Develop
Developer led projects play a crucial role in shaping the built environment by driving investment, stimulating neighborhoods and contributing toward the urban growth of our modern cities. We’ve spent years working across a range of scales and budgets to create cost-effective solutions which are both elegant and practical. Below are a few projects which touch on what’s important and why.
What’s important and why.
Large scale development demands highly complex analysis and solutions, provided with the same speed and agility of smaller projects.
At a premier urban location, this 6 story core & shell spec project is carefully sited, serving as a backdrop to an existing historic office building. The building core and service spaces were cleverly arranged to yield maximum flexibility in serving a single or multiple future tenants.
This 5 over 1 podium build in the Old City District required speed of delivery, so sometimes it’s just about creating a good, efficient floor plan that maximizes unit density, repeating it on each floor, and creating an elegant, cost-effective, durable facade that satisfies the basic needs of a community.
5 over 2 podium construction provides maximum construction economy and building height in Philadelphia’s high-cost construction market; while limiting the building height to just under 75′, avoids high-rise code classification which would otherwise add significant additional costs to a project.
For this by-right 7 unit, 7 story building in a Historic District, this technique was used on a narrow infill lot. The historic red brick and slate base matches window and cornice lines of the neighboring historic buildings while the upper floors appear as a contemporary addition. This attention to historic contextual detail built strong market desire, leading to a projected $10m sell out.
On large MFD projects, efficient design, material cost control and construction oversite are primary considerations.
At Wayne Ave, multiple early blocking studies were performed to determine the right unit sizes, mix and placement to make an efficient, diverse layout that met market demand of the community.
Cost effective metal siding creates elegant corners and accents whose colors compliment the Victorian character of the neighborhood, while balancing out costs for higher priced masonry along the street-face.
Our history in construction administration, across a range of residential and commercial projects, allows for careful oversite of the construction process, foreseeing potential field issues before they occur and protecting the interests of the client & project investors.
Adaptive-Reuse is an important and cost-effective way to approach existing building stock.
Juniper Apartments converted a former automotive garage into a mixed-use building w/18 apartments and 1 commercial space via green roof density bonus. The economical building skin addresses cost with a functional industrial aesthetic. The lot coverage of the existing structure provided opportunities to maximize ground floor commercial use, while creating private outdoor space for 2nd floor rear units. A common roof deck provides 360 views of the city skyline.
Infill lots seem easy, but with increasingly difficult permitting regulations, they are becoming one of the most financially challenging typologies to successfully develop.
Workforce Housing is an example of our deep knowledge in navigating the regulatory process and managing all the unique conditions these sites contain. No two are alike.
We aid in bringing to market over 150 homes a year, and routinely encounter the challenges of underpinning, shoring, encroachments, neighbor notifications, poor soils, incorrect deed descriptions, subdivisions, PUDs and more. We’ve seen it all.
Early Zoning analysis is critical to understanding options for building massing, density, uses and bonuses. From these studies, a developer can construct initial proformas, set schedules and secure financing.
At Bloc24, clever by-right interpretations of the zoning and streets codes allowed for substantial height and density bonuses to create a mixed-use, 5 story podium construction project with below grade parking and large interior courtyard. 8 boutique apartments range in size from 460sf to 2,600sf full floor units. The flat masonry facade provides a simple backdrop that compliments the gently curving brick facade plane.