front page in today's dp:
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Hotel debate continues
Developer says zoning meeting about 40th and Pine hotel
provided ideas; neighbors still hesitant
By: Katie Karas Posted: 2/22/08
Last week's meeting of the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee,
which discussed plans for an 11-story extended-stay hotel
at 40th and Pine streets, seems to have created only a
greater divide between developers and the community on an
already divisive issue.
Nearby residents expressed strong disapproval of the
hotel at the meeting, while developers heaped praises on
the design.
Developer Tom Lussenhop said the meeting provided a forum
for debate that could influence the course of the
project.
"I think there are ways that we can improve the project,
based on the variety of questions and concerns that we
heard," he said. Lussenhop did not mention specific ways
he believed the project could be enhanced.
The height of the hotel - a major point of contention
among community members - is not something that is likely
to change because it is "driven by a pretty fixed formula
by room count and operating efficiency," Lussenhop said.
The developer coalition made up of Lussenhop, Campus
Apartments and Hersha Hospitality is waiting for a
hearing with the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment
to get a zoning variance that would allow them to lease
the site from the University and build the hotel.
But area residents say the hotel will have a largely
negative impact on the community.
Magali Larson, a member of the Woodland Terrace
Association, said she worries about the project because
"there are so many risks involved that they have dubious
solutions for."
Among the risks, Larson said, are plans for a valet
parking system to handle guest's cars, the possibility of
a live-entertainment license for the restaurant that will
accompany the hotel and the height of the building in
what she considers a residential neighborhood.
A lawyer for the Woodland Terrace Association is in
discussions with Campus Inn's lawyer and will represent
the association at the ZBA meeting.
In contrast to Larson's complaints, Patrick Starr of the
Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance lauded the project
for its "adaptive reuse of a historic site." Starr also
commended the site for the restaurant it will bring to
40th street and for its location near a major transit
station.
Dan DeRitis, a local landlord who owns 13 properties on
the block of the hotel site, including four that would
fall under the hotel's shadow during certain seasons,
said he approves of the project because he thinks the
mansion's restoration and the increased foot traffic on
the block would be beneficial.
Although DeRitis acknowledged that there would be
temporary hardships for renters on the block, many of
whom are students, he said he thinks they are worth the
potential gains.
"The short-term loss is the long-term gain for the whole
block and the whole neighborhood," he said.
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