The Historic Commission ruled against the 40th Street hotel proposal in its
current form, with four members voting to deny approval, and two members voting
to approve it. The developers can come back to the Commission with a modifed
proposal.
Developer Tom Lussenhop, along with the attorney, the architect, and Penn Real
Estate representatives were there to present the proposal. They presented
schematics and photos of the site. They also presented photos of other large
buildings in the area in defense of the hotel's proposed height.
After the main presentation and discussion, the Commission solicited comments
from the audience. Chris O'Donnell, Glenn Moyer, Melani Lamond, John Gallery,
and myself each addressed the Commission.
I repeated the main points that I made in my editorial letter. I also pointed
out that all of the large buildings they cited were either on campus, were in
the unquestioned commercial area along Chestnut and Walnut Streets, or in the
case of the Fairfax and Garden Court complexes, were located a distance away
from 40th and Pine. I ended by saying that an OK to this project would lead to
the same type of out-of scale buildings springing up thourghout the
neighborhood.
John Gallery, the Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance, urged the
Commission to analyze the proposal in light of three criteria: would the hotel
proposal be compatible in size, in scale, and in character with both the
original mansion and the neighborhood.
Mr. Gallery concluded that no, this proposed hotel would not meet any of the
three criteria, stating that the addition would be too large, would be out of
scale with the original mansion, and that the construction materials and window
placements proposed for the exterior facade of the hotel were not in character
with the exterior of the mansion.
To illustrate the potential impact on the neighborhood, Mr. Gallery also
presented a photograph of the north side of the 4000 block of Baltimore Avenue
(which backs on the hotel site) with his own hand rendering of how the 10-story
hotel building would look as a background to the three-story twin houses on
that block.
In denying approval, the four Commission members who did so stated that the
building would present a huge shift in scale, would not be a nice neighbor
because of that scale, was too big and aggressive, was too massive, and would
be overwhelming. The two members who voted in favor of the project stated that
the proposed hotel would be a great benefit to the community.
