She confirms to GlobeSt.com that Synterra's owner, William Wilson, has committed to providing ground-floor retail in the structure and reserving 10% of the units for affordable housing, two factors critical to Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. "Absolutely. We've worked with PCDC before, and he's a man of his word," Welsch says of Wilson.
John Chin, PCDC's executive director, agrees. "We're very concerned about the gentrification around the convention center and throughout Philadelphia," Chin tells GlobeSt.com. "Development in other cities has proven that mixed-income residential projects are healthy." Of Wilson, he says, "we share the same vision of Chinatown as a gateway to new immigrants. The development will also include green space, trees and shrubs that will reconnect this area to Franklin Square. It will be a model for future neighborhood development."
The former Metropolitan Hospital, across from the Chinatown parcel, fronts Franklin Square. It is currently being redeveloped into MetroClub, a market-rate condominium complex. "Affordable housing is difficult to define under current HUD guidelines," Chin says. "It's now related to whatever banks will lend for housing." Meanwhile, neither he nor Welsch would estimate project costs or condo prices.
The Chinatown parcel, now used for surface parking, presents special challenges, according to both Chin and Welsch. Rail lines were relocated to make way for the convention center. As a result, both Septa and Patco lines run under this parcel, preventing construction of a building directly above the lines. Welsch acknowledges, "it would present challenges to any developer," but believes they can be overcome in the design.
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