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team sports to schools that didn’t have them,” Bowman emphasized, adding the students compete with other city schools.


But for those familiar with the Netter Center’s work, it should come as no surprise that it would make team sports available to un- derfunded schools. “We’ve been running these university-assisted schools for decades,” said Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Director of the Netter Center. “And ath- letics and sports are a large part of a holistic education. It’s crucial for young people. It helps them develop and it provides them with energy. It’s a great way,” Harkavy continued, “to learn skills and self-confidence. In fact, they’re also able to connect to first-rate scholar athletes at the University of Pennsyl- vania. This,” Harkavy em- phasized, “overall approach is wonderful for everybody. First of all, it helps the [West Philadelphia] students […] It helps [Penn students] develop their civic skills. It


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helps them share their skill, which allows them to hone their skills as well.” Penn student athletes work with West Philadel- phia schools on a “volunteer basis,” explained Chuck Leitner chair of the Board of Overseers for DRIA and a founding donor to Young Quakers. “Coaches offer it to the entire team. It’s not required,” Leitner ex- plained. “But coaches stress that it’s a really good thing and ‘by the way, we support this.’ So,” Leitner continued, “we accommodate how to schedule the volunteer work with the students so it makes it hard not do it.” At the same time, “if for whatever reason, you’re not ready or you’re a freshman and can’t do it, you’re not penalized.”


In addition to the athletic component, the program also includes “academic mentoring to young peo- ple,” Bowman explained of the ultimate goal of gearing West Philadelphia students for college. Moreover, “we’re also working with students on health, fitness and nutrition education.” The program’s positive effect speaks volumes to


3737 CHESTNUT continued from page 1


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This is about urban framework,” McFadden continued, “In the spring and summer, there will be flowers, tables and chairs in the courtyard. We didn’t just want to throw down a building. We really wanted to create a sense of place and community.”


When it came to leasing and planning 3737 Chestnut Street’s amenities, the Rad- nor Property Group hired the Bozzuto Management Company. Bozzuto, McFad- den explained, helped them determine the retail mix up front, the building’s ameni- ties and its below-ground parking garage.


“Part of parking is code driven and part of it is need driven,” McFadden explained with regard to the fact that its millennial demographic of graduate students and young profes- sionals “don’t drive very much. And its close to public transit,” McFadden noted, explaining “there’s locked bike storage in the basement for 147 bicycles.” The building’s ground


floor retail hasn’t been determined yet, McFad- den continued, adding that there’s a great possibility for a restaurant. “We would love to have one and I think


Huey School Principal John Spencer.


“Our partnership with the Netter Center has been transformative for our students,” Spencer said, explaining, “because even though our school is at 52nd and Pine streets, many of our students have no idea what’s less than a mile away, so having the Penn students come to the school, it’s very rewarding.” For Spencer, the same thing can be said for Huey students traveling to Penn. “We don’t have a field.


We have nothing,” Spencer said, explaining that’s it’s very fulfilling for Huey stu- dents to travel to Franklin Field at such a young age.” And Spencer has had first hand insight into how the program benefits his students’ self-confidence and work ethic. “Because if you’re not doing well academically—then you’re not participating,” Spencer stressed. The YQCA has plans to incorporate more sports to its program in the future. For more information on the YQCA: 215-898-5351 or visit www.nettercenter. upenn.edu.


so would the restaurant. It will have 400 people living above it.” With its particular target audience, Bozzuto Manage- ment also proved instru- mental in designing the building’s amenities. And 3737’s second level, which McFadden refers to as “the fun floor,” is jammed packed with such amenities. Retail will occupy part of the second floor. The other remainder will go towards a gym, a yoga room, as well as a clubroom area complete with a fireplace, conference center equipped with Wi- Fi and cable. In addition, the fun floor will include a library lounge, an outdoor terrace, and a space for bil- liards, tabletop shuffleboard and a TV nook.


“Sometimes people want to leave their apartment without leaving the build- ing,” McFadden said of the fun floor’s attributes. People looking to host parties can rent rooms on the fun floor for parties. “There’s even a small kitchen for catered parties,” McFadden added. A glass wall also separates


3737 from the Philadelphia Episcopal Church on 38th Street. “This plays homage to the church,” McFad- den said, explaining that BLT Architects came up with idea as a way to “bal- ance 3737 and the historic structure.” In addition, the church’s community center will be located in the space


between the glass wall and the church. From there, McFadden took this reporter for a tour of the complete, one-bed- room, “demo” apartment. When complete, 3737 will offer a mix of one-bedrooms, one-bedrooms with dens and two-bedroom apart- ments. Notably, 3737 allows pets.


“This is the typical one-


bedroom apartment,” Mc- Fadden said, highlighting its stainless steel kitchen appliances, granite counter- tops, luxury wood floors, full-size washer and dryer. “Each apartment has a walk-in closet,” McFadden explained, stressing the cabinets and storage space found in each apartment. As for light and views, the demo apartment came com- plete with a floor to ceiling window in both the living room and bedroom. After checking out the demo apartment, the only place to go was up. And the roof deck-- fully designed and landscaped— provides unobstructed views of the city skyline. Comfortable furniture, gas cooking grills, a fire pit, and Wi-Fi, complete this penthouse terrace for all the residents of 3737 Chestnut to enjoy. "We've considered how our common areas can cre- ate a greater opportunity for connection and social inter- action, which is something so many people want today." Yeager said. Other features of 3737 include a 24/7 doorman as well as a valet and concierge service available for pack- age delivery, dry cleaning or groceries. The project is on-schedule, and a sample apartment has opened. With RPG›s completion of concrete now achieved, the next mile- stone will be completion of the skin of the building, its "window wall," in March. Move-in date for the first residents is August 1, 2015. Leasing informa- tion is available at www.3737chestnut.com/, via phone by calling 888- 481-6563, or via email: 3737chestnut@buzzuto.com.


continued from page 2 ST. PETER'S


Fortunately, the engineers also discovered that the church is framed by a stable steel structure. “The stones surround the steel struc- ture,” Laren said, explain- ing, “and it might look like if the stones are loose, then the whole structure will come down. But that’s not true. It’s a strong structure.” During those two weeks,


Wunsch also contacted for- mer Mayor Wilson Goode, who then chaired Partners for Sacred Places, Laren explained. After hiring the engineers and contacting Dr. Goode, “the skies suddenly cleared for us,” Laren said. “And L&I was able to live with the building.” Since then, Laren has


poured capital into restor- ing the building, which includes—but is not limited to--repairing the roof, fixing water damage and dealing with carpenter ants and ter- mite infestations. “Holes in the steeple’s roof will soon be repaired,” Laren said. As for the site’s future use, Laren has to wait for the demolition order to be removed—which should happen within the week— and apply for zoning. Currently, Laren plans to use forty percent of the site for two private schools. The Children’s Community School, now located in the Calvary Church’s basement, plans to move to the church due to increases in its enroll- ment. Saint Peter’s “had a school in the church, so we don’t need a full variance to get the schools back, we need to apply for a special exception,” Laren said. The remaining sixty per- cent will be used as either commercial or residential or a combination of both. Ideally, Laren would like


the remaining space to go to one large commercial entity. “The problem is— there aren’t a lot of large commercial [entities] look- ing for uses on that corner. There might be interest in a coffee shop,” Laren said, explaining, “We’re thinking it might be a good spot for market rate residences. It’s close to the trolley.” Thus far, restoring the


church has proved challeng- ing.


“It doesn’t have as much of definable cost,” Laren said, citing restoring an abandoned warehouse as an example. With a ware- house’s box structure, “you can factor in the cost of ren- ovation by the square foot and compare how much you’ll make and determine if you can make a profit. But if you buy a church, you don’t know how much the restoration will cost. It would have been hard- er for me to do this,” Laren continued, “if I were just starting out and didn’t have the capital to take the early risk and fix it up.” But for Laren, the risk is worth it.


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