Committee Hearing, October 17, 2007

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON RULES - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:20 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA, CHAIR COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER BILLS 070437, 070674, 070675, 070676, 070677 and 070678 - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2

Good morning, everyone. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Rules. I would ask Mr. McPherson to please read the title of Bill No. 070437. MR. McPHERSON: An ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Grant Avenue, Frankford Avenue, Pearson Street and I-95 Expressway.

Good morning.

Good morning, Chairman Verna and members of the Rules Committee. I am William Kramer, Acting Division Director of the Development Planning Division of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here today to testify on Bill No. 070437, which was introduced by Councilmember Krajewski on May 24, 2007. This ordinance will remap a 3 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. large area of land in an established neighborhood from various zoning designations, including R-2, R-3, R-5 Residential, Recreational and IDD, Institutional Development District, to various zoning classifications, including R-1A, R-2, R-3 and R-5 Residential, Recreation and IDD, Institutional Development Districts. This is in the East Torresdale neighborhood and the remapping is located within an area bounded by Grant Avenue, Frankford Avenue, Pearson Street and the I-95 Expressway. The purpose of this bill is to discourage existing lots to be subdivided into lots that would technically meet the requirements of the Zoning Code, but would be out of character with the existing development patterns for the neighborhood. The City Planning Commission at its meeting of September 18, 2007 considered and approved Bill No. 070437. At the request of the Law 4 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Department, I have amendments to two of the proposed maps to address some technical issues. I have copies of the maps for your consideration. This concludes my testimony. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today and would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Mr. Kramer. Are the properties within the proposed area for rezoning currently being used for residential purposes?

The primary use in this entire area is residential. There is a large area of recreation that is Eden Hall Park, but the primary use in the neighborhood is residential. Almost all residential. The real change here was from R-5, which is a lot size of 22 foot, to R-2 in certain blocks. What was 23 going on is, there were developers 24 purchasing more than one lot, combining 25 them together and then subdividing it to 5 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. create what was considered one lot they'd be able to build five homes on. And the neighborhood came to us and asked us to look at it to take those classifications down to prohibit that from happening.

To your knowledge, has there been any community opposition to the proposed changes?

Exactly the opposite. I was personally at two meetings of the East Torresdale Civic Association and received numerous e-mails from different residents of the East Torresdale area asking questions about it and then subsequently supporting the decisions we made here.

Thank you. Are there any questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)

Any comments from members of the Committee? 6 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. (No response.)

Do we have anyone that would like to testify on this bill? (No response.)

Seeing no one, I would ask Mr. McPherson to please read the title of Bill No. 10 070674. MR. McPHERSON: Bill No. 12 070674, an ordinance amending Section 13 14-1600 of The Philadelphia Code, by adding a new section, entitled "30th Street Special Controls District," all under certain terms and conditions.

Mr. Kramer, before you testify, do we have copies of your testimony?

Yes. It's in the back of your packet.

Mr. Kramer, please proceed.

Yes, ma'am. Good morning, Madam President and members of 7 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. the Rules Committee. I am William Kramer, Acting Director of the Development Division of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 070674, as well as the other bills associated with this Cira South development, which were introduced by Councilmember Blackwell on September 20, 2007. These bills would allow for the development of the site located in the block bounded by 30th Street, Chestnut Street, Schuylkill Avenue and Walnut Street. Bill No. 070674 proposes adding a new section to the Zoning Code establishing a 30th Street Special Controls District. These controls will establish zoning controls for the area bounded by 30th Street, Chestnut Street, Schuylkill Avenue and Walnut Street. These controls would enable the site to be developed with two mixed-use towers containing modern office space, a hotel component and residential units, as well 8 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. as a parking garage. The project would also be used to relocate the IRS offices from their current site in the Northeast section of the City to the West Philadelphia section of the City, maintaining about 5,000 jobs in the City. As originally introduced, Bill 9 No. 070674 raised concerns at the Planning Commission due to the significant effect this bill would have on the incentive system provisions in the C-5 zoning classification. Therefore, with the cooperation of the developer and their legal representatives, an agreement has been reached, and we jointly offer an amendment to Bill No. 070674. This amendment establishes a set of criteria for bonus floor area for this project that retains the original base and maximum FAR in C-5 while outlining a menu of public benefits to be included in the project consistent with the original C-5 zoning designation. These public benefits provide for a public space at 9 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. grade, investment of lighting and sidewalks as part of the new streetscape surrounding the project, street-level retail use and environmental sustainability standards as a basis for granting the additional bonus floor area. The amendment allows for design review of the facade of the parking garage, and, in addition, the developer will put forth and promote the ideas contained in the Penn Connects plan and a Sasaki design concept for the streets and open space located between the Post Office and the 30th Street Station. This plan will create a framework for future public and private investment in public amenities, landscaping, lighting and paving for the area. Madam Chair, my testimony was originally intended to have all five bills at once. If you want, I can break it out.

No. 25 That's fine. Then we should have 10 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Mr. McPherson read the other bills.

Okay.

If that's the way we're going to do it. Mr. McPherson? MR. McPHERSON: Bill No. 8 070675, an ordinance authorizing Brandywine Cira South, LP, owner and developer for the Cira Center South, to construct, own and maintain various encroachments to be installed in conjunction with a mixed-use development, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 070676, an ordinance 16 establishing a no parking regulation on 30th Street between Market Street and Walnut Street. Bill No. 070677, an ordinance 20 to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by 30th Street, Chestnut Street, Schuylkill Avenue and Walnut Street. 11 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Bill No. 070678, an ordinance 3 regulating the direction of movement of traffic on 30th Street between Market Street to Walnut Street.

Continuing, Bill 7 No. 070677 rezones this site from a designation of G-2 General Industrial to a designation of C-5 Commercial. Bill No. 070675 is a bill 11 allowing for encroachments on the public right-of-way, including rigid canopies onto the south footway of Chestnut Street and the east footway of 30th Street, an architectural entrance canopy east of 30th Street and a proposed sidewalk cafe at the southeast corner of 30th Street. Bill No. 070676 establishes a no parking regulation on the east side of 30th Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Bill No. 070678 regulates traffic direction on 30th Street between Market Street and Walnut Street, permitting two-way traffic. Currently, 12 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. traffic direction is one way south. I have been advised that representatives of the Streets Department are here to testify on Bill Nos. 070675, 070676 and 070678. All of these bills are required pieces of legislation to facilitate the development of this very important site in West Philadelphia. These bills were considered and approved by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission at its meeting of October 16, 2007, with the condition that Bill No. 070674 be amended as agreed upon. This concludes my testimony. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you on this important issue and would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

It would be very nice if we had a copy of the proposed amendments so that we could review them. 13 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Mr. Kramer, please explain what Subsection 4(a) of the new Code section 4 is attempting to do. Do the agreed-upon amendments clarify these proposals?

As originally constructed, Subsection 4 would have basically allowed the C-5 classification, additional gross floor area, to be simply added onto this development. That was what caused the Planning Commission staff a fair amount of concern. The amendments that have been proposed -- and we were working these out as late as yesterday, so pardon -- as a matter of fact, Mr. Beauvais brought them with him this morning. What we did is then changed the way that the area regulations were to be done so that the base FAR stayed the same, so that you would still be able to have C-5 as a 1,200 percent of the area of the lot be developed for floor area ratio, and subsequently amend the bill to allow you to gain additional floor area 14 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. ratio by providing a different set of criteria, by meeting what we're calling the incentive floor areas under No. 7 in the amended documentation, and some of those would include LEED certification; LEED certification at higher levels; providing a green roof; providing public access to that green roof; providing ground-level retail; providing community room or rooms; a transportation component because of the location of this development to central locations of public transit, 30th Street and the regional rail lines to name just one; provision of public open space and design criteria for streetscape, as well as others that the developer then has an opportunity to pick which ones up to eight he can gain that additional FAR, which would then allow this project, but it's not just giving that FAR for no 23 public benefit whatever. And that was the essence of what we were trying to get to in the amendment, and that has been 15 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. worked out and that's why the amendment is here.

Thank you. For the record, can you tell us what the total cost of the proposed development will be?

I do not have that figure with me. The representatives of the project are here and I'm sure they'd be able to answer that for you.

I'm sure they'll be very happy to testify. Any questions from the Committee of Mr. Kramer? The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I just have one other question. I'm sorry. I just have one other question. Are any of the properties 16 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. impacted by these bills in a Keystone Opportunity area?

Not to my knowledge, no, ma'am. If they are, I am not aware of it.

Can you check on that?

I will check into that to be certain.

Madam Chair, Darwin Beauvais. I represent the developer. We can fully explain --

Are you going to testify now on behalf of the developer?

We can, if you're finished with the City.

I would ask if anyone on the Committee has any questions of Mr. Kramer.

Yes.

Councilman Clarke. 17 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Thank you. Mr. Kramer, good morning.

Good morning.

Just one quick question just for clarity. Adding the new section to the Zoning Code, are you establishing a new classification called the 30th Street Special Controls District?

Yes, sir. It would be consistent with creating another overlay.

Okay. So it's similar to an overlay --

Yes.

-- and not similar to like what we did earlier, we did a --

This would not be something you could apply somewhere else.

Citywide.

This is specifically designed as an overlay to be applied to this one particular property. 18 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Okay. Good. I just wanted to clarify that. One other question. Will any of the legislation that's being referred to today have an Equal Opportunity Plan attached?

Yes.

We will have that?

In fact, one has already been executed, and we actually negotiated this with --

State your name for the record, sir.

Darwin Beauvais. I represent the developer. And we can make a presentation as soon as we bring the developer on, but as it relates to the EOP, we actually worked in conjunction with the District Councilperson to craft out numbers per the ordinance that was enacted this summer.

That will 19 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. be an attachment to the legislation?

Yes. We can attach that and have it as part of the record.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.

You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Kramer.

Thank you.

I think we ought to have the Streets Department come up next, if they're here.

Good morning, Chairwoman and members of the Committee. My name is William Mautz and I'm a Construction Engineer with the Streets Department. I'm here to offer the following testimony for Bill No. 070675. This bill authorizes Brandywine Circa (sic) South, owner and developer for the Circa Centre South building located at 2970 Chestnut Street, to construct, own and maintain various 20 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. encroachments to be installed in conjunction with a mixed-use development project. The encroachments consist of three rigid canopies respectively over the south sidewalk of Chestnut Street east of 30th Street, the east sidewalk of 30th Street south of Chestnut Street, and the north sidewalk of Walnut Street east of 30th Street. In addition, an open-air sidewalk cafe is proposed for a future tenant at the southeast corner of 30th and Chestnut Streets. The Streets Department has reviewed the preliminary construction plan and cafe plan. As the encroachments do not adversely affect the public right-of-way, the Streets Department recommends passage of this bill.

I know that there are two other bills. However, before we go on to the other bills, with Bill No. 070675 that you just testified on, do you see a problem with the way this bill is written, the title 21 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. of the bill? You would never know from the title of the bill the encroachments would be on Chestnut Street, 30th Street and Walnut Street.

In the text of the bill --

And the title -- we go by the title.

Yeah, it is rather general in the title. Within the text of the bill, the scope of the encroachments and where they are are described exactly.

Personally I feel very strongly that it should be in the title of the bill.

If I may, Madam Chair?

Yes.

Part of the issues, we actually met with the Streets Department, and the location of the property actually sits on a bridge. There's actually a lower portion of Walnut Street, a lower portion of 22 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Chestnut Street, as well as upper portions of both streets. As it turns out, in our discussions with PennDOT -- in our discussions with the Streets Department, they did acknowledge that we will have to engage in discussions with PennDOT, because those portions of upper Chestnut and Walnut Street are bridges. And we have engaged in discussion with PennDOT. The Streets Department has deferred their ultimate decision because the actual highway occupancy permit will have to be issued by PennDOT and not by the Streets Department. So as it stands, we are looking to seek approval from the City in order so we can move forward with PennDOT.

That doesn't have anything to do with the title of the bill.

Well, with one of the issues -- and we can get into the design of the actual encroachments once the developer and the team comes before 23 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. us. We looked at what we could possibly do in order to satisfy the Streets Department, and in putting forth this ordinance, we figured what would be the maximum allowable encroachment that we can get prior to going to PennDOT.

Councilman Greenlee.

Just a quick question of Mr. Mautz. I think the basic question is, in these kind of ordinances where you're talking about encroachments, is it usual that you actually put the streets on there that are affected? I think that's the Council President's main concern here. Is this unusual that they're not putting the -- it says Cira Centre South, but it doesn't say Chestnut Street, Walnut Street, whatever. Is that unusual or do you usually put the streets in the title of the bill?

Normally the bills 24 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. that I deal with are of a much smaller scale, so it would be very, very specific about location, address, things of that nature. Because of the scope of this project and the fact that you're talking about multiple encroachments, multiple --

I'm sorry. You're going to have to speak louder.

Because you're talking about a large project, a large building with multiple encroachments over the public sidewalk, it's described generally in the text of the bill -- I mean in the title of the bill, but as far as the actual text of the ordinance as drafted, it's very specific about the locations of the overhang.

But still would it be that much more to put the actual streets on there? I know you're not going to put every single definition on there in the title. I understand that. But I guess it's just a little 25 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. question of why the streets aren't -- I don't know if it's a huge deal, but it does --

It's unusual. I suppose the bill could be amended to reflect -- it can't be amended?

You can't amend the title.

This ordinance 11 was actually vetted through the Law Department as well. It's my understanding -- I personally had conversations with the Law Department. They understood the general statement of the title of the bill, but they too, as Bill Mautz indicated, were satisfied that the details within the --

Well, it's nice that everybody is satisfied, but I don't know that the Committee here is satisfied with it.

Madam President?

Yes. 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.

Good morning. Given the complexity of this unprecedented initiative, how difficult would it be today to address the issue raised by President Verna now?

It sounds like from our --

You would have to introduce a new bill with the title actually specifying what it is we're doing. How long would it take you to have a new bill prepared?

Well, I would -- I'd have to do something today, and I have certain attorneys that I deal with in the Law Department as far as drafting encroachment ordinances. Like Darwin had mentioned, in terms of drafting of this particular bill, that was done directly with the Law Department. I'm certainly aware of the project as well as the 27 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. encroachments and the need for an ordinance. So if it's going to fall on me to get this done, I'll have to do it today.

Councilman.

Mr. Mautz, while this particular bill is being heard in the Rules Committee, this is a bill 11 that could actually be held in Streets; am I correct?

That's correct.

So with respect to the timeline as opposed to the notification process, which traditionally we do three weeks in Rules, we can do something in the Streets Committee.

I could try to fast-track it.

We could expedite it. That's no problem. Councilman Greenlee.

Basically I think that addresses -- if the issue is 28 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. just putting what the streets are in the title, it doesn't really change -- we're not talking about changing the potty of the bill. I guess in some ways, although it could be maybe a big matter that it's not in there, putting in the words in the title doesn't sound to me like it's a big deal. I know I'm not a lawyer. Lawyers like to make big deals about everything. Sorry, Darwin. But it doesn't sound like it should be that big a deal.

Fine.

Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.

Thank you, Madam President. In an effort to play devil's advocate here, it is pretty specific within the body of the bill where all these encroachments are going to be, I mean, down to the specific width and 29 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. height and location. So I don't know what is accomplished by -- I think part of the reason why it's not in the title of the bill is because it's so specific in the body of the bill that the title would be three pages long if we needed every single item in there.

Not really.

I don't know what the title would read differently than what happens from Section 1 on down. I don't know how more specific you could be.

If I may, Madam President. Two things. In researching in how to draft this bill and in conjunction with the Law Department and with our concerns -- and we can definitely make a presentation as to what these encroachments entail -- we have seen ordinances that have had titles just like this and --

I 30 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. have never seen titles that have not been specific.

If the Committee so likes it, we can take a moment during the presentation and I can go and find these various ordinances. But you will see where the encroachments are. You will see how specific we have been, how well thought out the design has been in order to get the ordinances to where they are now.

Councilman Clarke.

If we do need to do a different bill, why can't we just in the title of the bill reference the 30th Street Special Controls District; therefore, that references the entire site? Wouldn't that be appropriate? And then you talk about the text of the bill, the specific encroachments in the text of the bill.

Truth be told, I'm not a hundred percent sure if we can 31 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. reference a special control district.

Councilman Kenney brought up the fact that if you reference the specific nature of the encroachments, the streets, it would be a pretty extensive title, and I'm just simply suggesting that maybe this reference, the project plan site in the title, and then you get into the specific language in the text of the bill; therefore, not having to have a very lengthy --

But if I may, if we can bring the developer and make their presentation, in that presentation you'll see the encroachments and then, if possible, we can revisit this issue after their presentation.

One other question. Are we considering that the whereases prior to Section 1 is part of the title or not?

No, it's not. 32 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

It's not. But it's all in the same bill and the record --

I don't think we ought to make a federal case out of this. I think that maybe after we see the schematics, we'll be able to make some determination. But as long as I can remember, the title of the bill had to be very specific, no matter what the contents of the bill were. So we'll get back to this. Okay? I would like the record to reflect at this time that we do in fact have an established quorum. To my extreme left is Councilwoman Blondell. Next to her is Councilman O'Neill, and to my left is Councilman Greenlee. To my extreme right is Councilman Kenney and Councilman Clarke. We will now consider the next street bill, Bill No. 070676.

Good morning, Chairwoman, members of the Committee. My 33 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. name is William Mautz and I'm a Construction Engineer with the Streets Department. The Streets Department Traffic Engineering has reviewed this bill, and as the bill has been amended, the Streets Department recommends passage of the bill, has no objections to the passage of the bill.

Are there any questions? (No response.)

I would like the record to note that Councilwoman Miller is now present. Any questions from members of the Committee regarding this bill? (No response.)

Seeing none, we will now consider Bill 22 No. 070678.

Good morning, Chairwoman, members of the Committee. My name is William Mautz and I'm a 34 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Construction Engineer with the Streets Department. The Streets Department Traffic Engineering Division has reviewed Bill 6 No. 070678 and recommends passage of the bill based on the amended bill.

The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.

I was just wondering -- and, again, I know anything of this scope -- and I think it's a good project, so I'm not trying to nitpick here at all, but obviously traffic flow is something just when you first see this thing, you realize there's going to be some issues. Could you be a little bit more specific on what exactly this does, how it improves things, how it addresses what problems there are, that kind of thing?

Unfortunately --

Or the developer can. I don't know.

Unfortunately, 35 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilman, I can't provide any information. This isn't really my area of expertise. I'm actually providing testimony on behalf of Traffic Engineering.

I understand, but shouldn't somebody from Traffic Engineering be here? I know it's not your fault. I'm just saying. Again, I don't think I have any problem with it. I just want a little bit more specifics.

Members of the Committee, we actually have our traffic engineer.

Okay. Very good.

Just a moment, please. Good morning. Please identify yourself for the record.

Yes. Good morning, Chairman, members of the Committee. My name is Mark Washington and I'm a Traffic Engineer with the 36 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Philadelphia Streets Department.

Councilman Greenlee, would you please repeat your question?

Good morning, Mr. Washington. How are you?

Great.

Thank for all your help all these years, by the way. I was just wondering if you could be a little bit more specific in what these regulations do to address what problems there may be. As I was saying, I think this is a very good project, but adding this much to that area, obviously it's already a tight area driving-wise and whatever. So I just want a little bit more specifics on what this bill does and how it improves the situation.

Unfortunately, I was pulled in here at the last minute. My boss was supposed to be here. He couldn't make it. 37 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. I believe this was in reference to some traffic pattern changes on 30th Street, and from speaking with my colleagues before I came over here, I was informed that our position is we have no 7 objections to the traffic pattern change on 30th Street.

Okay. No. I understand that. Maybe the developer --

Yes. And we do have our traffic engineers here. We did meet extensively several times throughout the summer and early this fall regarding the traffic pattern.

So in your presentation, you can talk about that?

Yes, we can talk all about that.

I just thought the City had an official position, but that's okay.

Yes. It's in 38 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. support of our project.

No. I heard that. I heard that part.

And as a result, we also have amendments, as a result of our meetings with the Streets Department.

I'm sorry?

He has amendments.

Amendments to this bill?

Yes, to 676 and 678. They should have been handed out.

Okay. Can we see copies of the amendments?

Yes. They should be at your desk.

I think we have enough. Would you please read the suggested amendments to the bills, please, for the record.

You would like from myself? 39 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. With Bill No. 676, what we're looking to amend is that originally the bill requested that the parking be restricted on both sides. In discussion with the Streets Department and also in consultation with our neighbor, DC 33, we've agreed to amend the bill to allow parking on the east side only. And also with this amendment, we talked about timing, because with construction underway, demolition to be imminent, we would like this bill to be enacted 90 days after passage. With Bill No. 678, we are -- that's the directional ordinance, making 30th Street two way. Originally we wanted the two-way traffic to extend from Market Street to Walnut. Now, after extensive meetings with the Streets Department, we're now looking to make that only from Chestnut to Walnut.

Madam President, if I may?

Yes. 40 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilwoman Blackwell.

We've been involved in discussions with the unions, with Streets Department and certainly with Brandywine in this regard. So we have been involved in these amendments being prepared so that everybody has kind of come together in a compromised fashion, and that's why we have these amendments. So everybody agrees.

Very good.

But we've had meetings on them. Thank you.

Thank you. With the amendments, Bill No. 21 070678, it also indicates that the ordinance shall take effect 90 days after becoming law.

Yes.

Okay. 41 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Any questions from members of the Committee? Councilman O'Neill.

This is, I guess, really for Brandywine. This is a spectacular-looking project. The one thing that strikes me is that the building sits right on the sidewalk. We haven't exactly been pillars of design in Philadelphia, so I'm not using any local history here, but in Chicago where there is some really nice design -- I haven't seen any architectural tours of Philadelphia yet, but it's a big part of going to Chicago. That city has gotten away from worrying about how high a building is or how short it is to worrying not about height but about setback, public space and what that setback does to the urban feel. The Cira Centre, the original one, is connected to 30th Street. There's nothing else there except a parking lot. This is in an area that is 42 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. very pedestrian friendly. I think it's going to have more and more residents in the area, at least that's what I'm told. I was just wondering why with this great design it wasn't given more of a setback and a green front. It's very hard to find issue here, but you got this big sort of glob in the middle between these two buildings, and I guess that's the parking, but you have this building sitting right on -- and it seems kind of yesterday rather than tomorrow. And if someone from Brandywine or Planning Commission can talk about that. I'd just like something on the record; that's all.

Councilman, we have the lead designer of the building here and of the project and we can address all of those issues.

Thank you.

Just one last thing before we get away. I would like to put on the record we would love to 43 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. have all of these bills with the rules suspended should we decide to have them reported out of Committee. With that, I would like to introduce the developer, Mr. Jerry Sweeney. I believe he has with him our lead architect, Mr. Mark Shoemaker, and we would love to show you the project.

Thank you.

Council President, Councilman Greenlee thanked Mr. Washington for all his help over the years, and I think on behalf of every member that's ever dealt with you, same thing. I'd like to repeat it.

And I, too, thank him for being involved.

The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam President. Mr. Washington, since Councilman O'Neill brought this issue up 44 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. about the setback -- and I'm actually looking at the taller building -- it brings to mind a particular development in my councilmanic district at 18th and Sansom that is a significantly sized building on a commercial block, and I'm looking at the closeness of this tower to the street. And I can recall -- and I think we're still in the midst of this whole issue about street closures. As I'm looking at this, I have to believe that there's a strong likelihood that there's going to be significant street closures or lane closures to construct this building. Would you agree, based on the 18th and Sansom episode?

No. See, I'm looking at it where 18th and Sansom, the street is pretty narrow. I believe this is Walnut Street.

Yes.

Walnut Street.

The upper level.

The upper 45 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. level of Walnut Street. Pretty much you have a situation, you have two different City blocks. With 18th and Sansom, Sansom Street is pretty much feet in width, 7 18th Street is 26 feet in width. Here 8 you have Walnut Street, which is one way, 9 and you have at least like three travel 10 lanes in one direction. So you're pretty 11 much in a situation where the worst 12 scenario is, yes, you will have to close 13 it, but in a perfect world, most likely 14 you'll probably have only one travel lane 15 being able to be maintained through that 16 location. And that's based on the width 17 of the street. 18

Can we make 19 sure that we don't replicate the problem 20 that we had where we actually had the 21 original architect and the engineer for 22 the project say, No problem, we don't 23 have to close the street, and then they 24 changed contractors and we didn't -- "we" 25 the City -- didn't really do a real 46 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. analysis ourselves. We kind of, to some degree, depended on the traffic engineer. Can we make sure that early on in the process --

Definitely. Yes.

-- that we're in it so we'll know what streets or what lanes will have to be closed so we don't run into this issue where there was some potential cost overruns on the project. Because this is a wonderful project and I'd love to see it take place. I just don't want us to get caught up in this process about lane closures, because I have to believe that there are going to be some significant lane closures for a period of time.

Yes, Councilman.

So early on can we make sure that we know what's going to happen?

Yes. And I 47 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. will discuss all this with the Chief Traffic Engineer, Charlie Denny, when I return back to the office.

Okay.

And in order to shed some light, with our meetings with Mr. Denny and other people in the Streets Department, we did talk about how we can schedule and minimize the impact of construction, and those are going to be ongoing discussions.

All right. But I just want to make sure that we, the City, are in that loop early on so we don't get caught up in what we did at 18th Street.

Madam President, may I just add to that same subject?

Certainly.

One of the things that sometimes is maddening about construction site projects is, it seems 48 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. that an extra lane or lane is taken for parking for the workers. If you work in an office building in Center City, you come in, you park at a parking lot, you pay your fee, monthly or daily, whatever it is, but it seems that in projects around Center City, I know in Jefferson Hospital projects, I see trucks and private vehicles parked inside the construction fence that probably could be parked at a parking lot or at a meter, but for some reason, we wind up using extra running lane space to accommodate people who are working on the site, which I don't really think is fair to the commuter or fair to the person driving their car through Center City. I've seen that time and time again. And, again, with the location that you have here that's so heavily traversed, I don't need an extra lane for guys with Jersey tags parking in the running lane, because usually they're Jersey tags, which is another whole subject we could talk 49 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. about, but that won't be done here. So I would really just like to make a note that we could try to find, if there's a need to find parking contractually for these workers, that we can find it somewhere else and not in the running lane behind a construction fence.

Councilman, in response, I just took a moment to talk to Jeff Weinstein, Vice-President of Construction from Brandywine. As I understand it, they make it a policy that they don't allow parking on the site, and he also --

Just this contractor?

I'm sorry?

Just this contractor you're speaking for?

Yes.

But it's a regular --

It is ongoing.

It's a 50 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. regular thing. We've all seen it. I mean, it's just maddening sometimes when you're sitting and trying to merge two lanes into one and people just want to use that extra lane so they can park their car for free all day. So if you just make a note of it in your planning, it would be helpful.

Great. That will be great.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)

Gentlemen, thank you. Somebody from the Streets Department should remain until the conclusion of the hearing, please.

Sure.

Thank you. 51 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

At this time, we would like to introduce you to the developer.

Good morning, Madam Chairman.

Good morning. Welcome.

My name is Jerry Sweeney and I am President and Chief Executive Officer at Brandywine Realty Trust. First of all, we'd like to thank the Committee for including us on the agenda. We understand that it's an important project for us and certainly we appreciate the time you're spending. We also, before we get into our presentation, would like to thank our District Councilperson, Councilwoman Blackwell, for her strong support of both the first building at Cira Centre as well as this expansion of the Cira concept. Additionally, we would certainly like to thank the City Planning Commission, the Streets Department and 52 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. the Water Department for the collaboration we've had with them during this entire process relative to crafting the ordinances. I think of particular note, we're delighted that working with the Planning Commission we're able to structure a bonus arrangement that provides us with the appropriate incentives and rewards for complying with certain items that the Planning Commission felt were very important in terms of the LEED certification, public space, et cetera. So we think it's a good framework for moving forward. We certainly have members of our development team here today to talk about the project in some more detail after some overview comments. In particular, to my left is Mark Shoemaker, who is a principal with the firm of Pelli Clark Pelli, who is the architect on Cira Centre One and we have retained as the executive architect for -- or the design architect for the Cira South development. 53 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. We've also taken the liberty of passing out to the Committee members a booklet that we'd like to use as a guide for the presentation, and we'll go through that in just a moment. I would like to just, if I could, make a very brief overview comment. One of the things as we look at this development is, it truly is an opportunity to continue some of the great work that's already happened in West Philadelphia and on the west banks of the Schuylkill River. So as we were going through the planning process for this and thinking about the overall constructs of how to create something that could create great value for both the City and for the neighborhood, we actually did reference a lot of historical documents that the City put together. One of the interesting things about this plan is that it really does begin to realize some of the visions that were put forth originally back in the 54 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. 1930s when 30th Street Station and the 30th Street Postal Service building were first built, and, in fact, the original renderings for those buildings outlined those buildings surrounded by other developments. So we certainly think that with what we're doing here and some of the other stakeholders in University City, this is a movement towards realizing that vision from the past and, more importantly, given the bias towards smart urban development, reliance on mass transportation, we also think it speaks very well to what the vision for that part of the City could be for the future. We certainly hope during our presentation to answer the questions, Councilman O'Neill, that you raised relative to design, and Councilman Clarke. Madam President, you had asked a question relative to the size of this development. Upon build-out, we anticipate that this project will be 55 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. between $750 to $800 million of total investment, which would rank it among one of the largest private development undertakings in the City in recent history. If we might turn to the booklet before we get into the design development, the first page really gives an overview of the site. Madam President, with your permission?

Please do.

Thank you very much. And for those of you that can't see, there's pages in the book. S. Postal Service Annex building. S. Postal Service facility at 30th Street, which 56 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Brandywine purchased from the University of Pennsylvania back in late July. This project here does not need any zoning relief and will be the home of the new Internal Revenue Service midlantic operations and will house between four and five thousand employees. This project will proceed under a historic rehab, and the IRS signed a lease for 862,000 square feet, thereby preserving a number of jobs in the City. One of the reasons for the need for quick cooperation from the City agencies was that one of our obligations under the provision of that lease is to provide parking for the IRS employees. So looking at change in the zoning for the annex site. The annex site itself has three component pieces that I think accomplish some of the key goals we set out to do, and actually some of the goals reference the City Planning Commission report on West Philadelphia dating back to 1994, 57 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. and that was to do fairly high-density development, provide that on a mixed-use basis, activate the streetscape and proceed with a program that would create good pedestrian corridor access both north and south, as well as east and west. The other opportunity this project has is, it really serves as a gateway to West Philadelphia, University City to the number of travelers that come along the northeast corridor and the regional rail system. One of the items that sometimes we don't focus on in the City is that 30th Street Station is the second busiest train station in the country, second only to Penn Station in New York. Between the Amtrak lines and regional rail lines, there's over 1,100 trains a day that come through this station, and, in fact, just shy of 20 percent of Amtrak ridership nationally embarks and disembarks at 30th Street Station. 58 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. So I think one of the longer-term objectives that we would hope to achieve, and certainly worked with the other University City stakeholders, is that we can actually start to take a better advantage of this existing mass transit infrastructure. Councilman O'Neill, you raised the question relative to setbacks and decking, and I'll certainly defer to Mr. Shoemaker for a more robust presentation on the development components, but one of the challenges that this site faces, as well as what we faced with Cira Centre One, is the existence of the rail lines. So as Mr. Beauvais indicated earlier, this part of the City is really built on a platform. So the viaduct level of Chestnut Street, Market Street, Walnut Street and 30th Street and Schuylkill Avenue, frankly, are about 30 feet above grade. Now, we're using that to our 59 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. advantage in the planning process, because we're actually going to be achieving our objective of doing all of the loading for these buildings below viaduct level, thereby keeping the heavy loading, et cetera, off of the main street level. The challenge, though, is given the proximity to the northeast corridor of Amtrak, given the fact that those lands are controlled by Amtrak and not by us or any other institution, they're not available for overbuilding at this point to create a setback or a plaza area off of Schuylkill Avenue. So what we tried to do as part of our overall development was to create a couple of innovative public spaces in a fairly tight urban environment. One of the major components we look at here is on top of the parking garage, there will be a green roof that will have access from the residents of the Chestnut Street tower and residents 60 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. of the -- and office users in the Walnut Street tower, and that will be almost an acre and a half open space.

And our hope is, working through security concerns, we might be able to actually open that up on a programmatic basis to community members for functional events. But it certainly is going to be an exciting undertaking for us to be able to create an acre and a half park on top of a parking structure that will provide a nice buffer for the harder edge of the urban environment. We also broke up the massing of both elevations by creating what we call Cira Place, which is a public space that sits between the garage and the Walnut Street tower. In addition to that, the setbacks from the building are significant enough to provide for a very active retail arcade going north to south on 30th Street. So I think given within the tight constraints of the site, we've done as fine a job as we can in terms of 61 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. identifying how to comply with good urban planning principles. In addition to that, as testimony was indicated earlier, we also engaged a master planning firm, Sasaki Associates, who has looked at the entire grid from Arch Street on the north, Walnut on the south, Schuylkill Avenue on the east and 30th Street on the west as a master planning module in terms of creating some open public spaces that will facilitate pedestrian movement and really reflect what we're hoping to be a very vibrant mixed-use development. At this point, Mark, if you don't mind, I'll turn the presentation over to you.

Thank you, Jerry. Good morning. Once again, I'm Mark Shoemaker. I'm a principal with Pelli Clark Pelli, and we have the privilege of working on this sensational project, and it's nice to see the 62 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. continuation of our work obviously as we initially started with Cira One. In dealing with a project of this size, the first step is always to bring clarity to what is a very complex project with a lot of complex issues and also to try to make the best urban decisions initially in terms of placement of the towers and, in this case, the garage as well and to do that in a simultaneous manner, in that the garage and the two towers are all seen as equal co-participants in the success of this design. And what you see here is the result of that analysis over the last two years, in which we felt strongly that the main towers should front Walnut and Chestnut Street directly, putting their narrow sides to 30th Street, which is the narrower of the three streets that we edge, and also in section putting the taller mixed-use tower on Walnut Street. So that the landmark structure is actually on that intersection with Walnut 63 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. and Schuylkill Avenue, and also allows us to step down the massing, as you can see here, down to the massing of both the 30th Street Station and the Post Office, creating what we think is a much more comfortable relationship with these historical buildings and also supplying the gateway landmark structure that is really necessary on Walnut Street, which we see as a mixed-use tower. Also, in plan, we have also taken some pains to shape the building to be very vehicular and pedestrian friendly. The curves you see are as a result of that analysis, starting with what is the south face of the garage and also the two curve sides of the main building on Walnut Street, which will facilitate movement around the block. It also helps to shape and provide a proper space for Cira Place that Jerry mentioned, which is the public space that has been achieved by that clarity that I mentioned first and foremost, which is to 64 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. allow both towers to reach the ground and really isolate the garage in the center, thus allowing that to be very efficient and compact that has allowed us to produce the public space that is Cira Place. Now, the overall architecture of the project is obviously somewhat of an echo of Cira One, but is purposely meant to be an evolution of that. It is a different project with a different program, and as you can see, especially on the Walnut Street tower now, which is the most progressed design at this juncture, it is dramatically different than Cira. It is still trying to create a very dramatic tower and one that soars and actually enlivens the skyline of this part of West Philadelphia and really anchors the overall skyline, but is dramatically different. And it does display the split in the mixed use. The step you see here is where the office building steps back and 65 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. becomes the hotel residential. There is a terrace that is part of the hotel function at that juncture. And the actual cladding of this tower will be somewhat different than Cira One, in that it will have more metal, more different types of glass, much more texture to it. It will have sunshades, and you can start to see the hint of that in this rendering here. So a much more articulated tower responsive to its position relative to its plan, but also to the function that it has. Equally important is the garage itself, and the intent from day one has been to clad that garage much like any other building in a complex. We did not want this to look like the traditional garage. This is a 2,400-car garage. There are 11 floors above and three below to make that happen.

If you have to provide parking for four to five thousand IRS employees -- that's the 66 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. total number of parking spaces, 2,400?

That's the total.

What about the occupants, the hotel, the other employees?

Well, the IRS component is 1,200 to 1,600 of that 2,400. The balance of those parking spaces will be allotted to the other functions of the project.

Excuse me, Councilperson. Mark, if I might interject.

Please do.

In size in the garage, we looked at the base requirement for the Internal Revenue Service, which, as Mr. Shoemaker mentioned, is anywhere from 1,200 to 1,600, and they do run flex hours and run at least two and possibly three shifts. And as we looked at size in the overall garage, we felt that the additional 800 spaces would be enough to 67 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. facilitate the requirements of the other two towers. An interesting point of fact is that when we look at the employee population at Cira Centre One, which is a little bit more than 2,000 employees, over 85 percent of those employees use public transportation. Now, that is a 10 to 20 percent premium or increase over 11 what workers in traditional CBD buildings 12 use. 13 So one of our hopes obviously 14 is that as this area begins to expand, 15 that there will become an increasing reliance from the worker population and, frankly, the residential population on using the mass transportation systems that are available there. So one of the lessons we learned through the first building at Cira was, we had actually created a little more parking capacity than we needed based upon what we thought were traditional statistics, but people's 68 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. patterns changed based upon the availability of public transportation, and our hope, quite frankly -- and we're certainly investigating a lot of money on that hope -- is that people will start to use public transportation because of the accessibility at 30th Street Station.

Just one follow-up with that. Aren't there specific code requirements on the number of parking spaces vis-a-vis square footage? I mean, don't we have basic requirements on the number of spaces anyway?

For the record, Carl Primavera, attorney for Brandywine. There are, and we satisfy them. Interestingly enough, the world is somewhat going through a revolution. The Planning Commission and planners are inviting and requiring developers to provide less parking because of the demand for alternate means of transportation. 69 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Here we have the best of both worlds. We satisfy the level of parking that the City has required, but at the same time, we're hoping that it won't be utilized because we're on the grid here with all the public transportation alternatives. So, again, we hope that when this is done, there will be excess parking so that not only the workers at the IRS, which will take over the Post Office space, but also the buildings will actually have available space for others in the Penn campus. It's an interesting situation. At the Planning Commission yesterday people were saying that the more spaces you build, the more cars you invite. You make it easier for people to take the car instead of using public transportation. So we think we have more than enough to satisfy our requirements, and we hope over time the actual demand will decrease due to public transportation 70 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. infrastructure.

And as part of your LEED certification efforts, will you set aside plug-in stations for alternative vehicles, electric vehicles? Because part of the LEED point system is the set-aside of plug-in vehicle stations in the parking lot.

And we're going to have PhillyCarShare.

No. I'm saying, is that part of the plan now?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Also, there was another -- I want to make sure it's accurately reflected in the record. We are in the KOIZ. This was part of the original one. To the extent that we have residential components, we will have it decertified through the Commerce Department. The Commerce Department is aware of this. We've done this in the 71 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. past with Westrum development and something recently for Canus development in Northern Liberties. So that, in effect, any residential component will be carved out of the KOIZ benefits. So we wanted to make sure that was accurately reflected. And then there was one more question that I think one of the Councilpeople on the Committee asked about our transportation analysis, and we do have our transportation engineers from Gannett Fleming and also from Pennoni and others. But, Jerry, can you talk a little bit about the work that's going in with all the players in this area to not only mitigate traffic problems but actually make this a much more healthy traffic flow?

I'd be happy to. I mean, clearly the 30th Street area is one that has been challenged from a traffic standpoint for a period of 72 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. time. When the Postal Service workers were there, they had close to 5,000 workers who were using the parking lot south of Walnut Street as their primary parking facility. As we started to undertake the planning for this project, we worked very closely in consultation with Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Super River Development Corporation to really take a look at the overall planning impact of what could happen in the future. We've also, as you heard testimony earlier, spent significant time hiring our own traffic consultants, both from an engineering and traffic flow standpoint, as well as working with City Streets Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. I think one of the driving forces behind the Sasaki master plan, which we're in the process of working through, is taking a look at how we can achieve better flow of traffic through 73 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. that area. That will clearly be a collaborative process between what we're doing, the other institutional property owners in that marketplace, as well as working with city and state and probably federal agencies on looking at a longer-term solution.

If I may, Madam President. I wanted to add that we spoke with the Water Commissioner on the new stormwater issue and what green space means, and Brandywine has already been there, so we're in compliance with those rules now and even with the new federal regulations that should come. As we say -- Sherman Harris is outside. We asked him for District Council 33 to agree, because we had to work out their temporary parking agreements. SEIU isn't here. That was, as you know, a tougher one, but we have an agreement there as well, and we worked with the Streets and worked out compromises. 74 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. So we've tried to anticipate any issues -- as well as the institutions. We met with Penn two days ago and toured Friday, and with Drexel, to make sure there's no overlap issues that could arise, because all of the -- when we talk about the three institutions and developments, some of it does overlap. So we've been working hard to make sure that all of this -- that everybody agrees, because it's such a major project and that everybody is working together. And, for example, I know everybody complains about the traffic lights. When you go around the back side of 30th Street, it's not working well. We all agreed with that, and that will be worked out. So we wanted to mention that we hope that the Committee can see to report these out. We think in all our major ways we've tried to comply with everybody who had an issue with regard to this 75 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. project. Thank you.

You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.

Thank you, Madam President. I may have to leave before the end of the hearing, but I want to make sure that the record is clear that I'll be supporting yes votes on all the bills, including a request for rules suspension. Will this center be a customer for PGW?

We're evaluating that right now.

Will it be a what?

A customer for PGW. I recognize the design and construction issues relative to direct boilers in the building vis-a-vis steam 76 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. loop kind of operation, but we really need the customer base. And if there's any way you can help us expand that customer base within these beautiful and well-constructed and well-designed projects, it would really be helpful to us as a city and PGW as an entity. I mean, I recognize that you may pick up some additional square footage by not having a boiler room, additional costs for the installation and design of the boiler room, but over the long haul, I think you wind up saving money with natural gas. And this is going to be a long-haul project as far as its existence in Philadelphia for many, many years to come. But if you could really evaluate PGW, it would be a big help to us.

Councilman, we will do that. We're actually evaluating that right now. We just have not reached a final conclusion.

Thank you. Thanks. 77 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Are there any other questions? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.

Thank you, President Verna. I wanted to follow up on Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller's question regarding IRS. In your deliberations with IRS, what was the yield? That they would be guaranteed X number of slots or you're going to rely on the fact that with the marketing of the need for -- not the need for, but the great accessibility for public transportation and hopefully the need to drive will diminish. I'm just curious to know. Because when parents have to change their lives in terms of transportation from one workplace to another workplace, transportation becomes a real factor and parking an even greater factor.

Agreed. One of the requirements of the IRS tenancy was 78 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. that they receive a base 1,200 parking spaces. They determined that based on their own internal assessment of their employee workforce and commuting patterns.

I see.

They have an opportunity to lease another 400 spaces.

So they won't have to compete for parking?

No. They would have reserved, dedicated parking.

I see.

And one of the other points that Carl alluded to is, in thinking through the design elements for this project, one of the reasons for the hotel is that it's a good complementary parking use for the office building. So there tends to be higher levels of parking in the evening to facilitate restaurants, people coming in for the retail arcade and coming to the hotel for meetings usually in the evening versus 79 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. during the work hours. So hotel and office tend to have very good complementary uses in terms of parking.

Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam President.

You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam President. You did say, Mr. Primavera, that this is in a KOIZ?

Yes. The original one -- and Jerry can address that. The original one that allowed for Cira One.

Let me get into the difficult questions now. You're talking about moving the Internal Revenue Service from the Northeast, and that's approximately how many jobs? 80 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

It's a range of, as we put in the brochure, between 4,700 and 5,000 jobs.

And what are the benefits of the KOIZ?

To the IRS, nothing.

What are the benefits associated with that?

Oh, I'm sorry. In general for a qualifying company?

Yes.

They would receive an abatement. If they meet one of two criteria, they would receive an abatement of certain City and primarily the corporate net income tax, the Commonwealth level, through December 31st of 2018.

So we're moving jobs from the Northeast that are currently paying all of those benefits to the City of Philadelphia?

No. See, the 81 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. IRS is its own world, and there are some representatives from the federal government here.

They are currently exempt?

That's a nice way to describe it.

So I'll let Jerry go into more detail, but this is actually a home run. The IRS was going to leave the City, go to Bucks County or Montgomery County. So we're keeping them in the City --

I've heard that.

-- and --

I always hear that.

And, in effect, we found a huge user in the KOIZ that doesn't take advantage of it because they're the federal government anyway. So they would otherwise be exempt. So, Jerry, can you go into that 82 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. in more detail?

Well, I think one of the good things about this project that we propose is both the Internal Revenue Service, who signed the lease for 860,000 square feet, and the University of Pennsylvania, who has signed the lease for a little more than a hundred thousand square feet, neither one of those organizations really realize any benefit from the KOIZ.

On wages, on employees either?

No. The benefits of the KOIZ really flow through to the entity level, not to the employee level.

The corporate entity.

And that was one of the reasons why Mr. Primavera had mentioned that.

So the KOZ had benefits to the employee wage tax; am I correct? 83 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

No. It's basically --

It's been a while since we've done these.

It's basically like partnerships. I think the criticism had been that partnerships, like law firms and accounting firms, would flow down at the partner level and they would realize benefit. But at what we would call W-2 employees, that's not --

Under the KOIZ legislation, individual employees pay the wage tax. So there's no abatement of the wage tax in the KOIZ, and that's one of the reasons why Mr. Primavera indicated that Brandywine is amenable and happy to do so, to carve out from the KOIZ any residential component.

How -- excuse me.

But were there wage benefits in the KOZ, the original KOZ? 84 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

There were not, but I think there's -- and I'd have to defer to the attorneys in terms of there's a nuance relative to if you live in a KOIZ.

Right.

How is the residential portion of this carved out?

Well, in the smaller building closest to what will be the IRS, we would geographically carve that out by getting it decertified. I think that's the term of art. With the tall building, if we have Penn houses at the top or condos, that will be vertically carved out. So there are ways to do it, and we're not worried about that. We think this actually works, because, in effect, we're getting people who otherwise wouldn't be relocating in the City elsewhere, so they say, and we're also getting employers who aren't 85 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. paying the types of taxes that are abated anyway. The federal government is exempt --

So that wouldn't accrue to us either way. All right.

So actually this is probably the least costly way to maximize the benefit of the KOIZ, and also we're getting tax credits from the federal government. I mean, there's a lot of subsidy that is not coming out of City coffers. There's historic tax credits through the federal government. So this is a pretty painless way to get close to a billion dollars of investment.

Okay.

I think, Councilman, to add on to Mr. Primavera's comments, as we looked at Cira Centre One, which certainly had its birth out of some controversy --

Right. That's why I'm posing these questions. 86 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Right. I mean, I think we're pleased to report, and have done so at the Commonwealth level, that there's about 2,000 people that work in Cira Centre One. Of those, 940 are new to the City and almost 800 are new to the state. So I think the longer-term prospect -- and we're certainly apt to provide the Council or the Committee afterward what the long-term benefits of that are, but as we look at the track record that we went through on Cira Centre One, it did serve to be a very valuable tool in attracting businesses from -- we brought a couple businesses up from Delaware, a number of businesses in from New Jersey by creating that incentive, through the removal of some of the City tax base, City tax obligations for a period of time.

And the likely tenants in the taller tower, do we have a sense of who they'll be? 87 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

We have not identified any tenants at this point. I mean, we certainly have programmed that tower for between 400,000 to 500,000 square feet of office, of which, again, as I mentioned, about 100,000 square feet is already leased to the University of Pennsylvania. We are embarking -- once we have these approvals in place, we'll embark on our marketing program as we did for Cira Centre One, and in that marketing campaign, we approached over 4,000 companies outside of the Philadelphia area to get people back into this zone. Our hope is -- and we're certainly investing a lot of time and energy and money to prove this thesis -- is that with the Cira Centre One building in operation, it having proven its validity in terms of accessibility along the northeast corridor, that we will in fact be able to continue our track record of bringing people into the City from outside the City. 88 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.

You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.

Thank you, Madam President. Mr. Primavera, with the Byberry project, which Brandywine --

I think that was the one I was thinking of.

-- was on the front of with Westrum, I believe you did the decertification process, and it is the same process?

Yes. Matter of fact, I'm glad you mentioned that. That was the Westrum project we were thinking about.

And, Mr. Sweeney, I know I mentioned Chicago and things I've read and talked to people 89 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. out there as they've evolved from worrying about height to worrying about the ground level, I really applaud you for not just your explanation but what you are explaining that you've been going through and the fact that you have the public space, you just have it on the north side rather than the south side, and I think it does make more sense there as you're creating a place at the ground level. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

So we in Council will have absolutely nothing to do with the carving out of the residential? I want the record to be very clear on that, please.

Yes. No, we understand that, that basically as we go through the decertification process, that will be through Commerce. It will come back, I believe, to the Council.

I don't 90 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. think we --

We didn't do it that way? It was strictly through Commerce? I know Vince Dougherty and Duane Bumb were involved in that.

I think because you do it voluntarily, we don't have to do it.

To give it up is easier than to get it. But we've worked with the Commerce Department on this, so we're all on the same page.

Thank you. And the stenographer will not be able to put all of the information in the booklet that was given to us in her notes, so for the record, you did explain that the total cost of this project will be approximately $800 million. How many new jobs will be created and how many permanent jobs will be created?

We actually on, Madam Chairwoman, on of the book, we actually did outline some -- 91 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

The stenographer doesn't have the book, so if you will, just --

Oh, I'm sorry. The construction jobs we anticipate will be between 3,700 and 4,400 jobs. And from a permanent standpoint, we anticipate that upon full build-out, including the employees of the Walnut Street tower and the employment by the hotel, we will have between 6,150 and 6,700 jobs that will be there on a permanent basis.

Is there an MBE/WBE proposal for this project? If so, can you tell us what are the goals?

I'd be happy to. Yes, there are. We worked very closely with Councilwoman Blackwell to make sure that we had an Economic Opportunity Plan that had set good goals and strong goals and certainly ones that we think we can execute on. 92 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Again, for the record, we've identified some participation goals and ranges in the book, which we've outlined that the contracts for professional services will be percent minority 7 owned, eight percent female owned and two 8 percent disabled, and set employee ranges 9 for the project. We set a construction 10 workforce target at 50 percent. And 11 certainly as we've discussed with 12 Councilwoman Blackwell and with the other 13 agencies we've talked to, that's going to 14 require a fair amount of work to get 15 there, but that's certainly what we're 16 committed to do. We are specifying that 17 in all of our construction and 18 subcontractor contracts to meet that 19 goal. Twenty-five percent minority, five 20 percent female and two percent disabled. 21 And on the contractor side, 25 percent 22 minority owned, eight percent female and 23 two percent disabled. 24 So I think we're happy with 25 those standards and we put that in place 93 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. and it was introduced as part of the ordinance.

Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam President. I want to thank you for making that commitment as a part of the EOP plan. One question, with respect to the monitoring entity, are you going to hire an external organization to both identify and monitor those numbers?

We are. We're actually approached from two different standpoints. There will be a Project Oversight Committee that will consist of representatives of Brandywine, the Minority Business Enterprise Council and our District Councilperson or her representatives, and then we anticipate hiring a compliance monitoring firm that will actually ensure through job census 94 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. counts, job site walk-throughs that we're complying with the standards that we set.

Thank you very much.

I think we're -- I'm speaking just for myself, but I think just about every member of the Committee feels as I do. It's just a magnificent project. When this is passed, the bills are passed, when do you anticipate that you will be able to start work or construction on this and when do you anticipate the completion?

Madam Chairwoman, we actually do have in the book a development schedule. One of the first pieces of it, which did not require any zoning relief, is already under construction now, which is the vehicle maintenance facility for the U.S. Postal Service. That will be done in the third quarter of 2008. The IRS 30th Street Postal Office renovation, some of that 95 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. pre-demolition work is already underway now, and we anticipate that being delivered in the late second, early third quarter of 2010. The demolition of the annex site, we anticipate the exterior demolition starting later in November of this year in terms of site preparation for the garage and the two towers. We are anticipating that the parking garage, again, will actually start construction in the second quarter of 2008, with a delivery date concurrent with the delivery of the IRS facility at the Post Office building in the second, third quarter of 2010. We are proceeding on a path with the Walnut Street and the Chestnut Street tower. The Walnut Street tower, we anticipate starting that in early 2009, with a delivery in third quarter of 2011, and on the Chestnut Street tower, anticipate starting that mid year 2008, with a delivery, again, in the mid part 96 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. of 2011.

One of the interesting things is that -- again, as has been stated -- everything is on a platform. So the first thing we're going to do is reinforce the entire platform, which is a big job and that's why we're already under pressure to get it done, and then the garage component will be available when the rehab of the Post Office building is done, and then we'll go right into the other projects. So it will be a long-going project, and we did hear your comments about minimizing inconvenience and minimizing disruption, and we have a strong logistic plan on how to do that. So it's going to happen quickly and it's going to happen over a fairly long period of time.

Are there any other questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.) 97 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Do we have anyone else to testify on this bill?

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Please approach the witness table. The Chair recognizes Councilman O'Neill.

Madam President, I apologize, but I have a very important meeting in my district, and I will just leave my vote as aye on all bills on the Calendar today and also on the rules suspensions that were requested.

How about the amendments?

And the amendments also. I'm sorry. Thank you.

How about that one bill where we were questioning about the title?

My 98 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. recommendation on that would be to report it out and then have a new bill 4 introduced to cover it as we go through, because it's really protecting the integrity of the bill, that we have to pull the permits.

And the permits would be able to be obtained. Thank you. Good morning. Is it morning?

It's still morning.

Welcome. Please identify yourself for the record.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the Committee. My name is Lynn Fox and I am the Business Manager for the Philadelphia Joint Board of Unite Here. Unite Here represents over 9,000 members who live and work in the City of Philadelphia, primarily in the hospitality industry. We became interested in this project mostly because of the hotel piece 99 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. that's going to be part of the project, and I'm here today to tell you that I am very pleased and proud to report that we have reached agreement with Brandywine to ensure that when those jobs actually come into being, they will be good, living-wage jobs that this City can be proud of. I also have to tell you that I bring you greetings and support, along with us, for this project from Mr. Pat Gillespie and the Building Trades Council. Unfortunately, he couldn't be here this morning, but he did ask that I deliver that message to you. And I'm, of course, happy to do that. So we fully support this project. As far as we're concerned, the faster, the better, and it only means good things for the City and it's the beginning of a new era, I believe, of responsible development, and I thank you for your time.

Thank 100 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. you very much.

Madam President, I just wanted to let Ms. Fox know that I was very happy that she brought the greetings from Mr. Gillespie, because they're much more acceptable from you than from him. So thank you very much.

I think that's why he had me do it.

It was a good idea. Thanks.

Anyone else to testify? (No response.)

Do we have any other witness that would like to testify? (No response.)

Seeing no one, this will conclude our public hearing. We will now go into our public meeting, and the Chair recognizes 101 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 3 070437.

Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I make a motion that Bill No. 070437 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request for rules suspension as to allow reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 14 070437 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will please say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The 102 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 070674.

Thank you, Madam President. I know we're in a public meeting, but I did have to ask one question with respect to the EOP plan. Is that going to be attached as an amendment?

Is there an amendment to 37?

We can attach that.

I mean, under the law that was passed, it's required to be a part of the legislation.

As part of the record, yes.

Part of the legislation. Is that attached?

Actually, we have the brochure with the numbers there, but the actual document I can get to you.

Do you want 103 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. to do it now as an amendment?

Yes. As an amendment to Bill No. 674 we would like to also add, in addition to what we agreed with with the Planning Commission, the actual EOP as worked out by Councilwoman Blackwell's office. We would like to submit right now the brochure that at indicated the actual goals, and as for the actual document, we can actually submit that prior to final passage.

Thank you. Madam President, therefore, I would like to -- we actually have two amendments to Bill 070674. Would you want to do one at a time?

I think so.

I'd like to propose an approval of the amendment, the first amendment, to Bill 070674. (Duly seconded.)

It 104 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. has been moved and seconded that the amendment be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the motion carries.

Madam President, I would like to propose an approval to the second amendment to Bill 14 070674, which is the Equal Opportunity Plan. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The 105 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. ayes have it and the motion carries.

Madam President, I would like to move for the approval of Bill 070674 as amended and request a suspension of the rules to allow the reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 12 070674 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? (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The motion has been carried. We will now consider Bill No. 25 070675. 106 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC.

Madam President, I move that Bill 070675 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request for rules suspension as to allow reading at the session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

Before voting on that, I would ask that the Streets Department have a new bill 12 prepared as soon as possible, refer it to Councilwoman Blackwell. We are passing this not to hold anything up, but I am telling you, we can never vote on this bill as is. So please make certain that the title is addressed, and we will expedite a public hearing on that not to delay anything. It has been moved that Bill No. 21 070675 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. 107 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 070676.

Madam President, I move for the adoption of an amendment to Bill 070676. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that the amendment as proposed earlier be adopted. All in favor will please say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the motion carries. 108 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilman Clarke.

I move that Bill 070676 as amended be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request for rules suspension as to allow reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 070676 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 say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the motion carries. Again, the Chair recognizes 109 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 3 070677.

Madam President, I move that 070677 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request for rules suspension as to allow reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 13 070677 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair again recognizes 110 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 3 070678.

Madam President, I move for the adoption of the amendment to Bill 070678. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that the amendment as proposed earlier be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

I move that Bill 070678 as amended be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and a request for rules suspension as to allow reading at the next session of 111 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. Council. (Duly seconded.)

It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 6 070678 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 say aye. (Aye.)

Those opposed? (No response.)

The ayes have it and the motion carries. The record should also reflect that Councilman O'Neill did in fact leave his vote as aye on all bills and amendments, and Councilman Kenney did also. Thank you. This concludes our public meeting. Thank you all very much for your patience. 112 10/17/07 - RULES - BILL 070437, ETC. (Committee on Rules adjourned at 11:55 a.m.) - - - 113 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 October 17, 2007, 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.)