place where the trash would be stored for the garbage truck who would have access to this
parking garage on a temporary basis uh so we created this this staging area for the for the
garbage to be picked up, right? Correct. Once again, to have the minimal impact to the surrounding
picked up right correct once again to have the minimal impact to the surrounding neighbors
neighbors.
okay all right when we go through the floor plan so this is the floor plan for the first floor
yep so on the first floor we front both the 26th street and bambury side and what we wanted to do
was invoke both of those streetscapes with residents that directly go out to each one
of those streets so every unit here other than the plan north one that's blue all have direct
access from the street um so these units will feel as if they're truly part of that that community
and that street because they're walking directly from it okay so it's it's like they're almost like
individual like townhomes in a way because they'll each have uh their exterior um opening
in either facing north uh 26th street or mainbury exactly okay and then what about this the the
middle part what's the purpose of this middle part of the building yes it was critical to us
that these units had plenty of light and air and so what we did is we it was also critical that we
were fronting both uh streets here so we pulled the building apart and to allow plenty of light
and air for all these units that are on the ground floor and they actually have their own
backyards at this point um so it acts as almost an internal community garden gotcha and then i'm
showing you plans for the second through fifth floors why don't you walk us through those yep
so same thing here because we pulled the buildings apart to allow the air and light and you'll see
it has almost a barbell concept where tenants will kind of walk past that cord or to get to
the other side from the elevators and we have a pretty decent mix of one and two bed units here
gotcha gotcha and we did keep the uh if there's there is almost as many one bedroom as two
bedrooms correct that is correct yes okay so um mr chair members of the board uh there is
how many let's see actually let me do the 20 27 27 two beds and 22
one beds yeah so there's a total of 76 bedrooms in this in this property right
uh beds correct yeah 22 yeah i i've never been good at math mr chair
it's not a question of matter i never even heard it explained that way
well i think that's important because like you know you can sometimes the board focuses on the
amount of units when really you should be focusing on the amount of potential occupants right when
you think about 76 beds i mean we can have 49 uh units but all them three bedrooms it's a different
equation to think about it's a different feel so this is meant more for you know people who are
single or maybe a young couple who are in the two bedrooms so like that's what you're focusing on
more about like how many bodies are you actually going to have in in there and what effect it would
have in in the community as a whole which by the way i don't live i live pretty close to here too
so it's in my best and interest to make sure this is a good property and a responsible property as
well all right um so well and we're showing the elevations kevin can you uh i think we have some
pictures of the elevations from Bainbury as well as North 26? Yeah so that the elevation on the top
of the page is the 26th street and the elevation on the bottom of the page is the Bainbury side
so you can see that same aesthetics carried through to both sides of the street. Gotcha and
what type of materials are being used for the facade of on both North 26 as well as Bainbury?
yep it's primarily brick and cast stone okay and that's to kind of match uh the church that's
that's right next to us exactly okay and then have a neoclassical feel with with the cornice
as well right correct and even some of that that exact uh detailing with the brick we actually took
that aesthetic directly from the church gotcha if you could summarize unless there's something
that you think is important to get on the record
that may have impacted the community?
Other than that, if you can summarize,
I think it would be helpful.
Yeah, again, since we're going to have a supplemental hearing,
I'll save it for the supplemental hearing.
But, you know, we really did try to work with the community.
This has been a project that's been around
for almost half a year with COVID-19.
Like I said, I actually live in this community,
so I'm very familiar with this part of town.
And I think we try to put together a responsible project with the right amount of units.
And in order to, you know, you know, parking is a premium in every part of the city, Mr. Chair, right?
You live in the city, you know, you're always dealing with parking and you're trying to create density here.
It has to be done responsibly.
So that's why we created underground parking, which was not cheap, which, you know.
So that's why we created underground parking, which was not cheap, which, you know, again, we're trying to counterbalance the amount of units by way of variance with providing responsible parking and also providing a very handsome building.
I just had Jared Gruber of JG Real Estate.
I would like him to just mention the efforts we've made because one of the biggest issues, and I know the board also knows that this is an issue, in terms of garbage storage and removal, we want to, given that this is a 49-unit building,
we want to make sure that we heard the needs of the community as well so jared if you can virtually
raise your hand yeah hey i'm on okay so jared um can you state your name and address for the record
Jared Gruber, 1140
Frankfort Avenue, Philadelphia
PA, 19125.
Mr. Charity, would you like to
swear Mr. Gruber in?
Jared, do you agree to tell
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Jared,
what is
your role with JG Real Estate?
uh broker owner okay and what does jg real estate do uh full service brokerage but we specialize in
property management and we manage about 1700 units okay throughout the city of philadelphia and
uh in terms of of this unit of this building is this something that you believe your company
can handle in terms of managing it for mr gravely yes absolutely okay uh in terms of the uh garbage
storage and removal uh why don't you uh indicate to the board uh what the uh intent is during if
this building is operating if at full capacity sure yeah i think from your pre-community meeting
you know it was uh understood by all parties that trash was of concern um to the rco so we kind of
went back to the drawing board and we made sure we really tightened up the operations and the
logistics behind trash removal so a building like this it's typical um that you'd have a porter on
staff it might not be a full-time porter um but at minimum like a maybe 25 hour a week 30 you know
30 hour a week type guy who's doing cleaning who's doing trash removal that sort of thing
so what we determined is that we would have this porter on trash pickup days which is probably two
to three times a week bring the trash down to our staging area that we created in the parking garage
and then the commercial hauler will be able to pull into the garage,
you know, temporarily blocking spots for five, ten minutes
while the trash guys and the porter throw all the stuff in the trash truck.
They get out of there and then they're not blocking any street spots
and we have a good trash plan in place.
Gotcha. I think that's it.
I think the only thing I would say is if Mr. Gravely, the owner of the property,
can virtually raise his hand and to uh affirm my testimony
mr bravely you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in uh can you hear me
i i did unmute myself yes okay you're swearing up sir would you please give us your full name
Michael J. Gravely
Swear and affirm to tell the truth
I'm sorry
I'm sorry everybody
No you can finish
Spell your name please
G-R-A-V-E-L-E-Y
Swear and affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Thank you please proceed
Mr. Gravely you heard everything I stated today
Yes I have
And is it true and correct
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
All right.
This concludes our presentation, other than, you know, reaching out to the community and
seeking additional community input.
And at that moment, we'll go over the letter as well.
I figured that would be more appropriate as well.
Excuse me.
This is Sharon Saleta.
I did check with the revenue department during your presentation, Mr.
Nockelson, and the property is tax compliant.
No, it is.
And that was my mistake.
and miss saletta i'll definitely give you uh the tax clearance certificate we put it in there so
no that's fine i i printed it out you're fine okay all right great thank you thank you any any
questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
Chair we have someone who wishes to speak TMH you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Can people hear me?
Please spell your first and last name, ma'am.
It's Teresa, T-E-R-E-S-A, Hobart, H-O-B as in boy, E-R-G as in girl.
Your address?
2416 Perot Street.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
thank you please proceed I am a member of the Fairmount Civic Association a
board member and I did assist in writing the letter to the board members I just
one item that was brought up again during mr. Notcomson's testimony that I
really was not touched on the letter is their reference to the design facade and
And that was used in the meeting to, I assume, to get approval for this project, but correct
me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that this process has no impact on the design
of the facade.
That if this project is approved, there is no reason why they can't change the design
of the facade, including the materials, the layout of the windows, etc.
not not necessarily true I mean design features change significant from what the
plan that is a the plan that we approve they'd have to come they have to go back
what design features would they be would that impact the building material would that impact
the cornice design I mean I'm not I read the zoning code and it says specifically building
materials were excluded, so I'm not sure what those design features are.
This is Sharon Sledek. Can I comment on this? If the design were
changed in a way, the materials would not be within the board's jurisdiction to
roll on. If a feature were to change the bulk height, something
about the building that might generate an additional variance, they would have to
come back for that. What would it impact, say for instance, the fenestration itself?
If they decided they wanted to go with smaller windows or different style of
window, would that require a revisitation? It would not. It would simply have to
meet the building code requirements. Okay, all right. So there are some
significant design changes that could be made that would not require a revisit to
you or any input from the community yeah it's an interpretation of what significant would mean
yeah well could mean different different means different things to different people i'm not
being sarcastic just saying you know the arch windows would be squared off that to some people
that's significant i'm not saying it isn't but some people might consider that to be significant
where others may not think it's significant.
Alan, you were going to say something?
I was just going to say that, you know, you got to put it in context.
The property is owned by Mr. Gravely,
whose family has been in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia
for several generations.
And some of the Gravely still live there.
So I think this is more of a legacy type of project
where it's important to them to, you know,
he's winding down his roofing company and he sees this as an opportunity to you know have more of a
legacy in terms of a beautiful apartment building and and you know and also in terms of retirement
as well income all right well those are issues that could be discussed further between now and
i think it was october the 6th we came up with if i'm not mistaken i believe it was the 14th
mr chair 14th of october yes in 9 30. yeah i was just going to ask for clarification i had it down
for the six for some reason all right anyone else no hands at this time okay i think i did
ask the board right does the board have any questions no planning commission
the planning commission wants to go on record with a recommendation
ron you gotta you know give us your full name and swear you i'll swear you in brian
it's uh ron bednar b-e-d-n-a-r i'm with the city planning commission
where's the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you ron these properties are indicated for commercial mixed use in a comprehensive plan
we feel the absence of commercial in the proposal is appropriate given North 26th Street is a
given North 26th Street is a predominantly residential street. However, we feel that the
predominantly residential street.
number of units and the applicant has proposed is excessive and recommend that the overall
number of units be reduced. Accordingly, we have no objection to the granting of the variants for
the multifamily residential use or parking, but do not and do not object to the granting of the
variance for height. Okay, thank you. All right, calendar number MI-2020-001055-909-919
North 26th Street is being held until October the 14th at night, executive session that will take
place from october the 14th at 9 30 a.m i leave anything out tanya or sharon i'm sorry this will
only be uh it's like a resumption hearing for testimony right that's right the community will
have an opportunity to the record will remain open the community will have an opportunity to