Tony, You are probably right that this discussion is too extensive for this list-serv.... especially on Christmas Eve.
I'll try to make my response short:? If your concern for the 40th and Pine site is which of the two alternatives (extended stay hotel vs 10,000 sq' commercial development) provides the best alternatives in the event the project fails then I would suggest this analysis--? a 90,000 sq' building on a site with 4 parking spaces, a pool, no side yards or rear yards and built as a 110 room extended stay hotel has little or no viable alternative use (other than as student housing). In the alternative, a 10,000 sq' re-do of the mansion where there is first floor space requiring some reasonable retail rent and the 5,000 sq' upstairs requiring some reasonable office/classroom rent has thousands of alternate uses and users especially with the 25 car parking it would provide.? I am not sure why you don't believe that a small commercial venture is viable on 40th and Pine.? It might be harder to find failed commercial ventures in UC than it is to find successful ones.... even in this economic market.? In fact, I can give you?a very real example of a failed hotel in the U Penn/ U Penn Hospital area.? The old Hilton across the street from the hospital failed in several incarnations. -----Original Message----- From: Anthony West <anthony_w...@earthlink.net> To: UnivCity listserv <UnivCity@list.purple.com> Sent: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 7:55 pm Subject: Re: [UC] Campus Inn You have many interesting ideas about 40th St. development, Guy, that deserve deeper thought than a snap response on an unmoderated listserve. I'm sure the people in the business are giving it thought, amicably or otherwise.? ? One caution ordinary readers should note is that a long-term business plan based on a "high end restaurant" is even shakier than a plan based on an "extended stay hotel". The Campus Inn concept has been justly criticized for that very weakness: of hiding the longterm risk of downmarket users behind an initial promise of an upmarket user. If Campus Inn goes belly up, foes argue, it could be converted to rooms where students might sleep ... and there goes the neighborhood. We don't want no students sleeping in Spruce Hill, do we now? Ew.? ? The entertainment industry, I must warn readers, is even more volatile than the travel industry. It's great for Penn, and flattering for West Philadelphia, that Distrito is pitching in such monstrous rents for (gasp!) 40th St. nightspot square footage. Maybe a new high-end entertainment district will coalesce around 40th St. someday soon. I'm up for that. But I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it today.? ? Long-range planners for a sustainable 40th & Pine property are free to dazzle the public with visions of another Distrito ... but should gladly settle for another FuddRuckers, if that's what washes up on the beach. Still beats a stop & go. There will be no intrinsic protection, however, against that site's becoming a stop & go in the future.? ? There's nothing wrong with either risk, in my opinion. None of the above worries me. I could live with walking past any of the above outcomes. For me, an upscale restaurant beats a dorm, but an extended-stay hotel beats a stop & go. The true challenge for the neighborhood, as it mulls over these options, is to figure out how to honestly compare apples with apples.? ? -- Tony West? ? > I dream that the 40th and Pine site is developed by Campus Apartments > and > Tom Lussenhop as a high end restaurant with 25 car parking and > either > classroom or community space on the second and third floor. >? > Guy? ? ----? You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the? list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see? <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.?
