Apartment Tower With 164 Units Approved Near Drexel University

A new apartment tower is scheduled to rise at 32nd and Race streets near the campus of Drexel University after receiving approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday.

The project includes 164 apartment units in a 192-foot tower, along with 12 three-story townhomes serving as a buffer between the tower and the lower-density Powelton Village neighborhood. It will have underground parking space to serve the apartment tower and a small surface lot serving the townhomes. The apartment tower will also include a child-care center that will be open to the public, serving around 150 children and employing 20 adults (presumably).

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/Apartment_tower_with_164_units_approved_near_Drexel_University.html#hRXQ8FGr0ziz38a3.99

Montgomery County Community College To Host ‘The History Of Montco: A Documentary’

Joe and Sean 1

Photograph: Montgomery County Community College Alumni Joseph Sapienza, Philadelphia, (left) and Sean King, North Wales, will be sharing their video, “The History of Montco, a Documentary,” on Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m. at the College’s Science Center Theater, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422.

Blue Bell/Pottstown, Pa.—As part of its yearlong celebration of its 50th Anniversary, Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) invites the community to the premier public screening of “The History of Montco: A Documentary,” on Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m. in the Science Center Theater, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The screening is free of charge—everyone is welcome. Light refreshments will be served. To RSVP, call 215-641-6324 or email dyerkey@mc3.edu by June 18.

The documentary is directed and produced by MCCC alumni Joseph Sapienza, Philadelphia, and Sean King, North Wales, who began the project a few years ago while they were students at the College.

“The documentary really began as a one or two minute news package on the construction of College Hall,” King says. “After looking through some photos, we decided to expand the project to cover more of the history of Montco. From there, it snowballed into a feature length documentary.”

The video starts in Conshohocken, where the College opened its doors in early October 1966—almost two years after it was officially established on December 8, 1964. Through interviews of current and former faculty, staff and administrators, King and Sapienza captured the spirit and tenacity of an ever-evolving, growing educational institution that has become the alma mater of more than 55,000 alumni.

After years of preparation, hard work, research, and the desire to make their idea a reality, they completed an entertaining, informative movie that is a testament to their accomplishments and to the story about the college.

“It was a long process. We started pre-production in July of 2011 and the film didn’t go into editing until the summer of 2013,” Sapienza says, recalling the many hours of research, interviews, recording and editing.

The movie is about two hours long. During the intermission, Sapienza and King will be available to answer questions about the process of creating the Montco documentary.

Sapienza began his studies at Montgomery County Community College in the winter of 2010 in the Film and Video program. In fall 2012, he then transferred to the Film and Television program at Drexel University earned his bachelor’s degree in May 2014. With films, one of his favorite subjects is documentaries, especially documentaries involving history. For his senior project at Drexel, Joe produced a history documentary about the coal town, Centralia, and its ongoing underground mine fire. Following graduation, he started an internship with NFL Films.

King studied Communications at Montgomery County Community College, focusing on Journalism. While he was at the College, he was involved in numerous campus activities, including the Communication Arts Production Group and Montco Radio. After graduating in 2012, he started studying History and Political Science at Arcadia University, focusing on contemporary American history and politics. When he completes his bachelor’s degree, King plans to pursue a job in government.

For more information about Montgomery County Community College’s 50th Anniversary, visit http://www.mc3.edu/50.

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Future On Hold For 30th Street Station

English: 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. ...

English: 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. Roughly speaking, the center of commuting in Philly, the former center of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Philly’s main Amtrak station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Even as grand plans proceed for development around 30th Street Station, the iconic station will remain wrapped in scaffolding and netting for lack of funds for repairs, a top Amtrak official said Friday.

A $60 million restoration project, to repair the 81-year-old station’s limestone, clean its facade, and waterproof the exterior, is included in Amtrak’s nationwide five-year plan for construction and repairs.

But Congress has not authorized the money, and there is no indication when – or if – it will, Amtrak’s chief of Northeast Corridor planning and performance, Drew Galloway, said Friday.

“We’re ever hopeful,” Galloway said, after addressing a gathering of commuter and transit advocates in Old City.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20140503_Future_on_hold_for_30th_Street_Station.html#WIFShYEgF0asQjTu.99

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Drexel, Amtrak, Brandywine Weigh Giant Development Plans

English: 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. ...

English: 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. Roughly speaking, the center of commuting in Philly, the former center of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Philly’s main Amtrak station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Officials at Drexel University, Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust and other city and West Philly institutions have been sitting down with developers in recent days to review proposals to build over the tracks at 30th Street Station and link the grandiose proposed Drexel Innovation Neighborhood and its high-rise, Rockefeller Center-like “Superblock” at 33rd and Market — whose 6.5 milllion sq ft, by itself, would be more than four times larger than the proposed new Comcast office tower — and other new Drexel-area construction to Center City, highways, the airport, Penn, and, you know, the rest of the world.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Drexel-Amtrak-Brandywine-weighing-giant-West-Philly-redevelopment.html#cKEU5LqSCK8zdcLb.99

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The Guys Behind West Philly’s New High Rise

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Ph...

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The $158 million, 33-story Grove high-rise, planned for 850 Penn and Drexel students, adjoining the two campuses on a Penn-owned property at 2930 Chestnut St. in Brandywine Realty Trust‘s Cira South development, will stand out among East Coast college housing projects.

For one thing, it’s taller. Boston University boasts a landmark 26-story dorm with spectacular views.  New York University cancelled plans for a 38-story tower after Greenwich Village neighbors and architect I.M. Pei protested.  Penn’s three 25-story undergrad dorms have anchored “Superblock” (“an architectual conceptual disaster,” according to this 1999 Pa. Gazette review) on the west end of campus since the 1970s.  Temple’s new Morgan Hall dominates the view to Center City from 21 stories above North Philly.

Also, like other Penn student housing projects in recent years, Grove is a private effort, though on a bigger scale: It will boast its own health club and pool, Internet and cable, and rents starting above $1,300/month for a single (there’ll also be suites with up to three bedrooms.)

The project’s backers hope it will reverse the long flow of graduate students into West Philly‘s mixed residential neighborhoods and booming Center City and slowing growth to the student ghetto locally dominated by outfits like Michael Karp’s University City Housing Corp. and David Adelman’s more upscale Campus Apartments (home of the Beige Blocks).

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/The-guys-behind-West-Phillys-new-high-rise.html