August 2023 Philadelphia Mastermind Group Key Take Aways!
It’s important to know your audience, know who you are and know who you’re appealing to. What works in one district may not work in another. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
In Mayfair, it was important to create buzz for the area and did a lot more marketing, capital improvements and events. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
It’s important to embrace the people who are investing in a district and to meld those cultures into the community. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Fishtown was not a place people would have dreamed would be attracting the money they’re spending there now. Has an artistic, creative vibe with great food. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Worked with ISA Architects to activate and create new things with a focus on what is special about the area – art, dining, entertainment and hospitality. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Important to involve neighbors and community in the process. Residents don’t always embrace the changes that come along with development. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
There are 12K residential units that will be coming and there is a demand for it. People like the walkability of the area. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Worked to maximize open and community spaces. They are building a pedestrian plaza with grant money from the state. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Received a grant for a connector project over the next 7 years to add urban furniture, signs, etc. from Girard and Frankford to the river. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
They have people cleaning the streets and a safety patrol and work to make sure developers are getting what they need. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Important to make sure what developers plan to put in will fit the community. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
They are updating the L-stop to make it more appealing and to keep people moving. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
Helped author the Conservatorship Act which allows groups to go to court to help get control of blighted eyesores. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
The intersection of Frankford and Girard is a dangerous crosswalk. There are plans to work on that, but it will take some time. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District, Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
There has been an uptick in pedestrian traffic deaths and a national news show featured Roosevelt Blvd. (Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
Congestion and parking are always an issue with development projects and that is especially difficult in the Fishtown area, which is an area of the city that previously had no parking regulations. Parking garages are difficult and they’re pushing alternative modes of transportation. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District, Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
They are adding pedestrian crossways across Delaware Avenue in the next few years. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District)
A lot of Fishtown residents are empty nesters and young professionals, many of whom are working from home, which creates a big lunch scene. (Marc Collazzo – Fishtown District, Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
It is often slow at this time of year, but surprisingly the fall rush has kicked in early and they’re getting pounded with proposals. (Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
“Meds and Eds” may be back, as they are seeing a lot of projects in those areas. (Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
Public improvement projects remain busy. (Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
SEPTA is probably going to hit upgrades (ADA) in every station in the city. Had money for a line to King of Prussia that never panned out so they have money left over. (Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
Amtrak is stealing a lot of employees, including security personnel. (Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
General contractors are getting hungry with construction costs coming down. Expects a good year through the 3rd quarter of 2024, but after that there’s not a lot of backlog. (Michael Mostochuk – EisnerAmper, Craig Bryson – Pennoni Associates)
Multi-family leasing rates may have reached their peaks. (Michael Mostochuk – EisnerAmper)
There is some slowness as the economy is uncertain. Lenders have been on pause, but the pause will create a gap in the pipeline. (Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr, Michael Mostochuk – EisnerAmper)
There are lots of units coming online. Expects rates will come down some for rentals. Northern Liberties has close to 9K units coming online. (Michael Mostochuk – EisnerAmper, Dennis Carlisle – OCF Realty)
They are getting contracts all over the place with lots of proposals. (Lorena Rodriguez – Talson Solutions)
Team of auditors is growing and they are now working on some litigations. Work on audits throughout all timeframes of projects. (Lorena Rodriguez – Talson Solutions)
Seeing more distressed properties and litigation involving that. Expects there may be more to come. (Michael Mostochuk – EisnerAmper, Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
Multi-family construction starts are down but construction activity is still near peak levels. (Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
Fourteen other metros have higher construction activity, which has been a long-standing trend. (Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
Philadelphia has the 4th lowest vacancy rates across the country. Supply is more constrained because Philadelphia hasn’t developed as much as other large cities. (Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
They are tracking 22K units under construction in the area and 85% is in the city of Philadelphia. (Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
Most of the units under construction are higher end units. Expects absorbtion to be better than last year but not as good as pre-pandemic levels. (Brenda Nguyen – CoStar Group)
Northwest neighborhoods of Philadelphia are getting a lot of interest. (Dennis Carlisle – OCF Realty)
Regulations are very restrictive due to zoning overlays. Some areas are even restricting supermarkets. (Dennis Carlisle – OCF Realty)
Many areas are creating and expanding historic districts, which increases regulations. There is a new kind of historic district, which they’re calling the 2nd tier historic district, but it hasn’t been explained yet. (Dennis Carlisle – OCF Realty)
Has hope for the future, but it’s been a dismal year. August is painful in cold markets. (Joseph Viturello – PernaFrederick Commercial Real Estate)
Philadelphia hasn’t had a lot of new products outside of high-end class A office products. Hopefully over time that helps. (Joseph Viturello – PernaFrederick Commercial Real Estate)
Has been a slow year. Going into the fall, people are slow to pull the trigger with higher rates. (Gerry Smith – Corporate Realty Partners & Co., Inc.)
Equity has been sitting on the sidelines. (Gerry Smith – Corporate Realty Partners & Co., Inc.)
Some of the projects that have been at a stand still seem to be getting done, particularly some blighted areas that need cleaning up. (Gerry Smith – Corporate Realty Partners & Co., Inc.)
Preparing for a serious distress situation in real estate. Distressed deals themselves are still small but people are waiting for more distressed properties, which means low deal volumes. (Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
Affordable housing development is strong. (Bart Mellits – Ballard Spahr)
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