James Yoakum

Philadelphia's zoning code is ridiculous. It's a patchwork accumulation of hundreds of years worth of laws piled on top of each other and it's sorely in need of a massive overhaul to make it more uniform and comprehensible to the average property owner, investor, or developer. Not to mention that it's out of touch with the demands of modern Philadelphians who often prefer more mixed-use neighborhoods with a diversity of architectural styles, property uses, and densities.

That said, given that it's not changing anytime soon it's very important to have some understanding of the basics of Philly's arcane zoning rules. The best resource I've found for this so far is http://www.phillyzoning.com. It explains things in plain English, and since it's actually run by a zoning attorney it is always quick to tell you when it might be time to call in a legal expert. Philadelphia zoning is one of the few arenas in which it's almost always worth the cost to engage the services of an attorney if there's any uncertainty whatsoever.

Just wanted to bring this great article from today's Daily News to your attention - lots of great information about various developments going on in North Philadelphia. There's also an article in today's Inquirer more specifically about Temple's efforts to recenter its campus along North Broad Street. It will certainly be exciting to observe and take part in the changes taking place in North Philadelphia over the coming years.

West Philadelphia's Parkside neighborhood is blessed with some of the most beautiful architecture in the entire city, an unbeatable location adjacent to Fairmount Park, and easy transit access to the Center City and University City job markets. Most of the beautiful old buildings along Parkside Ave. date back to the 1876 Centennial Exposition that was held in Fairmount Park and reflect the grandeur and promise of Philadelphia at that time.

In more recent times Parkside has had a rough time, with much of the neighborhood succumbing to abandonment, deferred maintenance, and crime. However a bit of information from this article about the Please Touch Museum, which recently moved to Memorial Hall just off Parkside Ave., gives some reason for hope that the neighborhood may be able to stage a comeback. The article states that in less than a year of operation, 660,000 people have visited the Please Touch Museum. This is great for the museum itself - more than triple the number of visitors it had during its last year at its old location - but may be even better for the Parkside neighborhood as a whole. With this many people coming through the area, investment dollars can't be far behind. The city's attempt to brand the area as the Centennial District and the arrival of the new Lowe's and Shoprite-anchored shopping center at 52nd & Lancaster should also help to create a true sense of place in a neighborhood that's just waiting for a catalyst to kick-start its revival towards its former glory.

This article from Globest.com brings news from Florida that local municipalities are finding the bargains in the South Florida commercial real estate market too good to pass up. The town of Sunny Isles Beach (which I visited in May and is absolutely lovely even in the midst of a cratering condo market) recently paid $9.4MM for two commercial properties that it plans to tear down to make way for a new park.

The combination of high demand for more public, open space in South Florida and distressed real estate owners willing to take lowball prices for their properties has allowed several of these transactions to go through in the Miami area. I've also heard talk of similar things happening in California - another area where real estate prices and speculative building soared and then collapsed over the past decade. It's too early to tell whether similar situations will become feasible in less-distressed markets, such as Philadelphia. It's also questionable whether Philadelphia's city budget would allow for the purchase of these types of properties, but there is a lot of federal stimulus money coming to town that will have to be put to some use since its guidelines don't allow it to be added into the city's general fund.

As a property owner or investor, it's good to keep in mind that for the right properties, there's often some price at which a local (or even state or national) government entity wouldn't mind being the owner. Not a bad buyer-of last resort when it works.

After a recent tragedy in which two people fell from a Center City fire-escape the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) is feeling pressure to prevent the same thing from happening again. They announced today that they will be conducting spot-checks on multifamily buildings to look for major code violations and safety hazards. This should be a great incentive for multifamily property owners to take better care of their properties and hopefully will make Philadelphia's tenants safer and happier.

Given the huge number of dilapidated properties in Philadelphia, I think the ideal solution would be for L&I to conduct regular, thorough property inspections of all multifamily properties in the city and strictly enforce safety codes. While this would obviously be a very expensive endeavor for both L&I and property owners, it could pay for itself if L&I sold 'property condition reports' to potential tenants or charged landlords for an 'L&I Seal of Approval' that would allow them to charge a rent premium.