Morning Headlines: Dranoff’s One Riverside Tower Gets the Go-Ahead

Rendering of One Riverside, Dranoff’s latest. Cecil Baker+Partners.

Yesterday the Civic Design Review board assessed Carl Dranoff’s plans for his proposed 20-story One Riverside tower on 25th Street and gave the residential building a final seal of approval. Inga Saffron, writing for the Inquirer, said, “The unanimous decision cleared the way for developer Carl Dranoff to start construction next fall.”

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy about the decision, including some of the members of the Schuylkill River Park Community Garden, which will now be 8 feet away from the mixed-use high-rise. Other disgruntled parties?

The Center City Residents Association has been concerned that the project’s three driveways – one for the garage, two for loading docks – would create a dangerous situation for people approaching the entrance to the Schuylkill Banks trail from 25th Street. Some also complained that the tower would increase the competition for parking spaces in the neighborhood.

Dranoff will try to collaborate with concerned parties, though he’s not required to. Should the zoning code change (again!) in the fall, the issue of the loading docks could be revisited. From Saffron’s piece, it sounds as though Dranoff himself has some doubts about them.

Other news of the day…

• “I like the sense of being connected to the history through prior generations”: Historic Gladwyne home for $1,195,000 [philly.com]
• “Construction on the 227-unit Granary Apartments at 20th & Callowhill, is nearing completion. So far, sixty tenants have moved in with more coming soon.” The Granary Is Almost Finished, and Some of the Tenants Have Already Moved In [Naked Philly]
• News of the Weird: “High above Kelly Drive and the CSX railroad tracks in Fairmount Park, a pile of graffiti covered ruins manages to weave William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Wharton, and disc golf into a single story.” [Hidden City]
• There’s a new petition at change.org: “Fund a Memorial Park at 22nd and Market: A memorial park on the site of the collapsed Salvation Army store would honor and remember the six dead and provide an oasis in the center of a dense business district.” [change.org]