which is relevant later showing that these vacant lots vacant buildings on
front street making commercial um as i mentioned here here it is here to the right building under
construction uh current owner uh stamm development organization and we'll we'll admit mike stamm
s-t-a-m-m when you have a chance uh put the property under agreement in in november uh and
And the permit contained a commercial space on the first floor of approximately 1,463
square feet with 19 single-family dwelling units above.
STAM organization took over, they do a lot of development in the area, both mixed use
as well and um obtain the construction loan based upon the commercial space being in the first floor
the commercial space being in the first floor, and as you may know, here's a view looking towards
and as you may know here's a
Front Street, that's how far back we are from Front Street, that the commercial space actually
would obtain a higher rent than a residential space. They began actively and aggressively
market the property to have engaged four brokers, which is in our package, which we'll get to later,
But at a certain point, you know, a pivotal point, you need to decide whether commercial is still viable, having received no offers for commercial space, which is why we're here today.
The location not fronting on Front Street, vacancies on Front Street for commercial spaces,
and plus in the midst of a residential neighborhood, at least that end of the block is more in
character and context.
We don't feel that a commercial space would indeed be viable.
And so we filed this application to convert the 463 square foot space to two TWO additional
dwelling units.
On November 19, we did meet with East Kensington Neighbors Association.
and uh here's a letter here from the start of the meeting uh was it was kind of apparent that the
moderator and those running the meeting were were against this uh for whatever visceral reasons they
did not believe and their arguments are laid out here in their letter um there was just really
insinuations from the beginning that this was never intended to be commercial. As you see,
the residents did not think that the failure of the applicant to attain a commercial
tenant for the space was an accurate reflection during a global pandemic. Of course, that's what
they believe or believe. That's not true in fact, which we'll get to. They also said that the
commercial space was poorly designed, I guess insinuating that it was designed poorly so that
it wouldn't be marketable. That's completely incorrect. There was no one who testified
or mentioned any of the contrary that they were a developer. So with that said, I don't know if
Mr. Stom has been admitted. Are you there, Mike? Yeah, I'm here. Mr. Chairman, you want to swear
Mr. Stom in? Yeah, please identify yourself. First and last name. Spell your last name, please. Sure.
Michael Stom, spelled S-T-A, M as in Mike, M as in Mike, 1835 Market Street, Suite 625, Philadelphia, 19103.
Thank you.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed, Mr. Patterson.
So, Mike, could you briefly describe what your connection is with the property?
We purchased the property in May of 2020, and we've had it under agreement since November of 2019 for the owner.
And you've done numerous projects in the city that have both residential and commercial, so you're aware of the dynamics?
Correct. We specialize in mixed-use development.
Okay. And you've heard my presentation, and would you agree that it's true and accurate and you would adopt it as if it were your own?
I would, yes.
Okay. If you want to just maybe briefly elaborate on the history of when you put it under agreement and your marketing attempts, and I can go through and show the letters while you're speaking.
Sure. As Ron alluded to, and I just confirmed, we put the property under agreement in late 2019, in November.
At that time, there were approved zoning for 19 units and one commercial.
We began marketing the property with four brokerages, Delphi Property Group, Compass, Keller Williams, and Metro Commercial.
uh we had been marketing it since november uh via the four national brokerages that have
a pretty extensive uh tenant and landlord rep in philadelphia we've worked with each each of those
repeatedly at some of our other development sites uh at a what we would play our market rate uh
didn't have any success we haven't had any inquiries uh no letters of intent no tours
We pivoted again back in the summertime, back around June, July,
entered an exclusive with Delphi Property Group.
They're one of the leaders in this area for commercial space.
We've had all sorts of signage.
We were on every MLS, LoopNet, every brokerage.
We haven't even received a phone call or one inquiry at all.
We haven't even received a phone call or one inquiry at all, kind of showing the status of the commercial corridor there.
So I think that kind of responds to East Kensington's first point.
The second point about the commercial space being poorly designed, do you have a comment on that and that it's unviable for commercial tenants?
Yeah, look, you know, if the primary frontage back in the approval of 2018 was deemed Jasper Street, as Ron, you alluded to, it doesn't face, this would be different if we're on Front Street.
On Jasper Street, if you looked at the shape of the lot, you know, I think it's 20 some odd feet.
By the time you take the staircases, it's left with less than 20 feet.
It's really narrow.
You know, you're under a thousand square feet.
on top of it the topography when you're at jasper street as you go towards front is like
it's almost minus three so there's really no accessibility to get up into that space
it's smaller than would be viable for any real commercial use um so mike if you look on the
screen uh this is york street where i'm depicting this is jasper this dark shaded area is where
the commercial space was yeah that's correct and then um up here would be the the proposed floor
plan so um ron would you or your client happen to know there's some other taller buildings i've seen
there are multi-families nearby sure we can are any of those do any of those have commercial space
on them that that you're aware of of first any commercial space in them first i would say that
It's zoned differently, but Mike, you have a better understanding.
Yeah, so just, I guess, southwest of that, 2317 to 2325 Front Street, it's a sparing vacant lot.
You know, when we presented to East Kensington Neighborhood Association, it was conveyed to us that there was a, quote-unquote, large mixed-use property with vast commercial space there.
Given that's on Front Street, same zoning, there's no zoning permit, no building permits,
there's no commercial space even remotely proposed there.
So that was inaccurate.
You go across the street, 1817 to 1841 East York Street, a much more substantial and less
irregular shaped lot.
I think it's 20-some thousand square feet.
It is, Ron just alluded to, a zone.
That's the steel podium on the right of the screen.
That is zoned IRMX.
they have a several you know 800 square foot kind of I guess you call them artist studios deemed
yeah being marketed but none of them have been leased but there's no commercial space
in and around the area proposed or existing on this corner other than what you have down on
Front Street, under the L.
All right. They answered my question.
Thank you.
Anything else, Mike? That's all I have,
Mr. Chairman.
I think that's it. I think the only
other comment was, I think it was represented
to us from East Kensington
Neighborhoods Association that there were
a vast amount of
commercial spaces along York Street.
We did an analysis between
Front Street and
Frankfurt Ave. Along
York Street, it's over a half mile.
I think there were two or three commercial spaces in the entire area.
On top of that, you couple blocks and blocks of front street just there.
Of all virtually vacant and commercial space, there's no walkability.
There's no foot traffic.
There's no commercial that's going to, in a non-COVID world, ever remotely take this space.
Couple that with the environment we're in, it's virtually not feasible.
hopefully with repopulating the neighborhood will generate a lot more people who will have
need some services in some of these storefronts yeah i think that's the idea all right thank you
thank you any questions from the board no no no no one else would like to testify in this case
if so please raise your hand chair we have sloan folks he's been unmuted good afternoon mr folks
You're still under oath. Thank you, Chairman DiCicco. Good afternoon. My name is Sloan
Foulkes, the Office of Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez from 508 City Hall 19107.
For the record, the applicant has met with the RCO and garnered a letter of opposition. Therefore,
the Councilwoman is not offering her support, is not offering her support for this request. Thank you.
Understood. Thank you. And anyone else?
Yes, Chair. We have Jonathan Manza. He's been unmuted.
Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself with a record, spell your last name, give us your address, and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself with a record, spell your last name, give us your address.
Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Jonathan Manza, 1928 East York Street. That's J-O-H-N-A-T-H-A-N-M-A-N-Z-A.
And I'm a community member.
Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Please proceed.
So I'm a community member right down the street. I've been watching this building be built the entire time I'm here.
I was at that ECMA meeting, and I just wanted to expand upon our oppositions, the two points.
The first one here, they mentioned all the vacant lots and lack of commercial viability here,
but we noted across the street, there's 106 units being built.
Right down the street, there's permits pulled.
I see they're doing borings now for an additional almost 270 units,
So 380 units come into the neighborhood.
Every single one of them have to pass by this corner to get to the L stop at Dolphin and Jasper.
So I think it's a forward look.
We felt it was a forward looking.
The community is going to need these commercial spaces, and we don't want to be stuck.
We don't want to be stuck with something based off of current conditions.
The second point about the architecture of the building, I myself am a trained architect
practicing in the city and just believe that looking at the building elevations and the floor
plans that this building was it's not that it was poorly designed it's just that it was never
designed for a commercial space it's very clearly designed to object to that speculation yeah it is
speculation it is speculation i i can understand maybe how you came to that conclusion but i i
don't i don't can't imagine developers spending all that time and money to come up with a product
that isn't going to be uh viable and then spend additional money no disrespect to ron
hire a law firm to come back and fight for that space it does it just doesn't make sense and if
you heard what i said all these vacant storefronts on on the front street uh i don't think we want
to take people away from maybe opening up some of these stores you're only a block or so away
so my my contention is that the more we repopulate these neighborhoods we've got
better shot at revitalizing these former commercial retail corridors. I'm not opening up for debate,
I'm just giving you my thoughts on this. Okay, anyone else?
No more hands, Chair. Thank you. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
this property is indicated for commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan we feel there's no
hardship to vacant land and that the applicant has failed to demonstrate sufficient hardship to
justify admitting the commercial use accordingly we object to the granting of the variance thank
you i certainly would agree with you if we weren't a block away from what is like the dead zone of
Front Street. But in any event, MI 2020-001947, 1836-44 East York Street, my vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Great. Thank you so much.
Thank you. MI 2020-001865, 2017 Westmoreland Street.
Mr. Nockimson.
He's been promoted to panelists.
Thank you, sir. Just identify yourself with a record. You're still under oath.
Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Mr. Nockamson, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And have you also emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
Have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
yes to everything but having a letter from the rco okay you can still proceed
all right thank you very much sure all right
all right so i have in front of you a packet of uh exhibits which include eight exhibits for
2017 west westmoreland street uh the first exhibit is the deed to the property showing
that Keys and Deeds Holding LLC owns the property of 2017 West Westmoreland Street.
The second exhibit is showing that there are no taxes due.
The second exhibit is showing that there are no taxes due on this property, so the property
owner is compliant with its obligations as to the property.
The third exhibit is the notice of refusal.
This is an RSA 5 property, and what we're trying to do is put a two-unit dwelling here.
As you'll see from the pictures, it's not uncommon in this part of the neighborhood
to have multifamily usage in actuality next door to us is a two unit dwelling. And the only refusal
we have here is due to the use. In addition to the use, we're actually looking to expand
the rear of the property. But again, given the size of the property, this lot is over 1600 square
feet. We're not taking anyone's light and airway and we have a significantly large lot size.
After that is our application for appeal that we filed with the zoning board of adjustment
along with the notice of refusal and the project information form.
After that you'll see where we are in the neighborhood, we're between 20th and 21st
between Bellevue and West Madison Street.
After that it's photographs of the property.
This is a pre-existing three-story structure and again all we're trying
to do is put two units here. I will note on the left-hand side this is a vacant abandoned structure
and to the right of us is the two unit structure that I mentioned. Here are pictures to the right
of the property on Westmoreland Street, to the left of the property of Westmoreland Street.
Here is the next door which is also a two unit structure which kind of is a twin of ours.