Groundbreaking for new high-rise in Old City
OLD CITY (WPVI) -- Philadelphia is getting a brand new high rise.
Officials and the developer broke ground on the Bridge apartment building this morning in Old City.
The 17-story building is going up on the 200 block of Race Street.
The project started 14 years ago in 2001, but hit some snags.
Jeff Brown from Brown Hill Development explains, "We started doing some designs. We ran into some opposition. We ran into a recession, that took about five years. And then we started to enjoy a tremendous resurgence of Philadelphia."
That resurgence started with the Race Street Pier - a high-end park on a pier under the Ben Franklin Bridge - and a new construction apartment building at Race and Columbus Boulevard.
And now the Bridge.
City leaders hope it will connect Old City to the waterfront.
It will have 146 rental units, 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, a gym, a hammock area, 24 hour concierge, and lower level car and bicycle parking.
In addition, the building will be one of the first to include a 10 percent mixed income affordable housing component under the city's new zoning code.
Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger says, "This design has evolved over time but I think it reflects, in many ways, the best of what we can do in this city."
Councilman Mark Squilla tells us, "You can mesh the old with the new as long as it's done properly, done right. It was set back off the street to not give that appearance of being right on top of the regular neighborhood."
Nearby restaurants and residents we spoke with say it's an exciting change for Old City.
"It's going to be a removal of a blight of an empty parking lot that people just parked on. It was dirt, nobody really maintained it. And so we're glad to see that it's going to add some change and bring more people to the neighborhood," said Old City resident Jeff Johnson.
The pet-friendly and 100 percent smoke-free building will rent from $1,900 to $3,500 a month, and will be ready for occupancy by early 2017.
