Five Developments We’re Tracking in 2015

Photo credit: Ethan Schwartz via Flickr.

Here on Property we’ve been covering an assorted number of new projects poised to transform Philadelphia’s cityscape. As the new year approaches, that number will only continue to grow, and you can be sure we’ll be following all of them.

However, of those that have been announced for 2015, there have been some which have struck us as being potential game-changers. Below you will find five areas in Philadelphia development that we will keep a special eye on in the coming year.

Will 2015 Be The Year of Hotels?

Photo via SLS International website.

Will 2015 be the year of hotels? With the proposed W and Element Hotels at 15th and Chestnut, SLS International at Broad and Spruce, and the yet to be named luxury hotel that will replace the Four Seasons at One Logan Square, it sure does seem like it. Not to mention the Four Seasons relocating to the clouds (see Skyline: Redefined below), the temporarily stalled Hudson Hotel planned for 17th and Chancellor, and Baywood Hotels looking to set up base near the Convention Center. As the weeks roll in, we’ll be keeping an eye on what’s framing up to be the year hotel development is in upswing.

Divine Lorraine Showing Signs of Life

Photo credit: Jeff Fusco

Years of broken promises may still be keeping some of us from letting the recent wave of hope that’s enveloped the Divine Lorraine situation wash over us. However, now that developer Eric Blumenfeld has gotten the boost he needs to realize his dream (and, let’s be honest, ours too) of redeveloping the Lorraine, it appears the long-blighted beauty may very well breathe new life once more. Heck, even an official website was unveiled for the project. All we must wait for in the face of all the promising signs is for it to keep on keepin’ on.

Skyline: Redefined

Photo via Comcast Corporate.

The unexpectedly popular concrete pour speaks for itself: Philadelphia is excited for the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, which at a soaring 1,121 feet, will look down at the city’s current tallest building, the 974-foot Comcast Center.  But lest we leave another significant development in the shadows, you should know there’s another building set to alter our iconic cityscape: the FMC Tower at Cira Centre South, whose location at 30th and Walnut will expand Philly’s skyline further west.

Navy Yard City

Rendering of the Navy Yard Master Plan. By PIDC via Technically Philly.

South Philly’s Navy Yard has long had its boosters and these last few years has slowly seen their goals realized. In 2013, over twenty companies moved to the Yard, joined by more businesses moving to the property this year, among them Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners who broke ground on a 74-acre site at the Yard in April. In 2015, we can expect the Central Green Park, a 4.5 acre green space designed by those responsible for the Race Street Pier and New York’s High Line, to open in the spring.

Rivers in Motion

Photo via the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.

A surge of riverfront projects have started to sprout along the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers–and will most likely continue to do so. On the Schuylkill, the new boardwalk will slowly be joined by the University of Penn’s Pennovation Center, a 200,000-square-foot mixed-use facility slated to serve as an innovation hub for new businesses and tech startups. Meanwhile, the Delaware’s Washington Avenue Pier, unveiled in August, and Pier 68 will also be in the company of new projects: the Penn’s Landing redevelopment, a possible waterfront park in Bridesburg, and a whole slew of other planned developments by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.

Which Philadelphia developments are you tracking into the new year? Share your thoughts in the comments!