JKRP wins another Preservation Award!

Lounge

amazing roof deck

the beautiful lobby

amazing conference room on the top floor

roof lounge

typical bedroom

corner unit

high end bathrooms

tons of natural light

Our ICON|1616 Walnut project has just been awarded a Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia Grand Jury Award for outstanding project.  The building had been used as office space since it was completed in the late 1920s.  



The $50 million construction project took 18 months, and was completed in the spring of 2014.  It has been a catalyst in the resurgence of older Philadelphia buildings being converted or repurposed into ultra high-end residences. As of December 2014, the building has commanded the highest residential rents in the city. Its location on the toniest shopping street in the city and its proximity to Rittenhouse Square and restaurants give it a competitive edge in a robust market, but the real differentiator is the world class amenities incorporated into the new design. The building boasts the largest open air roof deck in the city and affords spectacular views of the city skyline and the building also contains lavish communal spaces and a fitness center that would rival most commercial gyms.   The residential units themselves have also spared no expense, with high ceilings, huge expanses of glazing and natural light and only the finest finishes. The new design features have been meticulously executed to complement the original grandeur of the iconic building and bring it back to the same glory it had on the day it opened eighty five years ago.  

Brewerytown is BOOMIN' Tour

Last Friday, a few of us took a break from the grind and headed over to Brewerytown to see some of our newest projects taking shape for MM Partners.  MM as you may know, has been developing/redeveloping block by block, that part of the city just north of Fairmount Ave. The neighborhood is ripe for good development; it's a great location close to the Art Museum, Fairmount Park and Center City, it has a nice commercial avenue on Girard Ave, a trolley line, and most importantly, it's affordable.  It's really a clean slate as far as redevelopment is concerned and the neighborhood has been very receptive to MM's plans according to Jacob Roller.
MM has gotten noticed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Business Journal recently as well.  We're happy to be a part of their team on their latest projects. We toured Cambridge Row; Three townhouses on, wait for it, Cambridge St. and 30 Baltz on, wait for it, 30th and Baltz Street, and their upcoming project Girard27, uh you guessed it, 27th and Girard!  Their new Braverman building, a 5 story mixed use project, is the first to take advantage of new zoning along Girard Ave which allows them to go up higher than most existing buildings along the strip.  The tour ended at their latest venture, Sarah's Place, a former nuisance bar that was recently rehabbed and made "new" again or at the very least cleaned up. Much of its original character has remained unchanged.  Here are some snaps.

Cambridge Row, Brewerytown

nice wood bay

Jacob Roller leads the tour

The new Braverman Building

North 28th, another JKR Partners project

Sarah's Place Bar

upstairs at Sarah's Place

Interior of Cambridge Row

A room with a view at 30 Baltz

Anthony Wayne II opens to great fanfare!

Our Anthony Wayne II project, affectionately know around the office as T-Wayne or Tony Wayne had its grand opening yesterday afternoon after a few months of operation.  The project provides affordable housing for seniors in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Nine years ago we completed the first phase which converted an old school into affordable housing.  The success of that project lead to this project, which has added 46 more units to the mix.  Even more units are planned in a third phase which is currently waiting in the wings.
Lisa Thomas-Laury of 6ABC was at the site reporting live as councilman Kenyatta Johnson joined developer Brett Altman of Altman Co. and other dignitaries as the ribbon was cut.  See the coverage here from 6ABC and at The Inquirer

8 on Race project coming along.

before

currently

future

A few months ago our 8 on Race project began and what was once a derelict old building is rapidly becoming a fancy new residential development. There will naturally be, wait for it..... 8 private residences! Here is a picture of what it was, what it is currently, and what it will be in the near future.

Jerry Makes a Cameo on 6ABC

Jerry Roller made the news last night on 6ABC speaking to the viability of turning old abandoned Philadelphia Schools into new exciting residential developments.

Ave of the Arts building going Apartments.

Avenue of the Arts

Avenue of JKR Partners aka Chestnut Street

We are continuing our hot streak on the 1300 block of Chestnut Street and working our way up North on Broad. If you didn't already know, we've done the schematic plans for the Juniper Hotel, we've fit out Dick Blick, we've done the Lucky Strike, we've done the Olive Garden, and we've done the Capital Grille. Now we are going fit out the rest of the Avenue of the Arts building with 220 upscale apartments at 176k SF of space via a gut renovation, adding a state-of-art fitness center and roof deck, with units ready in 2016.The building was originally built in 1897 as office space and was most recently used as student housing for the University of the Arts.  We're in there surveying as we speak!

Southstar Lofts Sneak Peek

zach and Dave check out the mocked up corridor

talk about natural light

Broad Street view

Today was pretty frigid, but we managed to field a group of 10 people to tour our new Southstar Lofts project which is under construction at the corner of Broad and South Streets.  The 85 unit apartment building is about three quarters of the way done.  We were able to view the construction at various levels of completion since each floor is a little bit more done than the next.  see all the pictures from the tour here.

Point Breeze project moving along

View from Capitol Street

A week or so ago you may have read about our latest project planned for Point Breeze in Naked Philly.  There have been tons of comments both good and bad about the project, either way, we're excited about the project and can't wait to get it started.  If last night's design review meeting with South Philadelphia H.O.M.E.S is any indication, the project was very well received. Can anyone say standing ovation? The project replaces an old warehouse with 50 new single family homes. We really tried to be contextual with the neighboring buildings, by matching materials and heights, while still giving the houses their own contemporary identity.  Let us know what you think.

North 28th gets new Art Piece

Our North 28th project at, you guessed it North 28th Street, in Brewerytown got a sweet new art installation by noted artist Stephen Powers. You may recognize his work riding along the Market Frankford El trains. He did all the Philly love letters. I'm not sure what this particular piece is about, but it looks to me like it's some sort of engagement. Guy on one knee with a pizza? Or is that an abstract diamond? Either way, it's still pretty cool.

Bridgeview Project gets big press

The empty lot that rests at the corners of Columbus and Catharine Streets has been getting a lot of attention this past week after Jose presented our project to the Central Delaware Advocacy Group. This particular site has been bouncing around our office in some form or another for at least the last five years with nothing but fruitless pie in the sky dreams.  This site is too good to be sitting idle for so long.  Bridgeview, a 75 unit residential development, has been planned by our designers to give future residents equal access to the city and the river.  It will be especially nice if they build this.  This area is ripe for redevelopment! We'll be updating more as the project progresses in a few weeks.  In the meantime read more about the project here.

Project Preview

Market Square

H3

California...no, Market Square

Material Mastery

Market Square

We took some professional photos of two of our projects yesterday. The H3 project at the intersection of Hope/Howard/Hancock Streets in Northern Liberties, and The Market Square project at Montrose and 8th Street in the Italian Market neighborhood.  This is just a little taste.

Crease Street project coming together in Fishtown

Crease Street Elevation

Interior Court

A while back we blogged about a bunch of our townhome projects going up in various neighborhoods in the city.  This one in particular is the Crease Street project Jose and Rooch are working on in Fishtown which was just a hole in the ground a few weeks ago.  It looks like it's still on schedule to be completed in a couple of months.  If you remember there are 5 units along the Crease street side, one being a carriage unit over the drive aisle, and two more nestled in the back creating a nice little private landscaped courtyard. Looking pretty good.

Nugent Senior Apartments Ground breaking

old meets new

All the big wigs at Thursday's ground breaking

Nugent Senior Apartments on West Johnson Street in the Mt. Airy section of the city is a new project we're working on for Nolen Properties.  We're converting this beautiful building back to it's original luster creating 25 units in the old building and adding 32 rental units in a new addition in the rear.  It was originally built in 1895 for the care of elderly Baptist ministers and their wives, and in 2006 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Last year we did a similar successful conversion like this for Nolen with our Presser Senior Apartments. 

Building is Back!

Lawrence Street.  4 units.  Sam and Jose worked on this one. It's all done.

North 5th Street.  22 units. Should be done in a few months.

1247 Crease Street. Greg and Jose worked on this bad boy.  7 houses. Should be done in 6 months.

Manayunk Hills.  12 units, Jason and Steve slam dunked this one. Maybe 3 months out.

Manayunk Hills.  Getting there. 

we've done a lot right? This one is at 8th and Christian. All done. 18 units.

Queens Walk.  16 units. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's pretty nice inside.

More Queens Walk in Queens Village.

This one is the latest.  412 N. Front Street.  32 units.  Should be done in a few months.

 Building is Back.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  We've been cranking out townhouses this past year like it's our job.  Mostly because it IS our job. Jose and his crew have been hard at work developing a ton of new housing stock in the Northern Liberties and Fishtown areas of the city.  We've got a few in the pipeline and a few in various stages of construction.  Check'em out