as well well it's not well it's it's it's it's actually bill bill co doors that open up right
Okay. Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up from Robert Everett.
I will promote them at once.
Hi, Mr. Everett.
sorry it took me a while that's okay mr everett i haven't i haven't heard from you in a while so
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer had a couple weeks off i guess
uh yes first name is robert last name everett e v e r e double t do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth told you nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir i'm just here to represent
that fna did have our meeting and we did support them thank you very much we appreciate you taking
the time is there anyone else in the virtual audience yes chair sloan folks has their hand
they had their hand raised but now it's down you can proceed okay thank you um planning commission
amy board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the existing rsa 5 residential single family to propose uses
consistent with the previous variance for commercial space and will not injure the use
of adjoining properties the planning commission recommends the board grant their requested variance
for child care center so thank you mi 2025 000 624 1247 east columbia avenue i vote yes with
proviso first floor and basement first floor and basement level yes use use approved for first
floor and basement use approved for first floor and basement level michael johns my vote is yes
with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with Proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, sir, for coming in. We appreciate you staying around.
Thank you. He's here for the next
one, too. He's here for this
one, too? Yeah.
The Artesian Studios? Yeah.
Wow. Okay.
So, MI2025, maybe that's why you stayed all day, right? MI2025, 000815, 2034 North 2nd Street. Mr. Nockamson, just for the record, state your name.
So MI 2025
is your movie. That's why you stayed all day, right?
MI 20...
Alan Nockamson.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you. You've already been sworn.
Good evening, counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to his equity?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
thank you please proceed share your screen and i would say also that there's a norris square has
letter of support 15 and support one in opposition and then uh council member uh lazada yes we did
receive a letter and not off from councilmember look maybe you want to i heard him yeah so i'm
going to keep this brief but this is one of these projects that we should be proud of as the city of
philadelphia and i really do mean it like jim did a great job here this is a renowned project and
i'm going to have him speak more so but let me just go through the technical aspects of this
this building is the gotham where it has many many different accolades but we have three refusals
here um this is an adaptive reuse project this is basically phase two of it where you know we
started building the building structure here, which has 40 units, and we're just trying to
swap out some of those artisan units on the second floor to make them residential. So we have three
refusals. First, because we lack the amount of industrial space that is required under the code,
we're getting a refusal. I will note that if you look at that refusal, this property is a mix
between IRMX as well as CMX 2.5, so it's not completely IRMX.
The second refusal, again, this is an existing, what's it called, building structure here.
So swapping out the artisan studios for residential studios, this is a non-conforming structure to begin with.
And then the third refusal has to do with the parking, where because we're increasing the residential use,
now because of three to ten ratio uh we are now required to provide one additional parking spot
that we didn't have to before um i would say that's the minimus in nature and you know a lot
of times with the artisan studios there's living there anyway so it's form over substance so we did
get support from you know relevant parties um i'm just going to go right to the floor plans and then
jim is going and here are the pictures this is again this is the main building which was adaptive
reuse jim mimicked the that building by creating this new building here which is phase two of the
gotham different viewpoints you know proof of posting you know again north second street to
the right of the property to the left of the property north phillip street to the right of
the property and left of property we go street to street and then interior photos this is the type of
what he has in other parts of the gotham so you're seeing the quality of work and materials here
and then the plans and drawings again this is just a rendering of this would be phase two
we're looking to put four units that are artisan and switch them over to residential on the second
floor and then one of jim's um businesses is e-built that focuses on green roofs so obviously
has a green roof on there um in terms of this of of the floor plans here this is just again just a
snapshot of what we're swapping out so you have four units that are currently artisan and then
he's going to tell the background story behind it uh but you know if you unit 201 which is 667
square feet uh these are all studios unit two is 464 unit uh 205 is 612 unit uh 207 746
even though a lot of these are studios by placement of walls he did try to create separation
between the living area and the sleeping areas where possible um i know it's been a long day
so i'm going to keep i kept that brief we have the rest of the exhibits which are necessary but i
jim's already been sworn in jim why don't you just tell the background story of the gotham and just
state your name again jim james marines okay sure all right why don't you just state the background
story between the gotham and why and what you're doing here right so originally we purchased the
gotham all the way back in it was a it was a wicker warehouse that's a large 10-story wicker
warehouse on north second street we got it added to the historic register uh and did a historic
rehab on the building completed it in 2020 and it was originally for commercial on the first floor
and all residential units above and then we went forward and we had at the time this was pre-covid
we had uh we leased out the commercial spaces on the first floor had further demand
We leased out the commercial spaces on the first floor, had further demand for commercial space at that time.
So we built a larger commercial space on the second floor, and we had three other units there,
which we went back and got a change to be able to allow those to be commercial space as well.
We had this approved around the same time by right because of the way it was,
and it's a half-podium structure to fit the 12 parking spaces in.
that took the that moved these commercial spaces up to the second floor to meet the code okay so
what happened is post covid we really saw a huge decrease in the the desire for office space we you
know our our vacancy went through the roof so currently even now on the second floor of the
other building of the main building we still have three out of the four units on the second floor
are vacant and commercial so now we had this building came up that was previously approved
and those units we couldn't convert back to residential by right but we went and said okay
these that building has 13 foot ceilings this building has nine foot ceilings that building
has large like artist type expanses of glass it's much more conducive to commercial use than this
building is so instead of doing that we just we requested that was the need for the variance
to convert these units to residential instead to clarify on the parking it says that we have
need 13 spaces but we really have 12 all toll across the project we have 75 parking spaces so
but on the south side of the building there's a podium structure with units above there's there's
56 units in that parking spaces in that area and then there's another 22 on this north side of the
building uh 12 that we just constructed and 10 that were previously approved but not built
because the ongoing construction here so now really although we're we're required to have 12
we're really building 20 we built 22 additional spaces and so we can more than meet the demand
for parking thank you okay questions for the board
questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time mr. chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr. chair any commission amy board with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the existing
ir max residential industrial mixed use the plan has demonstrated that the property cannot be used
in conformance with the zoning code for industrial spaces the resulting requested variance for
occupied area and accessory parking are existing physical conditions of the property citywide
vision recommendation 2.2.2 is to reposition former industrial sites for new users the planning
commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for removal of industrial spaces
occupied area and accessory parking thank you mi 2025 000 815 2034 north second street i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes
i win my vote is yes i hate my vote is yes alan the lawyers in the back are cheering that you're
done thank you um it's for anyone in the uh virtual audience whose case has not been called
from the two o'clock list.
I swear to you.
That's in your hand, sir.
Thank you.
I swear we're going to take a five-minute break
and then we will be right back.
Right back.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, I noticed that, I don't see that.
It doesn't have anything to do.
Yes, there's a time.
Yes, let's go in, let's go in there.
It's just a big, big problem.
Yeah, and it's a little...
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this afternoon's meeting
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Ty O'Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson,
our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty,
and our Board Administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
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Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number five, MI 2025-000-398-1325-South 23rd Street.
This case is a continued attorney moving party.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, or rather good evening.
This is Jason Hand.
I will be your co-host for the session.
I did not see any hands.
Thank you.
So we're going to go first.
MI 2025, 000397, 1935-37 South Bancroft Street.
Dawn Tangrady is the attorney.
Also, Leonard Reuter on behalf of the city is here.
I don't, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Hi, I'll question it.
good afternoon don tancredi d-a-w-n my last name is t-a-n-c-r-e-d-i do you swear or firm to tell
Good afternoon.