no one asked him to play
doctor there's nothing tying his hand mr chairman i object to mr anastasia speaking now if he wants
to have a closing argument he can do it at the end if he has no questions for the witness that's
yeah i i'm that's it mr chico i do have a couple questions to follow hold on hold on mr cook
everybody just hang in there the court reporter needs to know who's speaking
so yeah vernon let's hold your closing arguments all right uh mr cook i i believe that it should
be either mr anasazi or mr cook they're the same firm and only one of them should should well i
don't know what he's going to have i'm waiting to hear what he has to say then we'll okay decide
whether he should go forward or not okay mr cook were you looking to do a closing argument here or
just a brief cross okay we can do a cross mr marionni okay i thought i thought mr anasazi
withdrawing the cross. I was withdrawing my cross. Mr. Cook has well within his right to ask for a
cross. Understood. Understood. Mr. Cook. Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Zakin, good morning. Good morning.
We heard your testimony about the underpinning work, etc., to preserve the mural. That is
the type of underpinning work that's required for a structure of the height you're talking about,
correct? No, I did not say the word underpinning. I am not proposing underpinning the existing
building. That's the whole point of keeping the piles away from the envelope of the existing
building. Okay, but the work that you're doing to be able to build the structure at 86 feet,
86 feet, whatever the number is, is the type of work that you were speaking to in terms of
whatever the number is, is the type of work that you...
preserving the outer exterior envelope of the mural and building, correct? Yes. Okay. Is there
no other way to preserve the mural? There are other examples in the city where there are
freestanding walls that have a development behind them it appears that you know it's it's chocolate
or vanilla it's either this project or no mural in townhomes there's did you did you consider
anything in between we consider many things yet in order to preserve the building and repurpose it
in such a way that it will make sense financially,
we will have to add the units on the second floor, right?
Now, the second floor units cannot exist
with the openings that are within the envelope.
So we have to cut new openings to build,
to create walls of lights or to install windows.
That is the whole purpose of the setback
and the linear and that is that is partly due to the fact that you want to have that floating
aesthetic correct no it's it's first it starts from a development developer point of view i'm
as you as you know i'm an architect and a developer by the way in this order the way i see
in this particular project in this as well you know in my profession life but in this project
as well in this project as well yes so first we're trying to what is the number of units we
need to make it happen you as a developer i'm coming to buy a property it's not for the sake
of uh playing with a play-dohs it's for the end of the day hoping to make a project that works
financially and the number of units that we need is such that we 80 units that we came up to now
And did you do a pro forma or a project that would preserve the mural and perhaps have townhomes behind it?
Do you have any alternative pro formas that you've presented to this zoning board?
There is no pro forma because it cannot happen.
How do you know to not run the numbers on these other projects?
why would i run a number on something that does not make any sense architecturally because you're
asking for a variance sir and what is the least the least amount of variance from what you plan
to do from the code if you don't have another alternative that we've presented uh you've seen
the letter from ian toner correct it states that an alternative is a freestanding wall
with townhomes behind it that would be the experience from the code in terms of height
and footprint if you haven't considered that and haven't run a pro forma on it you haven't
met your burden here i didn't run a pro forma i ran many many sketches so it's your opinion
no you're asking me a question let me answer if you don't if i'm allowed could we stipulate that
there may be other alternatives to what is being proposed we can stipulate to that there may or may
not be there may be why belabor the point let's deal with the issue at hand because your honor
it's important for their burden under case law um to be able to determine whether or not they've
met their burden for a variance here there are alternatives that have that touch upon the zoning
code and require less variance and are still feasible financially and maintain the safe are
would you agree would you agree that he can demolish the painted bride building
and build a 65 foot absolutely that's a buy right that that's the case in point that there's no
hardship here except when you have a property that has an impediment on it you're not required
to go and demolish it to be able to build and that's not a requirement i mean it's not a
requirement of the law and we cited that in our memorandum of law that we submitted to the board
and i think that we that i have not been able to argue and i think that we can take that was not
on the motion to dismiss that was just my regular memorandum of law and that was submitted back in
april not in june um and i and i think that we can submit that theoretically there's lots of
different things that could be done with this project however mr zakin is saying what is
actually possible to do rather than some theoretical thing. There's lots of different
theoretical things that could be built, but he is talking about what can actually be built given
But he is talking about what can actually be built, given all the constraints of this project.
all the constraints of this project. Mr. Matt.
Mr. Mattione, I understand that. And our design expert presented an alternative that then shifts the burden for you to show why it can't be done and why you deserve more of a variance than what would be required otherwise.
otherwise so i mean i'll stipulate to the fact that there are other alternatives that would
preserve the mural and have a financially beneficial outcome i mean townhomes i will not
stipulate to that all i all i will stipulate to mr hook is that there are theoretical things that
could be done here mr zakin is testifying as to what is what can be done here in a self-serving
fashion which is not acceptable i don't i think that's a self-serving is a good mr chairman
orangeville stakeholders versus pittsburgh zba i would like to add that you hear your court
it would be in mr's in in the developers best interest uh both financially because this is
taking a lot of money all the way around including legal fees to just demolish the painted bright
and build a structure and that's it we can move on i understand that chairman but he is the person
who is the developer the architect and the and testifying as to his own interest for his vanity
project which is beautiful by the way no one is taking away how gorgeous the project is
obviously but that is not the standard for seeking a variance
especially under the case i just cited and that's your opinion and you're entitled to it
it's a commonwealth sports opinion lawrenceville say disagree with the interpretation of the cases
as well so that's okay i have no further questions thank you mr chair uh this is daniel mackal
Mr. McElhatton, please proceed.
Good morning, Mr. Zakin.
Good morning.