Here's an idea to consider.
If the block in question gets re-zoned to Commercial, how about a 100-plus
suite extended-stay hotel there -- presumably with the developers:
1. Buying out the building at the corner of 43rd & Walnut, which ain't
no great shakes anyway (offering the Halal market, the Chinese take-out, and
the laundromat retail space on the ground floor of the new structure, and the
owners would probably grab a good offer
2. Either buying out Dan DeRitis and his in-laws for the property on
which the former Rite-Aid sits, or cutting him in on the hotel deal (if he
doesn't have points on it already).
It would probably not meet with great resistance from the mosque (especially
if the restaurant entrance was at 43rd & Sansom); there are some residential
buildings on the north side of Sansom that would be visually impacted, but the
effect would be far less than that at the current proposed location. And good
offers could be made to the owners, who might be willing sellers, to expand
on-site parking. Instead of valet service for parking, the hotel would offer
shuttle service to the hospitals -- six of one, half a dozen of the other in
terms of logistics and costs.
Wait. There's more than just the benefits of siting there instead of at 40th
& Baltimore/Pine. Now that the restoration of the original section of the
Sloane house at 400 S 40th is "in play," surely the University of Pennsylvania
(who it's now known own the property through it's for-profit tax-paying OAP
real
estate subsidiary) will show it really means what it says about a "partnership
with the community" and being "a good neighbor" by doing the restoration it's
now dangling in front of the historically-minded. This would be Penn's
"partnership" share if the community will "contribute" its "partnership" share
by
supporting use of the existing building in its current form for offices or the
like. In fact, maybe the community would contribute even more by supporting a
plan that creates a two- or three-story addition to the south and west of the
original house, suitably hidden from both Pine and 40th Streets by foliage, so
it's not even visible unless you stand in the right place and know where to
look.
See, it's possible to devise a compromise that will make everybody happy.
Lussenhop, Carnoroli, Gutmann ... you paying attention?
Al Krigman
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