large capacity restaurant. My client has experience in the restaurant industry and this
will be his first restaurant in Philadelphia and we're excited to at the prospect of being
uh able to get opened um here's the referral again sit down restaurant there's no sign on
this permit and we were required a special exception under the overlay we had a letter
of support from the old city district they were very excited about this application this property
has been vacant um for some time now uh unanimous support and sounds like the council member in
non-opposition as well. There's reference in the permits online to the axe throwing facility
and restaurant that was at this location. Here's an article from Tangerine when it closed.
Zoning map, this is a CMX3 property. Ordinarily, if this was not under the overlay, it would allow
a sit-down restaurant as a right. Here's the front of the property for Market Street.
here it was in 2009 there are multiple street frontages here um bank street and boating street
oh like a 200 block has a lot of restaurants on it doesn't it it does
we have some photos of the interior you can see it's pretty raw in there my client just has his
materials just kind of parked on the inside um and uh you know full kitchen build that will have
to happen ventilation kit you know the whole shebang you'll see the plans there's a large
capacity for seating in here plans and drawings i will zoom in so
plans and drawings. I will zoom in. So the seating capacity per the plan is 190 people.
It's fully accessible. The, the sort of the, the concept is that, you know, there will be a hot pot
at your table where you can cook your food. And there's also sort of a station where there is
it's self-service for vegetables and hot pot toppings i guess you would say uh things that
are that are sort of kept over here on this um self-service area there's also a full a full
service kitchen in the back because there will be appetizers and things that you can't make in a
hot pot that that a kitchen staff will bring out um of course agreeable to commercial trash pickup
trash will be stored on the side where it has been under the prior owners we are not seeking
a liquor license at this time there are ample bathrooms right here and right here there's a
family bathroom in terms of ventilation the ventilation is through the roof and there will
be my understanding is with the hot pot restaurant there's actually ventilation at each table
because of the hot pot steam there in the basement down below which is accessible from
multiple points at the front of the property and at the rear where there are elevators in both
locations is basically just storage there's walk-in freezers and coolers there's an office
there's an employee space and and really just storage as far as staffing goes the kitchen will
be five to ten people the wait staff will be seven to fifteen there will be like a host team and
and management as well um no takeout as a part of this um concept because hot pot doesn't really
work as a takeout concept um chris uh hansu who goes by chris has has worked in the sushi industry
he sold his restaurant two years ago and moved to philadelphia this year and he'll sort of be
in management on the floor and in the kitchen is there an office building above this there
is an office building. It goes up two, three floors? Several floors. I'll show you the street
view. I don't know the exact number, but it's a large building. Four.
Maybe three with a tall ceiling on it. It's all set up to the roof.
Yeah, the ventilation is already, my
understanding is it's existing from the prior
kitchens that have operated there.
That's the conclusion of my presentation. I have the mailers
um right here we met with old city district again they were very excited
they put their branding in the windows as a temporary thing
application for special exception
and tax clearance so with that i would ask my client to be sworn in and adopt my testimony
sir could you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer yes sir my name is hansu kim
h-a-n-s-u last name is kim k-i-m right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes did you hear my testimony today yes was it true and correct
yes and you adopted as your own yes thank you questions from the board
okay so you said this is your first venture in philadelphia so you have another one of these
somewhere else or no i have experience of in restaurant business for the last 12 years and
i have worked in many different restaurants not only the sushi restaurant like korean
um barbecue restaurant brand hot pot restaurant as well so i have i'm confident that i have
enough experience i've been managed the store i was the owner of the restaurant too so
we are trying to build a great restaurant in the old city okay but this is really your first
in philadelphia in philadelphia yeah i just moved down to philadelphia
so you had some places you had another restaurant yeah not the same concept but i used to have the
restaurant in uh flushing new york sushi restaurant in flushing new york okay all right so um you'll
have to forgive me but what is this hot pot concept so it's like individual small hot pot and
It's like individual small hot pot, and you can bring your vegetables from the pickup store, and you can order the meat or the seafood through the staff, and then we're going to bring the meat or the seafood to your table individually, and then you can just cook on your small hot pot.
it's like diy you cook it at your table it's kind of like yeah you cook it at your table
it's kind of fun yeah i mean it's interactive fun concept yeah yeah there's a lot of that you know
we have a lot of hot pot restaurants in philadelphia
okay uh
meeting as one who doesn't even cook in her home house i'm not going out
she kicked me under the table and you start talking about
well there's no more extra in here so all right and then uh but
can you can you order is there a menu where you can
order other stuff yeah like the order stuff is only meat or the seafood
that you can um just cook on your small hot pot everything else like the vegetables is
you just go pick up from the pickup area yeah pick up area i think the question is are there
dishes you can order that the kitchen makes for you and brings oh you know like appetizers or
things like that it's gonna be we're gonna prepare it as like the hot pot i mean hot station okay
so they can just pick up from the yeah okay so it's going to be already prepared so then
there is no like kitchen kitchen well it sounds like where you need venting there is going to be
ventilation and it is a full kitchen you can see on the screen here the largest part here what are
you doing in the what are you doing it's a giant prep room yes giant prep room you're gonna wash
a lot of excuse me this is a reporter i'm having great difficulty hearing i i'm i'm sorry my my
yeah my question was you know you you're saying you're gonna have a kitchen
for any venting so what are you cooking in the kitchen if people are cooking their own food
no like this um we're gonna probably um suggest for like the french fries or like the simple for
like the kids that they cannot they're not enjoyed to having the hot pot before so
it's going to be some some appetizers like the like french fries like the chicken wings and
simple stuff like that that was my understanding that there are some other dishes that are not hot
pot that you obviously can't make in a hot pot in front of you that the kitchen can make
Okay. I mean, this is, you said you're going to have, you've got space for 190?
Yeah, large space.
It's big.
And, okay. Okay, thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Yes. I don't know if you already testified to it, but what you're looking at is the first floor in the basement. That's correct.
Okay. Thanks.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location to the current CMX 3 commercial mixed use.
The appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested special exception for sit-down restaurant.
MI 2026, 001-277, 232-34 Market Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Use limited to first floor and basement.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Number 11, MI-2026-001-283-733-37 North 4th Street.
Eric Batson.
Batson is the attorney.
Batson is the attorney.
They've been promoted to panelists, Chair.
They've been promoted to panelists, Chair.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Council, how are you? Please state your name and spell it for the sonographer.
Yes, of course. Eric Bodzin, V-O-D-Z-I-N of Law Firm Blank Row.
Sure. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Do you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes. My client seated beside me here is Bruno Bogrig. He is the owner of the subject property
at 4th Street Lofts, LLC.
All right. And I see there's support from the Northern Liberties Neighbor Association.
And our question has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Good afternoon. Yes, I have.
Okay. And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with the case.
Wonderful. Thank you so much.
Okay, Mr. Chair, does my screen appear?
Appreciate it.
Wonderful.
Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Eric Bods in event blank Rome.
Again seated beside me is Bruno Bogrig, the owner of 4th Street Lofts, LLC, and Merchant
Marine and the other part of the slide.
The subject property that Bruno owns is 733-37 North 4th Street. As you can see in the aerial
pictured here, this is the southeast corner of 4th and Brown Streets in Northern Liberties.
The property consists of an existing three-story brick building upon a lot of approximately 1,900
square feet. The building was constructed in the 1930s as a small-scale warehouse and was more
recently adapted as artist studios. Each of the building's three floors is comprised of a single
floor-length unit, and there is also a basement for building systems only. As you can see in the
zoning map pictured here, the property is zoned IRMX, Industrial Residential Mixed Use, in the
purple, which, like the array of mixed-use designations of nearby corner properties in
this historically industrial neighborhood, supports adaptive reuse through a mix of
ground floor business use and upstairs residences. Here is the subject property as it stands today.
You can see, in fact, it is occupied on the ground floor. You can see in blue
by a modern ground floor business use. In fact, that is Tula's yoga studio. Here's another picture
from the northwest, you can see right across the street a similar mixed-use property with
Honey's sit and eat restaurant on the ground floor.
The ground floor yoga studio is already permitted, Mr. Chair.
The subject of this application is limited to activating the two upper floor units for
residential use.
And as you can see here in the refusal, the singular subject of the refusal is that the multifamily as opposed to two-family use permitted in the IRMX district is defined as three or more units, as opposed to the two proposed in the subject matter.
Here are the floor plans for the subject second and third floor of the property. As you can see,
the proposal is simply to establish those two upper floors of the building as full floor
residences. Each of the floors is approximately 1,200 square feet, and the intention here is to
to use the entirety of the floors in order to afford adequate space and lighting for
each unit within this uniquely configured space that was originally an industrial warehouse
and industrial warehouse space. As you can see here, each unit has distinct living, eating, and sleeping areas, segregated code-compliant trash enclosure spaces in the bottom right corners,
space.
As you can see here, each unit has distinct
and a stairwell and entrance exclusive to the second and third floor residences.
Here, for reference, are floor plans of the ground floor and basement floor plans.
Again, the subject of this application is only the second and third floor.
The first floor yoga studio is already permitted, but here you can see the separate entrances
for the residential and commercial spaces of the building, and again, the basement,
which is used exclusively for building systems. Here is the support letter from the coordinating
RCO Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association. Eric. Yes. Excuse me. Can you go back and can
you make that a little bigger? Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry. Yes. Is this better? I'm sorry. We're
in our conference room area. Yes. That's much better. Thank you. Wonderful. Let me go back to
second and third floor so you can see that more clearly again the designated living sleeping
separate co-compliant trash areas down here kitchen bath areas for these 1200 square feet unit
and again here are the first floor and basement plans for reference
thank you here is the support letter um from the coordinating rco the northern liberties
neighborhood associate association uh bruno sitting beside me and i along with our architect
doug seiler who is in the virtual audience met with nlna uh back on april the 6th um we are
pleased to share that NLNA supports the application and was particularly supportive of the full floor
second and third floor residences here without the additional you know any additional units.
Further attached and in your packets are nine additional support letters from near businesses
and neighbors, including here the ground floor tenant, Tula's Yoga Studio, Honey's Sit-Need
Across the Street, and several other businesses and near neighbors in the area.
Mr. Chair, for all these reasons and based upon the full exhibit package provided in advance of
this hearing, we submit that the requested use variance for two-family household living where
multi-family household living is permitted um should be granted and then ironically only the
denial of this relief could re result in negative impact to the property or its neighbors through
additional units three or more we submit that the applicant is certainly requesting grant
of the most minimal variance possible a reduction in variance to allow two not three units
um and that the proposed relief is all to the benefit not detriment of local transportation
congestion public facilities the environment and the public welfare all important eric let me
answer this what's on the second and third floor now currently the second and third floor are um
vacant space right all right so do you do you have photos of that or you just have pictures of the