prompted to join as a panelist. Please accept the request and turn to your camera. Third,
the webinar Q&A is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment on the questions in the Q&A.
Further, if you are participating by phone, please press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to
unmute. Our in-person attendees, please refrain from talking, eating, or drinking. Verbal and
physical aggression will not be tolerated. Restrooms are across on the elevators. A water
fountain is just outside the room to the right. When speaking on the record, you must speak
directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees. In the event of an emergency,
please follow the directions given over the public address system or by staff. The main exit is
through the double doors at the rear of the room. The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the
doors. In case of an evacuation, the rally point is Love Park directly across our street. Please
remain there so we can account for you. So let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
on here oh list was number number two here
number two mi 2025 003 648 1000 south uh 1000 north 48th street that case has been continued
until May 19th at 2 p.m.
May 20th at 2 p.m., I'm sorry.
Number four, number three,
M-I-2025-003-886-1227 South 15th Street.
this case has been withdrawn so if the case is withdrawn they have to start
over again by submitting an application to L and I get the refusal appeal appeal
to the zoning board and go through the RCO process again okay so that case has
been withdrawn. Number four, MI 2025-005-059.
for MI 2025-005-059-2111 Wallace Street that case has been continued until May 20th at 2 p.m
and number one MI 2023-005-621-254 South 54th Street
P.S. Investments is involved in this. We do not have an update of current. Oh, you're there. Oh, you're going to you're going to do it for us.
Good. Thank you so much.
Good afternoon. Xin Jin on behalf of P.S. Investments.
You've already been sworn, by the way.
Thank you. So I would like to request one more continuance from the board. I have reviewed the submission they made to the board.
The plans that were attached that were supposed to be revised plans, I believe the architect sent the wrong set.
It doesn't match the building in any form at all.
All right.
So MI 2023-005-621-254-South 54th Street, that case is continued until May 20th at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Have a good one.
And number five, MI 2025-005-400, that case is continued until May 20th at 2 p.m.
and then number 11.
MI 2025-006-975-2015 Frankfurt Avenue.
That case has been continued until May 20th at 2 p.m.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
number one on the add-on list mi2025 004 512 757 south fish street
That case, the vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 18th at 2 p.m.
Number two, MI 2025, 005-550-6237 North Broad Street, I vote no.
uh michael johns i vote yes with proviso 38 feet max height
cheryl gaston my vote is no tenetta graham my vote is no i am mcadams my vote is no
number three mi 2025 005 572 3921 ridge avenue i vote yes proviso revised plans what else goes
with that hillary sorry just give me one that's number three yes yes yes um oh okay yeah so that's
that's revised plans one page that's it what is it again just revised plans one page revised plans
one page michael oh i'm sorry my vote is yes that's proviso i was stuck on a 14-foot gate
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my
vote is yes with proviso. Okay. Number four, MI-2025-006-392-7300
Frankfurt Avenue. I vote yes proviso per refusal dated 3-4-26.
I'm recused. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
And number five, MI 2025-005-350, 3430 North Bodine Street.
I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Okay, we're going to go to number 12.
MI 2025 007215 6731 to 39 Woodland Avenue. Andrea Solomon is the attorney. We also have
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Dana. I will be your co-host for this afternoon.
Thank you. There's a letter of support from the African Cultural Alliance of North America. It's a petition with 75 signatures. And no RCO summary, but notice was sent to neighbors with proof of a mailing attached. So could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
her. Good afternoon, Andrea Solomon, A-N-D-R-E-A-S-A-L-O-M-O-N, on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm and tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Could
you identify your client, the relationship to the property? My client is the owner of the
property, Apex Home Care Services, LLC. With me today is the owner, Mohamed Sese.
And our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing we have and do you waive the reading of the
referral and stipulate to its accuracy yes okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed
with your case thank you i have not gotten a notification to join us panelists there we go
thank you oh okay all right um all right we do have a letter for the okay yes i believe
it was sent in earlier today from the rco consortium
here you go it's coming up okay okay there we go again my name is andrea solomon from
claire harrison here on behalf of the applicant with me here today are mr muhammad sese my
colleague brett fellman and the project architect mr robert lynn we're very proud to be here today
requesting this special exception approval for the global city center and event space in the
former rite aid at 58th and woodlawn mohammed is a long-term resident of the philadelphia area
since emigrating from sierra leone over 20 years ago he has an impressive background in nursing
and many businesses in the area and i'd like to ask that he be sworn in so that he can quickly
introduce himself could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer first name
is mohammed m-o-h-a-m-e-d do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do counsel mohammed can you uh just introduce yourself and a little bit about your
vision for the global city center yes my name is mohammed i'm an immigrant from sierra leone
west africa i speak as an american having naturalized um lived in philadelphia for over 20
years went to schools in philadelphia i went to thomas jefferson university for nursing work at
hub university of pennsylvania i work at jefferson as an icu nurse natemco as well
did a master's in business administration at red cell university and i'm studied businesses
Currently, I have over 300 residents of the City of Philadelphia.
I own two businesses, Tahira Health, which has over 400 employees in Philadelphia and
around the counties, Montgomery, Delaware County, Box County, and Apex Home Care Services as well.
I have a vision to give back to the City of Philadelphia.
I love the city.
I've lived there for over 20 years.
And there's an opportunity on Woodland Avenue to create more development in that area of the city.
It has a very huge immigrant community from West Africa, mostly Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia.
You know, there's over 40,000 residents.
We have lacked an event space to host our cultural events.
More often than not, we rent church buildings in Philadelphia.
So there is a need in the community to have a space like this.
So when Rite Aid went under foreclosure, there was an opportunity to purchase.
So when Rite Aid went under foreclosure, there was an opportunity to purchase this building, which I did, and I wanted to do an event space.
So that is why I'm here today to apply for an exception.
Thank you, Mohamed. So really, this is Mohamed's dream to have an event space for the culturally rich Southwest Philadelphia to host life cycle events, baptisms, naming ceremonies, birthdays, weddings.
We're thrilled by the level of engagement that we've had from the community, the RCO consortium, we've met with them on multiple occasions, four or five times, and I think we've really listened to all their feedback from the resulting engagement and listened to every concern, and as a result, we have an understanding with them, and it really covers every operational element of this use.
again we're here today seeking special exception for the proposed event space the property is
zoned cmx2 it's zoned commercial but we need to switch the use from the retail sales to
entertainment assembly as you're well aware this is a lesser standard than that of a variance and
presumed allowable as a commercial use we've submitted 17 exhibits which i ask be incorporated
it into the record uh exhibit one we have the letter of support uh from akana an affected rco
as well as i'm sorry for the tiny print here but the the support um with all the affected
rcos is signatory based on the provisos that that we've requested
and our series of engagement with them.
Mohamed sees this as a long-term investment in the community. He owns other properties
in the neighborhood. He plans to be a community member for the long term, and as such, he went
personally around the neighborhood, and as Chairman Bergman stated, he received support
of over 90 neighbors in the area. I'll just flip through the petition and the letters of support
quickly. As I mentioned, the property is zone CMX2 on the commercial corridor of Woodland Ave.
Caddy Corner from it is an Episcopalian church. A couple parcels from it is an existing mosque.
And this is the referral. Again, assembly and entertainment requires the special exception approval from this board, Zone CMX2.
This is the existing property. It benefits from the T40 and access to public transit at the corner of the lot.
but it also benefits from the 48 parking spaces
that were existing as part of the former Rite Aid.
And as Bob will show you,
we're really repurposing this site for the event space use.
There's, since the Rite Aid has been vacant for some time,
there has been issues with illegal dumping on the site.
This trash enclosure has gotten a lot of trash.
thrown into it without dumpsters in it and Muhammad has taken great effort to remove trash as quickly
as possible and work with the community also to to tend to it and get it off but we really uh see
this as a great opportunity to remove this blight and occupy the space to to turn it into a community
the asset. You can all probably picture what an empty vacant Rite Aid looks like.
Muhammad purchased the property and it will require significant investment,
including replacing the roof and the HVAC system.
And with that, I'll ask that Robert Lynn, the project architect, come up and
he can walk us through the plans.
we can't afford a bear table but um state your name and spell for the stenographer certainly
robert lynn l-i-n-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do counsel bob thank you for being here today uh can you just quickly state for the board
for employment. I'm the principal and the founder of Lynn Architects. We're a 44-year-old
a 44-year-old company of architects, civil engineers, construction managers,
company of architects, civil engineers, construction managers.
and code officials. We actually represent 15 municipalities as the third-party code officials.
And can you briefly share your credentials and experience? Are you familiar with land
development process, zoning process? Yes. I mean, I'm registered to practice in Pennsylvania and
22 other states. I'm a 1975 graduate of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and save you from pulling
out your calculators. That was a half a century ago. I'm the senior member of the Planning
Commission, another Providence Township, Delaware County. 31 years I've served in that role and I
continue to serve in that role. I'm the zoning officer for Upper Providence Township, Delaware
County. I co-chair the position of zoning officer in Ridley Park Borough with one of my staff. I
I also co-chair that position in Collingdale Borough for many years now.
And I have participated in four separate comprehensive plans, the creation of them in three municipalities.
And have you worked in this particular quadrant of the city of Philadelphia before?
Yes, I have.
In fact, the last thing I did in this vicinity was less than a half a mile to the west was the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School on Woodland and Island.
we did a major addition and a significant renovation to that that school which is a
phenomenal asset to the city there thank you bob and uh have you appeared before this board before
yes i have okay um i would request that bob lynn be recognized as an expert in the fields of
architecture zoning and land development yes thank you for that courtesy um bob you've been retained
to represent the the client apex home care llc um for this project at 6731 woodland that is correct
and can you briefly describe the site for us yeah i can and by the way muhammad's been a phenomenal
uh client he's he's he's engaged he's enthusiastic he's positive and he has a vision it's nice to be
able to represent clients. This site is just under an acre of land. It's 40,500 gross square
feet. We all know there's 43,560 in an acre. It has three streets that it fronts on. It has
Woodland Avenue. I'm going to describe Woodland as going east-west because it's on an angle,
just for the hearing. It has 68th Street on the westerly side, and it has Yocum on the rear side
of the site. It has a total, as you can see in the illustration, of four curb cuts. They will
remain exactly as they are without change, with one exception. We anticipate, because of concern
about controlling the site a bit better, putting up a decorative fence around the perimeter, and
of equal importance, putting a gate on all those access points, a sliding gate. So off hours, we
can control what's been quite a bit of random parking we can't identify. Also, help control
the as as council has indicated the fact that dumpster or not in the enclosure it gets filled
with mattresses and trash on a regular basis so that's one of the goals to bring this back
into an occupied site and control that process yeah a little further um to bore you with the
details we have 189 foot of frontage on woodland uh we have 202 foot of frontage on 68 seat running
up and down the westerly quadrant and we have 189 feet of frontage on yokum to the rear
the building on the site we're all familiar with old right aids is 11 268 square feet
we don't anticipate changing that footprint in any capacity it will remain exactly as is
and can you talk a little bit about the plans for the repurposement of the dry vial certainly um
So currently on the easterly side of the site, there's a drive through window, which was for pharmaceuticals. We're going to take advantage of that particular canopy, which you can see in the upper right corner of the plant, to let that be a roof, a weatherproof roof for a catering truck to park. We will have in the building, which I'll describe in a minute, a catering kitchen. So that gives us a good opportunity to park a truck and keep it out of the weather during transfer of product.
great thank you um these are some of the beautiful renderings that the linn team created would you
just like to talk through the programming of the event space itself and again the it's the existing
right aid building it's it's hard to make a right eight not look like a right eight but our attempt
is to uh to convert it with some materials and some colors uh you can see the before and the
after of the bottom picture and picture in the left and the after image picking up some thematic
colors of the building but keeping all the basic bones as andrea said earlier the building is not
in good condition i'm really surprised when it closed several years ago two out of three rooftop
air conditioners don't work the roofs are leaking it's not in good shape so there was very little
There was very little investment in this building from the previous owner, so it's time to bring it back to life.
investment in this building from the previous owner so it's time to bring it back to life
The plans for the building itself on the interior, again, you see the word Global City Center.