Carl Dranoff Under NIMBY Fire, aka Parking Parking Parking

Rendering of One Riverside Park via Dranoff Group.

Developer Carl Dranoff has two projects that are being challenged by nearby residents. The first challenge is to One Riverside, a 21-story tower at 25th and Locust designed by architect Cecil Baker, which has been embattled from the start. From PlanPhilly:

Since its proposal, One Riverside has generated protest and petitions from near-neighbors, as well as questions from some about whether the property should be developed at all.

The latest obstacle is more technical: an appeal of Dranoff’s conditional zoning permit, which I could explain but unsurprisingly involves parking, like every NIMBY battle, and I just refuse to go there. At any rate, it sounds like the appeal, which will be heard by the Zoning Board on Oct. 23rd, isn’t worrying Dranoff much.

Dranoff’s attorney, Peter Kelsen, said he is glad that the controversy over the project has at least narrowed…Kelsen said that a discussion about the legitimacy of the FAR bonus is preferable to the more existential question of whether a building should be there at all.

The other challenge regards One Ardmore Place, which has inspired so much ire, THERE’S A MOVIE ABOUT IT. No point in going on and on myself when you can watch the movie, which is called The Parking Lot:

The Parking Lot from Joel Tomar Levin on Vimeo.