The benefits of beer gardens in Philadelphia
“We want to prove that the private sector can invest in neighborhoods and be successful. We want to revitalize that corridor back to a thriving corridor like it once was.”
From Metro Philadelphia:
Announcement of the Point Breeze Pop Up garnered mixed reaction, though Longacre said overall the neighborhood responded positively: “We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of positive responses and eight protesters.”
Of those eight, Longacre remarked that the most prominent protest came from parents who don’t want their children to witness alcohol consumption in the neighborhood. But, says Longacre, “the reality it is that we cleaned up 30 magnum gun shells, condoms, syringes, you name it, from that lot.”
Other uses planned for the space include a farmer’s market, a CSA drop-off site and a flea market. “We try to bring amenity-based, service-oriented business that neighborhoods actually want. We do it through strategic private sector investment — nothing subsidized, all out of our own pocket,” Longacre says. “We want to prove that the private sector can invest in neighborhoods and be successful. We want to revitalize that corridor back to a thriving corridor like it once was.”
Read the complete article HERE.
Miss Rachel’s Pantry moving to larger spot
The space, a former storage warehouse for a candy vending company, is being outfitted with a full kitchen.
From Philly.com:
Miss Rachel’s Pantry is moving on up.
Almost exactly three years after opening the doors to her petite vegan kitchen on West Passyunk, Rachel Klein is relocating within South Philadelphia, to 1938 S. Chadwick St., less than three blocks away.
Set behind a baby-blue facade and glass-paned garage door, the location – just off 17th and McKean Streets – will provide an upgraded environment (and larger kitchen) for her Saturday night farmhouse-table dinners, plus allow her to set up a small retail market at front. It also will allow her to expand her off-premises catering.
The space, a former storage warehouse for a candy vending company, is being outfitted with a full kitchen. When she reopens (late June is the target), Klein will resume her weekly communal dinners – six animal-free courses for $60, including tip – beneath a crystal chandelier at a reclaimed wood table surrounded by elegant, antiqued-bronze seats. At the market, grab-and-go selections will include sweet and savory pastries (those in search of vegan sticky buns are in luck), house-made cheeses (truffle-black pepper cultured cashew, tofu feta), soups, salads and spreads.
Most items will be well under $10. Tea and coffee will also be sold (each cup will come with an egg-free meringue), but Klein describes the drinks as an enhancement, not her focus: “We don’t want to be a coffee shop.” The market will be open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
As her business grew, Klein had been considering a move to East Passyunk, but high rents and complicated lease agreements had her rethinking.
She credits developer John Longacre – who owns the nearby South Philadelphia Tap Room and Point Breeze’s American Sardine Bar – with suggesting the Pantry’s new home.
While the neighborhood – known as Newbold – is still mostly residential, it has potential; at least two new (as yet unnamed) food and drink projects are slated to open there soon.
Read the entire article HERE.
reNewbold Proves You Can’t Have Too Much Of A Good Thing
Phase II of reNewbold, the cluster of LEED Platinum-certified townhomes on the former home of the Francis M. Drexel School, is now nearing completion. Aptly-named reNewbold II, the second phase of the wildly successful development in South Philadelphia added seven new row homes, two new condos, and one retail space at 16th and Moore.
LPMG Companies (who helped bring South Philly Taproom and Ultimo Coffee to fruition) helped get this project off the ground. The initial phase focused on the development of six units along Bancroft Street, each of which is now sold.
Phase II of the first LEED Platinum-certified development in South Philly broke ground in September 2014, after Phase I was completed and sold out. Row homes are three stories, each with three bedrooms, two baths, and finished basements. Condos are located above the retail space on the second and third floors. Priced from the mid $200s (Johnny McDonald of Onion Flats is serving as realtor to the project), reNewbold homes feature on-site parking, green roof decks with 360-degree city views, and private terraces off the master bedrooms. The homes are built with energy efficient appliances, lighting, HVAC, and water heater, low VOC materials, a rainwater harvesting system, and triple pane insulated windows to reduce utility costs by up to 60 percent. In fact, the monthly cost of utilities is expected to come in around $90.
Continue reading at Philly.Curbed.com
Point Breeze Pop-Up to open with Wheat Beer Festival
“Throughout the summer you can expect to see plenty of beer and different food trucks at the Point Breeze garden.”
From PassyunkPost.com:
Just after telling you about the PHS pop-up garden coming to 9th and Wharton this summer, we have news about another pop-up beer garden coming to South Philly.
John Longacre, owner of American Sardine Bar and South Philadelphia Taproom, is transforming an empty lot at Point Breeze Avenue and Tasker Street to create a beer garden.
Continue reading here.
Thrillist Names SPTR as Best Tap Room in Philly
Thrillist just released it’s list of the 12 Best Tap Rooms in Philly at the South Philadelphia Tap Room tops the list.
From Thrillist.com:
“This spacious tap room offers a selection of craft beers for dabblers (Allagash White) and pros (Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock) alike. Its Natural Wine and Funky Beer during Wine Week was not to be missed, with vino paired with beers like Russian River Supplication and Nodding Head Berliner Weisse. Happy hour runs Monday-Friday with half-off local drafts and appetizers. ”
Follow the South Philadelphia Tap Room on Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.
Jim Kenney: Making Education a Priority in Philadelphia
Jim Kenney is making education a priority in Philadelphia.
Jim believes we can’t tackle the challenges of poverty and unemployment without making a real investment in education. Fair funding for our schools is a big part of Jim’s plan—but the need for change doesn’t end there. He’ll make sure every child in Philadelphia has access to Pre-K, restore school libraries, and foster collaboration and cooperation between school officials and a Kenney administration.
Click here to read the full education plan, then use this page to share it with your friends. Together we can get the word out that Kenney is the best candidate to give Philadelphia kids a shot at success.
Betting on Philly’s next housing boom
“If you can find a neighborhood that maintains a decent amount of physical assets but is suffering from disinvestment, there’s probably a pretty good likelihood that you can fix it by virtue of changing maybe just the thought process, the identity, putting in a couple new businesses, doing some residential infill. And then it’ll happen.”
From Philly.com:
Across the city, in Point Breeze, John Longacre, of Longacre Property Management Group, is taking advantage of a similar set of geographic characteristics for his latest venture. Longacre has his sights set on the underdeveloped southwestern edge of the neighborhood for his next project, a mixed-use development of residences and commercial spaces he plans to build on a formidable chunk of vacant land along Point Breeze Avenue between Tasker and Moore streets.
“It’s real easy,” said Longacre, whose claims to fame include the South Philadelphia Tap Room and American Sardine Bar – and the neighborhood that has cropped up around them during the past several years. “In order for a neighborhood to work, it has to have physical assets. We’re not just going to go into the middle of nowhere and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to build this really cool thing here and it’s going to work.’ Because that won’t happen.”
Longacre said he’s taking a gamble on the far edge of Point Breeze because it needs just a few more amenities to take off.
“If you can find a neighborhood that maintains a decent amount of physical assets but is suffering from disinvestment, there’s probably a pretty good likelihood that you can fix it by virtue of changing maybe just the thought process, the identity, putting in a couple new businesses, doing some residential infill,” he said. “And then it’ll happen.”
Read the entire article HERE.
Could young professionals save Atlantic City?
“If I’m a 26-year-old kid living in Egg Harbor Township, I think I would rather be close to an urban environment, as opposed to living in Hamilton.” – John Longacre, president of LPMG Properties
From TheRealDeal.com:
Developers and city leaders are hoping to save Atlantic City by attracting millennials with new residential development.
The 2010 census found that a mere 13.6 percent of the city’s population was between ages 25 and 34, according to Press of Atlantic City. By attracting more young professionals, developers hope to spur an economic and housing boom in the area and grow the tax base.
John Longacre, president of Philadelphia-based LPMG Properties, believes Atlantic City can bring in young workers through strategic investments.
“If I’m a 26-year-old kid living in Egg Harbor Township, I think I would rather be close to an urban environment, as opposed to living in Hamilton,” Longacre, who plans to transform the Morris Guards Armory on New York Avenue in 32 apartments, said.
LPMG is working to finalize the purchase of the Morris Guards Armory on New York Avenue. Longacre said he wants to put 32 rehabbed apartments into the building, along with new first-floor businesses.
Kenyatta Johnson’s Campaign Kickoff Event
LPMG Companies would like to invite you to Councilman Kenyatta Johnson’s campaign kick-off event this Saturday, January 24 at 12:00 pm at People Employing People at Broad and Federal.
Doors open at 11:00 am.
Forum to help imagine life for Atlantic City beyond casinos
Can Atlantic City be a real place, a city with a life separate from its casino identity?
Philadelphia developer John Longacre (American Sardine Bar, South Philadelphia Taproom, reNewbold) thinks so. “Every time a casino closes, I get goose bumps,” he said.
That’s because Longacre – along with a handful of developers who are to gather at a forum at noon Wednesday on new housing opportunities in Atlantic City – sees the epic contraction of the casino market as the key to the city’s reinvented future.
He believes “a different population” – millennials, boomers, anyone who likes cities, not to mention a city with a beach – will want to live in the apartments he is building out of the historic Morris Guards Armory on New York Avenue in the center of town.
Longacre’s LPMG Properties expects to close on the property this week and plans to sink a few million dollars into creating from 29 to 35 rental units priced between $900 and $1,200, with his coveted style of commercial use on the ground floor. “We’re going to bring our family of brands to Atlantic City,” Longacre said.
That’s the kind of talk that gives city officials goose bumps.