My client has done some cleaning up.
My client has done some cleaning up in the property, but there's no proposed changes at all to the structure of the property, which is what's reflected in these plans.
The first floor is a commercial space with a bathroom in the back.
It has its own entrance on the corner.
There are also buckle doors for access to the basement.
in addition there is a separate entrance up to the upper floors the separate stairway leads up
to the second floor and then another stairway leads up to the third the second floor has its
own entrance there is a kitchen bathroom and basically is a studio set up in this space
and again the third floor is set up the same way the property as you can see from the photographs
was a commercial space on the first floor it just it's not being currently used the
property itself again here's the side entrance to go up to the upper residential floors and
And here's another picture from the front.
In addition, my client has met with 32nd Ward RCO and there's about 20 people in attendance.
There was support overall for legalizing what is there now.
Again, this property is in this condition, in a non-conforming condition for as long
as anybody remembers.
So we're asking the board for a variance to allow it to stay in the same condition, in that to now convert this property to a single family house would require substantial changes to the structure and would be a hardship to my client.
I'll be happy to answer any questions from the board regarding this.
Is your client available?
Yes, my client's here as well.
Please identify your client, ask him or her to raise his hand.
Mr. Peter Crawford.
Mr. Crawford, are you available?
if you are please raise your hand okay yes mr crawford yes okay mr crawford uh please identify
yourself for the record name and address spell your name for the stenographer uh yes peter
crawford c-r-a-w-f-o-r-d uh 1639 north hancock street uh philadelphia pa uh one nine one two
two mr crawford do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes I do thank you please proceed mr. Jim thank you mr. Crawford you heard
my testimony to the board can you verify that they're true and correct and
adopted as your own yes the testimony was true and correct except I want to
say that the commercial space as you can see from the photographs is occupied by
local dance academy right now thank you all right uh anyone else wish to testify
anyone else wish to testify in this case please raise your hand now please
no hands up at this time thank you tanya any questions from the board
many commission
copy is indicated for residential use and the city plan given the
existing pre-existing non-conforming and also the history of the property we have no objection
thank you calendar number 39200
zero one seven five eight north 31st street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
thank you thank you can i before zinjin leaves um i in the earlier case i contacted 101 to 109
Ellsworth Street. I contacted Sarah Adamo at L&I and she believes that the changes proposed
in the revised plans proviso form are too extensive to be approved without another review by L&I.
So I would suggest that this be held and Mr. Jen be allowed to submit an amended application.
And Mr. Jen be allowed to submit an amended application and that the board vote on this after there is a revised refusal issued.
Given the circumstances that we're all living with, would 30 days be sufficient?
I expect it would, yes.
That would work for you?
Under the new Eclipse system.
All right.
So calendar number three, I'm sorry.
If we could do it as attorney moving party, if you could just let us know when you have the revised refusal back, would that work?
I have no problem with that method as well.
And this also what, I guess I would be waiting for a letter from Tanya as well in order to go back to L&I.
I'm not sure how the new Eclipse system would handle that.
um we can discuss that after the hearing i'm sure we can work it out
sure okay all right so calendar number three nine zero eight zero
101-109 ellsworth street attorney moving party thank you thank you have a good one
likewise uh next case we have another case i think that concludes if i'm not mistaken
all right i know we did the vernon anastasio one wharton street i believe there was um
one more case the 800 block of wharton street 833 wharton yeah you have that confessor no i don't
have the calendar number you got it it's it's calendar number three nine three oh six eight
three three wharton street again i ask please keep yourself on mute we're hearing too many
conversations in the background
michael phillips you have been promoted to a panelist you can now speak and share
your screen as you wish
hi mr. Phillips are we okay to go forward
Yes. Sorry about that.
Good morning, Mr. Phillips. Good morning.
Good morning.
Please identify yourself with the records, play your name for the scenario.
Do you waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
May it please the board, Michael Phillips, Obermayer Redmond Maxwell and Hipple, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3400, Philadelphia PA 19102.
here on behalf of 9th and Wharton LP, the owner of 833 Wharton Street. I have with me here today
David Landskroner on behalf of the owner, as well as Michael Cipione, who is the listing agent for
the residential homes at 827, 829, and 831 Wharton Street. And Andrew Levin, who's here as a
representative of Sonder, which is the proposed user of the accessory use that we're proposing
from the second and fourth floors.
And Mr. Phillips, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chair.
All right.
You've already begun, so please continue.
Thank you.
So as the board may recall, this is the property at the corner of 9th and Wharton Street.
We were here two years ago for a very long drawn out, decades long back and forth with the community, which ultimately resulted in a variance that permitted ground floor commercial use and multifamily for 21 apartments on the second through fourth floor.
In addition, as part of that proposal, which was, I think, key to obtaining the support of the community, ultimately, was that we had agreed to put three single-family homes along Wharton Street to maintain the residential character.
I'm about to share my screen right now.
Give me one moment.
Can I interrupt for a moment, please?
Tanya, I see Mary Jones.
I don't know if she's here.
She was from Council President Clark's office.
We asked for her earlier.
we asked for her earlier i don't know if she's did she want to get back on i mean that case
I don't know if she's, did she want to get back on?
I mean, that could be.
has been voted on but i see her there i didn't know if she wanted to speak
so miss jones if you're there please raise your hand
she can speak as you wish
miss jones
okay she might be otherwise occupied here okay well we'll go forward with Mr. Phillips's case
and if we want we'll go get back to her if she wants to speak we'll get back to her thank you
please proceed Mr. Phillips sorry about that perfectly fine so I believe is my can you see
my screen now? Is it shared? Yes. Okay. So these, what I'm circling, these are the three single
family homes that are being constructed along Wharton. And then this is the proposed multifamily
building. We have the residential entrance here, and there will be commercial uses along
9th Street. And we're directly across from Pat's. Geno's is right there as well. So very busy
commercial corridor that the board is familiar with. What we are proposing here is an accessory
use for this second through fourth floors, the approved 21 multi-family dwelling units,
to utilize it as visitor accommodations for Sonder. And I will go into detail of what Sonder is,
but at the end of the presentation, after we go through everything, I believe that you will see
that this is a much less impactful use than the already approved multifamily by any objective
standard. So we're under construction right now, and really what we're seeking is more akin to
administrative review even, because what we have here, and I'll just go through briefly the
Administrative Review Standards is something that reduces the intensity of
an approved use, making comparable changes that reduce the intensity. And
here, utilizing the second through fourth floors as visitor accommodations, and
specifically Sonder, will absolutely reduce the impact on the
neighborhood. First, there will be less demands on density, whereas 21
residential units, you would have 21 families occupying each of those units. With the proposed
Sonder, it would be rare that every single prop unit would be rented out at one given time.
Two, it would be less demands on parking. Now, I know that when I was before the board two years
ago we did stress that the changes in demographics and in society has led to less demands on
parking and that was a bit of an issue with the community where they said well you came to us
before and said that there wasn't going to be much parking and now you're saying that this will even
be less than what you had before and yes that's true initially we said that there would be a
lower demand on parking than what was contemplated. This is even lower than that because these end
users who are coming into Philadelphia and want to stay in this neighborhood would be taking
Ubers, would be taking, you know, CAD as public transportation. They would not be adding to any
additional parking. Also, you don't have to worry about move in and move out. Sonder has fully
furnished units. And the distinction here with Sonder, and I'll speak about them in detail a bit
and Mr. Levin can answer any questions the board may have, is these units are designed to still
maintain the feel of an apartment. And we will run you through just some slides about Sonder.
It's self-check-in and contact with service.
So Sonder will manage the building.
They provide 24-7 service to guests.
They have a local presence in Philadelphia.
They have a presence worldwide in 37 cities.
And they recently began leasing entire buildings or floors within buildings in the city.
They will handle the security.
And the units will all be fully furnished.
So it's not as if whereas when you have renters coming in and they're on year to year leases and people are moving in, moving out, loading trucks, you know, outside.
leases and people are moving in, moving out, loading trucks outside of 9th and Wharton here,
everything will be moved in and it'll be all set at that point. This is not an Airbnb. I want to
make that distinction because there is the 24-7 service. There is security handled by Sonder
and there is a total oversight of the property. But it's also not a typical hotel. There is no
valet parking, no bellhop, no front desk service. And again, these rooms are designed to feel more
like homes in great neighborhoods. Also significantly is the benefit to the local
economy here. Whereas people are generally coming into Center City and staying there,
and then they have to travel to the various neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Somebody wants
to stay in Pasciunc, wants to stay in close proximity to the Italian market, to Pats and
Gino's, to go to the restaurants at Pasciunc Square. They can come and stay at a sonder,
bring their family, or stay here for a business trip and enjoy the local amenities that are
provided and give that boost to the economy. Also, we're in a post-COVID-19 world, so the
contactless service here is something that's desirable for individuals who want something
different than your traditional hotel. So we met with the RCO first in January, and before doing
that we reached out to the neighbors who had actually appealed the initial project which was
approved it went up on appeal and we ultimately reached a settlement agreement and provided
various community benefits that were still standing by and still enforceable with it was
Gil LaTerry I believe the John DeGiulia we met with all of them to discuss this project because
we know it is a little unorthodox and we know we just did get a variance two years ago
But this opportunity arose and it was an opportunity that we again see as less impactful than what's already been approved. And we had a positive feedback from those neighbors.
We had a bit of a different feedback when we did go in front of Pascheon Square in January of this year, and I can only state that that could be based on the fact that people don't understand what Sonder is.
So we then came back to give that explanation.
As an example of the kinds of questions we got, the first question that we had from the
board of Passion Square was about noise control.
What are you going to do about noise control?
Again, I reiterate, we're across the street from Pat's.
We're at a very busy, loud intersection.
But despite that, we had an answer.
There is a strict no party policy that Sonder enforces.
They have a rigid process for reserving a unit.
You have to go through security.
There is also sound monitoring devices that are installed in the units to ensure that nobody is throwing parties or being too loud.
So we had an answer for that question and concern.
But nonetheless, the board wanted to hear from Sonder.
So we came back in March with representatives from Sonder and described how this differs from a hotel, how this differs from Airbnb.
And at the conclusion, the people in attendance voted three to three.
They were split. But the board did oppose.
And I believe Suzanne Tavani is here and she will note that.
But despite all of that, I just want to once again reiterate that we are not looking to change the footprint of the building, the massing, or any changes to the interior layout.
This will still feel as if there are 21 residential units here.
The difference being that we are under contract to lease the second to fourth floors to Sonder, who will take over all 21 units, furnish them, and then rent them out.
The last thing I want to note, and I'll be calling witnesses just a bit out of order.
the first I would like to call Michael Cipione because Michael is the listing broker for the
Because Michael is the listing broker for the three townhomes, and this was extremely important to the community that we maintain those townhomes along Wharton Street.
three townhomes.
And as he's been listing these townhomes and the feedback he's received from prospective purchasers is that it is much more desirable to have the Sonder or the visitor accommodations used as opposed to 21 dwelling units in the multifamily use.
Again, because of the intensity that I spoke to. And within the packet at Exhibit E is an email even exchanged between Mr. Sipione and a buyer's agent discussing that they would be interested in the home if this variance is approved and if it's going to be a hotel use.
but they're not interested if it is going to be a multifamily residential.
So if Mr. Sipion could join, raise his hand,
and just briefly answer a couple of quick questions.
Michael Sipion, 1119 Cross Street.
Sipion, would you please identify yourself?