Your request will be considered at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Council President. Thank you, members of the Committee.
Thank you. The next witness? MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Marla Quintrone and then after her will be Sarah Maloney.
Would 150 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 they both approach the witness table, please. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank you. I'm not the person. They sent me up instead. My name is Erin Young and I'm the Political Director for Unite Here, and thank you, Madam President and members of Council. It's my pleasure to be here today on behalf of our business manager, Lynne Fox. She apologizes. She serves on the SERS Board and is unable to attend today, but wanted me to read a very brief statement on behalf of the Philadelphia Joint Board. Esteemed City Councilors, the Philadelphia Joint Board of Unite Here represents 9,000 hotel, gaming, food service and manufacturing workers in the Philadelphia region, approximately 85 percent of whom live in the City of 151 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 Philadelphia. I write today in support of the American Commerce Center. We support this project because it promises to provide quality hospitality jobs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Lynne Fox.
Thank you very much. Any questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Are you going to testify? UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: I can just stand in support given the time.
Fine. Thank you so much. Mr. McPherson, please call our next witnesses, please. MR. McPHERSON: Michelle Smiley.
Are 152 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 you testifying?
Good afternoon. My name is Sarah Maloney. I'm a resident of Center City and spend a lot of time in Logan Square, and I'm just here to voice my support for the project. First off, I just want to say that the Kennedy House is not the only representatives of Logan Square. There are lots of other people in Logan Square that support this project, and I just urge the Council to remember that as they're deliberating today. I've lived in Chicago, New York, Boston, many other cities as a 153 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 young professional, and this is the type of development that brings me to Philadelphia. I would love to live by a place like this. Grocery store, work, everything. I think the people that are going to be using this building are people like me that are looking to live in areas of excitement in the City. They want to be able to walk to work, not to get in their cars, not create traffic, but walk to work, take public transit, and this is a really exciting building. I just left the financial services industry. This is my final point. Financing is very difficult to come by right now. We had very difficult times in the last few months trying to find financing for projects that I was working on, and this project as it is today, with all the amenities, with the height, with the density, has financing, and I just think that's so important, 154 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 because all these jobs can be created right now and will be ready for the next upturn. So I just really support the project on so many fronts, and I can't wait, and I really hope it's here for people like me and the generations behind me. Thank you.
Mr. McPherson, please call our next witnesses, please. Please come up to the witness table. MR. McPHERSON: Michelle Smiley and then James McManaman.
Please approach the witness table. 155 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 Good afternoon. Kindly identify yourself for the record.
Hello. My name is Michelle Smiley. I'm the Property Manager at 2101 Market Street, the Murano. We're a 43-story beautiful high-rise building. I'm here on behalf of the developers of the building and their residents just to let everyone know that we're looking forward to this building being built, one of the most beautiful, unique buildings I've ever seen. I can't wait until it's on our map in this City. I wanted to congratulate the developer, Mr. Miller, for having a dream, a vision and insight to keep his business and everything here. I support it. Thank you.
Thank you. (Applause.) MR. McMANAMAN: Madam 156 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 President, members of the Rules Committee, my name is James McManaman. I own a small business in Center City Philadelphia and I've lived here for four years. I'm also the Founding President of Midtown Village Merchants Association, representing 140 merchants just a few blocks away. It's a fantastic project. It's what Philadelphia needs, particularly now at this time in our economy. So I fully support it and hope that you will, too.
Thank you so much. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: Our next witnesses are Edward Panek, David Harrison and Rick Slobodian.
I would ask the witnesses to please approach the witness table. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good 157 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 afternoon, sir. Kindly identify yourself for the record.
My name is David Harrison. I'm a resident of Kennedy House. I'm opposed to the development of the 1800 block of Arch Street as presently proposed. My apartment is in the northeast corner of Kennedy House, so I will not be directly affected by the proposed development, but I believe that the present plans will be bad not only for Logan Square area but for Center City as well. I'm afraid that both the Mayor and this Council are so enamored with the thought of a 1,500-foot tower that they have lost sight of the forest through the trees. You must remember that you have the developers over the barrel. They have paid $30 million for this lot. They will develop it even if they cannot develop it as presently proposed. I understand that the tower has 158 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 a great amount of sex appeal and would be an iconic feature for the City, but it must be moved to the 18th Street side of the block. This is the commercial side of the block and will have less effect on the Logan Square area. It will also serve as a demarcation between the commercial part of Logan Square and the residential part. Having said this, the rest of the proposal is unacceptable. I only have two pages. The proposal will exacerbate an already terrible parking problem in the area. It will result in a net loss of parking spaces. They're building this on a 400-lot parking lot. Since a major justification for the tower depends on its bringing new business to the City, it must generate additional traffic to be successful. The developer's contention that the occupants of the tower will use public transportation ala New York is unrealistic. Philadelphia does not have 159 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 the transportation system that New York City has, and that city's traffic problems are horrendous. At rush hour and before and after, 19th Street and JF Kennedy is gridlocked. With the loss of parking, the traffic will get much worse, discouraging people from coming to Center City unless it's absolutely necessary. And, of course, the development will generate far more traffic on its own. If the traffic from the proposed hotel and shops is added in, the additional strain on parking and traffic will be unbearable. This development crammed into half a city block will be overcrowded. It represents only an exercise of greed by the developer, with no concern for aesthetics. The so-called public areas are an illusion. They will not be used by the public, situate as they are on the upper floors. Greed should not be rewarded. 160 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 The solution is to disallow the hotel, but additional shopping and the movie theatre can be permitted. This will open up the lot. It will bring people into Center City. They will be users. It will answer the questions raised by the Councilpeople. But by doing that, it will substantially reduce traffic, because the hotel is a huge traffic generator. As I said, this will not stop development, but it will better serve the City if we can eliminate the hotel. That's what jams up this lot. That's what makes it so aesthetically wrong, and that's what causes all the parking problems. Thank you. (Applause.)
My name is Ed Panek. I'm here on behalf of Logan Square Neighborhood Association, both as the Chairman of the Zoning Committee and as a member of the Major Projects 161 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 Committee, which has been charged by Logan Square to negotiate with the developer and obtain information concerning the development, which is clearly within our boundaries. First, I might say that our President, Rob Stewart, would have liked to have been here today, but he's on jury duty, and the Chair of the Major Projects Committee, Jim McGrath, would have liked to have been here, but he had to be in Florida. And I wonder why it's always somebody else that has to be in Florida and not me. But in any event, I'm here. This is a very important project not only to the developer, not only to this City, not only to the near neighbors, but to the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in its entirety. We have had continuing discussions with the developer, and we intend to continue to facilitate discussions with the developer. A couple things that are going 162 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 to happen as a result of -- if this Council today decides that it is going to pass this or enact this ordinance, it's going to create a situation where there's a lot less incentive for the developer to continue to negotiate. Number two, if you enact this ordinance today without a consideration of what other major projects might be built in the area, without a consideration of our neighborhood development plan, which I think will be issued by the end of December, the beginning of January -- we put $100,000 into this from Kise Straw doing the development plan. We really wish that you would see that final plan before you make a decision on this particular piece of legislation. I know of no compelling reason why this piece of -- this ordinance needs to be enacted today. It can be enacted after you've had a chance to review our neighborhood development plan and after 163 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 you've had an opportunity to consider the fruits of the rest of our negotiations with the developer. What I handed up to you was the last letter that we sent to the developer. It's dated November the 13th. It is not the position of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association per se. It is a list of suggested talking points. The developer has responded to us on that and we've also met with them recently, the Monday of Thanksgiving week, and we intend to continue to do that, not only to try and facilitate getting information concerning issues of major concern to not only the near neighbors but other residents on the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, but also with respect to whether or not there can be any continuing negotiations with respect to this particular project. I must say that with every particular matter that I've ever worked on for Logan Square Neighborhood 164 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 Association, our approach, my approach certainly, has always been win-win, and that's where we'd like to get on this particular situation. We're not there yet, and we need some time to finish that, and I see no reason why you need to enact an ordinance today, which I think can inhibit us from getting where we need to go. I also want to thank Councilman Clarke, who has facilitated us in our discussions with the developer and has been supportive and looking out, I think, for everybody's best interest in the whole process. So I thank you. That is my testimony. Any questions?
Thank you. Any questions or comments from the Committee? (No response.)
Thank you. 165 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 Good afternoon. Kindly identify yourself for the record.
Good afternoon. My name is Richard Slobodian. I'm a resident of Center City and my family has been here for upwards of 70 years. Myself, clearly I haven't. But my interest is seeing this project happen, not for any financial gain, but because I'm interested in bringing the newest and the best technology, architecture, engineering and science to the City. Both of my sisters are in New York, as many of your siblings and daughters are, and they've bought in Hoboken, in Jersey City and my father has bought in burgeoning White Plains, a city in its own right, and I've always encouraged them to buy here. And why haven't they bought here? Because they're afraid that there's not enough leadership and vision to get something done to make an exciting, vibrant Center City that is stagnated by height 166 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 requirements and other historical impediments. I think it's critical. It has to be built, and I wish I had a financial interest in it being built, but I don't. Just a City resident. So thanks very much.
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next three witnesses are John Partridge, Anthony Dougdale, Steven Henkelman.
Would all three witnesses please approach the witness table. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Who is the third, Mr. McPherson? MR. McPHERSON: John Partridge, Anthony Dougdale and Steven Henkelman. 167 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588
Good morning, President Verna and Council Rules Committee. My name is John Partridge. I'm an architect, and my business is located in the Bell Atlantic Tower at 1717 Arch Street, making me a close neighbor of the proposed tower and mixed-use development, American Commerce Center at 18th and Arch. By the way, I take the train to work and take full advantage of the tremendous mass transit system that we are lucky enough to have in Philadelphia and is key to our survival in our future as a leading city in the world. I recall when One Logan and the Four Seasons project was developed in 1983 and then Two Logan followed in 1987. At the time, 18th Street was declared by some as a new center of the Central Business District. Then Mellon Bank Center in 1990, Bell Atlantic Tower in 1992 further enhanced 18th Street's claim as the main north-south access in the 168 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 dense core of Philadelphia's Central Business District. Numerous factors contribute to the location of so much of the new development in this area, not the least of which is the direct access to the regional rail lines and its close proximity to the existing office space in the CBD. This site is not the edge of anything. This is the center of the main urban core of Philadelphia. The site of American Commerce Center is the heart of the urban core, surrounded on three sides by dense, high-rise development. It's connected to our vital mass transit hub. And this is the prime development site for a dense building complex in Philadelphia. The notion of locating a dense development site anywhere but in very, very close proximity to mass transit is contrary to the notion of a sustainable city and is something that I'm not sure we're going to get a whole lot of mileage 169 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 out of with any developers. Sustainability is one of those issues that I believe must be of the highest priority as a core value for all of us in the community and in the City. For Philadelphia to be sustainable, we must not only improve the environmental quality of our buildings, our industry and our transportation systems, we must also continue to improve how we compete in both the world economy and in our regional economy. I'm talking about economic sustainability, which is as important to be viable. One of the most exciting aspects of the American Commerce Center project is that it will continue the development trend towards cutting-edge green building technology, which was initiated locally with Liberty Properties' Comcast Center and their projects at the Navy Yard, and it will in fact take it to the next level as we push the design envelope towards ever-more 170 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 energy efficient and environmentally friendly office projects. Planning for the ACC at this point includes many state-of-the-art green building technologies, which were alluded to by the architect. For some, the height of the building, the density of the building, the mixed use quality of the building is its most impressive feature. For others, it's most imposing and even frightening. For me, the height, the density are non-issues. What impresses me most is how well the mixed use aspect of the complex fits into the existing urban fabric and how the state-of-the-art architecture and design technology of the building will provide Philadelphia with a landmark, which will serve us both as a destination and as a premier building address. The ACC will be a great addition to the neighborhood and to the City of Philadelphia, and I urge you to 171 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 approve the current changes necessary to allow it to be built as it's planned.
Thank you, President Verna and ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. My name is Steven Henkelman. I'm an architect in Philadelphia. Unlike Mr. Kohn, I did not have the opportunity to grow up in Philadelphia, but moved here as a young architect. That was over 30 years ago. I have maintained a practice in Center City Philadelphia during that time. I did have the opportunity over those 30 years to see some of the threshold events occur in Philadelphia's evolution, many of which were mentioned by Mr. Kohn in his brief history, two of 172 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 which are pertinent to the proposed development. One certainly was Bill 4 Rouse's vision for what Philadelphia could be when he proposed Liberty Place. The second has been mentioned previously, is the gradual shift to the west of the dense center business district area. As it's moved west, we've seen a culmination -- possibly not even that; it could go further -- of development occurring on the west side of Schuylkill with Cira Centre and what we hopefully will see spawned by that development on the west side. As an architect in Philadelphia, we look very closely at many issues when a development is proposed, two of which I'd like to bring to light, and they've been mentioned before. One is the enhancement of the image of Philadelphia that the development will provide, and the second one is the respect for context in which that development occurs. The former is 173 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 obviously the easy one to discuss. The proposed development would be almost impossible to argue would do anything but enhance Philadelphia's image, both on the national scene and international scene. And as also was mentioned, I think this is critical to Philadelphia's sustainability and its growth. The second certainly is the one that is the greatest controversy: context. First I'd like to say that we have the opportunity and we have in place a body of professionals who look at that very closely, have looked at it for this project. That's the Philadelphia Planning Commission. They have worked closely with the developers and endorsed this project. One of the aspects of context -- and there are many that were mentioned during Mr. Kohn's presentation and how to address some of the concerns of those who are in the immediate 174 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 vicinity, but one of those I'd like to highlight is how the building actually meets the ground. And this is not just a physical plunking of the building onto the streetscape, but it's actually what happens at that level. We've talked a lot about the activity that gets generated on the street level, opening up the street for activities. But in Philadelphia, we've seen over the past where open plazas are windswept and unoccupied, really do very little. In this case, I think the architects -- and here I think the developers are to be well commended -- have looked at the activities that are important, not just the physical setting, but what surrounds those spaces. And I think that what you have seen today and will see as this develops is that you will have a very active area that will extend well beyond the normal office hours. Context is an economic issue too, and I needn't address what it means 175 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 in today's economic means. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Philadelphia. I strongly recommend that the Council endorse this proposal, and I think Philadelphia deserves it and, more importantly, Philadelphians deserve it. Thank you.
That concludes our witness list and also our public hearing. We will now go into our public meeting, and at this time, the Chair -- I'm sorry. Councilman Clarke.
Thanks, Madam President. Real brief, because I know we're running way behind schedule. I just wanted to clarify that the plan of approval that will be done by the City of Philadelphia Planning Commission, there's a commitment -- and I see we still have a representative from the Planning Commission -- that there's a commitment 176 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 that at the approval of the Planning Commission, it will be subject to an approval by City Council. Just kind of shake your head. (Mr. Kramer shaking head in the affirmative.)
So the ultimate plan of approval will be coming back to the City Council for approval, and I'm assuming it will be by resolution. So we can just do it in one day's shot. Thank you.
Thank you. We are now in our public meeting, and, again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I would like to move for the amendments that have been circulated and briefed on earlier in the public hearing to Bill No. 080588. 177 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588 (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the amendments as presented to us this morning be adopted. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the amendments are adopted. Again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Bill 080588 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation, as amended, and request for a suspension of the rules to allow reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.) 178 12/3/08 - RULES - BILL 080588
It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 080588 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation, as amended; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. And this concludes our public meeting. Thank you all very much. (Applause.) (Committee on Rules adjourned at 12:00 p.m.) - - - 179 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on December 3, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)