screen. Thank you, Mr. Sheehy. Are you able, Mr. Chairman, to see the... We can. Absolutely.
Good afternoon. As I said, this is a project that is owned by Groom Investments, LLC.
It's located at 230 36 Vine Street. It's also formerly known as the Painted Bride,
for those who are familiar with the project.
The proposed development is a by-right construction of 85 visitor accommodation units
on five floors with commercial space on the first floor.
And this is a proposed as of right with mixed use commercial visitor accommodation
and sit-down residence in a CMX3 district.
The only reason we're here today is to get approval by this board for a roof deck
to be used for commercial use in the CMX3 property.
If this was being developed as a multifamily property,
the roof deck would be permitted as a right
without any restrictions on its use.
If I may, Mr. Chairman, go through the package with you
of what we provided.
The first page is the summary.
The second is our tax clearance for the owner.
The third is the notice of referral,
which I spoke with Ms. Emerson today
and we're going to be needing to go forward
with an amended referral to add the 30 parking spaces
which we're going to discuss later.
So at the end of this proceeding,
we're going to request that the board hold this in advance.
We're also going to be amending this notice of referral
to reduce the number of visitor accommodation units
from 110 down to 85 and remove the bicycle parking.
Next is the vesting deed back in March of 2022, when it was purchased from the Painted
Bride.
Next is the application for the Special Exception that we're here for today and followed by
the project form sheet.
their project information form and then followed in the package by a site plan
showing the current design for this including from this is a top-down view showing the roof
decks there are two roof decks on this property one would be accessed by the visitor accommodation
units which are going to be under lease with sonder which is currently executed and in place
and the other roof deck is for the commercial user which will be a restaurant hopefully to
be under contract in the near future. Going down the the next is the location it's part of the
package the presentation that was given to the RCO this shows the location of the property which is
This shows the location of the property, which is between the I-95 connector, also the friend Franklin Bridge and that section of Old City at 3rd and Vine.
between the
Next will be some, this is a visual of the two roof deck areas.
This is a design, this is not the final configuration.
The sign on Vine Street, side of Vine Street would be for the restaurant usage.
AND ON THE NEW STREET BOVINE AREA IS THE ROOF DECK FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATION.
AND THIS IS ALL PART OF THE PROPOSAL WHICH SHOWS THE ZONING AND THE REDUCTION THAT WE'RE
GOING TO BE GOING TO WITH THE REFERRAL BEING AMENDED AND TAKEN BACK TO L&I.
THIS IS A STREET VIEW OFF OF VINE STREET SHOWING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW PROJECT BECAUSE
Again, it's by right for the construction and needs all dimensional requirements, and that's the entrance to the parking.
And this shows the five floors with commercial space on the first floor and the visitor accommodation units on the remaining five floors.
And then the roof deck's on top.
Excuse me, counsel, this is the court reporter.
Could I ask you to please keep your voice up just a little bit?
Thank you.
Sure, I'll move in a little closer.
Is that better, sir?
That is.
Thank you, sir.
I apologize. This shows the parking underneath, subterranean there, and the commercial space on the first floor, and the roof decks on top.
This is the courtyard between the two wings of the building, and this is the basement on the left, and then the first floor commercial space on the right, showing the restaurant there, as well as the rooftop.
there'll be an elevator there that will go directly to the roof.
And this is an additional, this is a roof, and in between the two are the space for the courtyard,
and then the units will be separated with the mechanicals on the rooftop that are covered there.
And this is a view of the proposed use of the restaurant deck that would be the front on Vine Street,
and this would be the visitor accommodation site that's in the rear of the building.
And this is, again, the front street on Vine Street there.
And this is a night shot of the proposed design.
Again, all of this is by right.
Again, the reason why we're here is to discuss the special exception for the roof text.
You want to go down to the photos of the, here we go.
This is our photos of the existing conditions.
The building, the painted bride, as you can see, is still enclosed in mesh.
It's recently been taken off.
request of the artist to document the mural that encompasses the building and is that new street
that's vine street and the usual other view was new street is that correct and bow down
this is a pictures of the posting it's been up for the required time
and we posted it on two sides
and there's the notice of the referral
as well posted next to it.
Next is the letter
sent out in February to the near
neighbors and if you
scroll down you'll see
the certificate of mailing
with the individuals
that were sent notice
We did have the op
go back up
and go back.
So at this time, I wanted to go into the special exception. Again, we're here to discuss the picture.
that for the special exception the building is should be approved for special exception it's a
permitted use under cmx3 we've met all the dimensional requirements for this there's no
outstanding use requirements that are not being met in the proposed design when you get to the
specific detrimental impacts that are required to be addressed in a presentation to the zoning
board, there will be no congestion in the public streets or transportation that would be expected
from this use compared to any other roof deck usage. This is only going to be used for patrons
of the hotel or the sit-down restaurant. There will be no overcrowding of the land. This is a
right building with less density now that we've reduced it from 110 units down to 85.
There will be no impairment of the adequate supply of lead or air to adjacent properties.
Again, all the heights are per code and by right. And likewise, there'll be no burdening of water
And likewise, there'll be no burdening of water source, school park or other facilities as this is being used as a right.
source school park or other facilities.
And it would be expected of any roof deck usage would not be overburdening to those facilities.
And then there'd be no permanent impairment of any adjacent properties.
Again, for any use of a roof deck, there's not a really extensive use of these facilities.
It will not be endangering the public health or safety
by fire or other means,
because again, the abuse is permitted as of right.
And it's not inconsistent with the comprehensive plan.
It's actually permitted under the plan
just by special exception.
That's why we're here today.
I'd also like to point out to the board
that we have looked at other roof tech restaurants
and lounges, and we want to share them with the board
there we go this is the stratus rooftop lounge at the hotel monica fourth and chest fifth and
chestnut and i want to point out to the board that the hours of operation for the lounge is published
go to 10 p.m during the week for the most part and midnight on thursday and to 2 a.m
on the weekend Friday and Saturday. The assembly roof lounge at 1840 Benjamin Parkway again has
late hours on Sunday to Thursday to midnight and on Friday and Saturday 2 a.m. Here's the Bach bar
at 800 Mifflin which is in South Philly again the hours on the weekend go to midnight with 11 and 10
p.m during the week and the square is another rooftop uh restaurant bar um this is in queen
village 5th and bainbridge um this is above a sondra hotel and it has a again open space in
the residential neighborhood and this is something close by at second and walmart street the
positano restaurant um we're gonna we also have been in touch as i said we have a um a lease
with Sondra and I have with me today
someone from Sondra to testify, Mr. Pena,
regarding their restrictions
on the use of the roof deck for their visitors.
And he'll be here to testify shortly
after I have Mr. Zakin go through
and speak if he wants to regarding it.
Do you want to bring up Mr. Zakin
to adopt the testimony, Mr. Chairman?
Yes, I do. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. My name is Shimshon. Shimshon is S-H-I-M-S-H-O-N. And my last name is Zaykin, Z-A-K-I-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Zaykin, you were present with me when I discussed this project and you heard my testimony. Do you adopt that testimony as if it was your own?
Yes, I do.
Did you have anything you wanted to add with regards to the project and the discussion you had with the RCO regarding the prior meeting and the accommodations you made?
I think you described it pretty good.
Okay. I would like then to do, just to amplify that, if you are may, Mr. Chairman, we met with the RCO on two occasions.
We initially met with them in February of 2023.
We at that time had an original proposed plan for 110-room visitor accommodation on five floors with the commercial restaurant on the sit-down restaurant.
And the original plans are attached to the package as 15, Exhibit 15.
at the end of that meeting there was a vote and they were 52 opposed three not opposed and one
in support of that we listened to what people had to say we went out afterwards and discussed it
with the board as well with the RCO board and also with people that were familiar with the
project it was at that time that Mr. Zakin went back and tried to address those concerns by
inducing the number of visitor accommodation units from 110 down to 85. He introduced the
on-site parking of 30 units for vehicles that would be available for the public to use. It would
be a third-party business to run it. Operator would not be run by Sonder or by Mr. Zakin.
And he would increase the deck setbacks from five feet to seven feet on all sides by code.
The setbacks are required to be five feet along the edges of the streets, and Mr. Zakin increased that to seven feet.
And Mr. Zaykin, the increase that to 70.
Also in the courtyard.
And also in the courtyard.
Off the courtyard.
Off the courtyard, which you wouldn't have to have any setback.
Exactly.
And we also discussed reducing the occupancy on the decks from 150 in each deck by code
to 100 for the restaurant and even less for the sonder space,
since there'll be restrictions there
for the number of people that can gather at any time.
And we also agreed to have the Sondra restrictions extend
if it became a multifamily.
This also gave me flexibility to convert this
to a multifamily in the future
under current code restrictions.
So we're here for a special exception
to permit the construction of the two roof decks
for the non-residential uses in the CMX3 district.
One would be a deck for the visitor accommodation
and the other would be for the sit-down restaurant.
It should be mentioned that the restaurant would have, obviously, a provider upstairs at all times.
They'll have service with, hopefully, a bar restaurant, so there'll be people on site taking care of the space
and making sure it's managed properly and the patrons behave themselves.
And Sandra has very strict rules and limited accessibility, which Mr. Penney will testify to.
So we believe that the two decks meet the dimensional and use standards under the zoning code, and we believe that we've met that standard to get the special exception for these two accommodations to this building.
And, Mr. Zakin, I'll ask you again, was everything I just said after you testified accurately?
Accurate.
And you adopted as your own?
With that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to see if Mr. Pena is available from Sondra to testify with regards to their use of the property and the roof deck.
Mr. Pena, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Thank you. Andres Pena, first name A-N-D-R-E-S, last name Pena, P-E-N-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Receive counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Pena, thank you for coming today to testify. Can you identify
who you work for?
Sure. I work for Sonder, and I'm the head of public policy for North America.
And as part of that, do you oversee properties in Philadelphia with regards to policy?
Yes, I do. So in my role, it's my job to interface with governmental bodies like a zoning board or elected officials on land use, regulatory issues, policy issues, and make sure my colleagues on the ground who are running our operations are doing so above board and in line with our expectations as a good corporate citizen.
And for those who aren't aware of who Sonder is, can you tell the board what Sonder does?
Of course. Sonder is a global publicly traded hospitality company. We're in over 40 markets