An international developer is adding two more towers to the city skyline with a mixed-use project that will reinforce John F. Kennedy Boulevard as the link between West Philly and Center City.
Minnesota-based NP International will construct a 42-story skyscraper and a 21-story high-rise in Logan Square on a parcel bounded by the Schuylkill River, Cherry and 23rd streets, and JFK Boulevard, according to a presentation given to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC) Tuesday.
The PCPC approved two bills that rezone the property to accommodate the developer's desired building height and allow retail space above the ground-floor.
Before applying to rezone the approximately 8-acre parcel, the real estate firm spent nearly 18 months working with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association to refine their vision for River Walk Philadelphia.
The currently proposed iteration of the mixed-used development best met the locals’ wants -- to minimize the number of neighbors whose river view would be obstructed by the new buildings and prevent established residents from fighting with new ones over parking.
“We fully support both bills,” Ed Panek of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association told the PCPC. “These two bills really do facilitate what the neighbors want to see built.”
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The taller of the two towers will be built on a piece of land sandwiched between the Amtrak-owned bridge that runs east out of 30th Street Station and JFK Boulevard, while the smaller high-rise, a third building and a public plaza will rise from the flood-prone parking lot at 23rd and Cherry streets, the presentation showed.
The project, which includes residential, commercial and hospitality components, will add a pedestrian staircase and handicapped-accessible ramp from JFK Boulevard, which hovers above the Schuylkill, to the ground below at 23rd and Cuthbert streets – an area located beneath an overpass that holds several lines of train tracks.
The developer has not yet filed construction permits for the project, according to city records.
The specific plan still needs to be reviewed by multiple city agencies, but the PCPC’s rezoning approval and the support of the neighborhood association leave few hurdles in NP International’s way.
Contact Alison Burdo at 610.668.5635, alison.burdo@nbcuni.com or follow @NewsBurd on Twitter.
