June 29–July 6, 2000

hall monitor

Park for Art

Earlier this month, the Avenue of the Arts, Inc. released a "transportation management plan" predicting the need for 1,000 new parking spaces near the Regional Performing Arts Center (RPAC) by its scheduled opening in December 2001.

Conveniently enough, parking tycoon Joseph Zuritsky is proposing to build a nine-story garage at the corner of 15th and Spruce, adjacent to the RPAC. It would house 660 cars, as well as retail stores and restaurants on the ground level. His goal is to break ground by the end of the year, but has yet to apply for the needed zoning variances.

Zuritsky is president of Parkway Corp., which already operates 55 garages and lots throughout Center City. Zuritsky already runs a surface parking lot at 15th and Spruce where the proposed garage would be built.

He plans to seek multimillion dollar tax breaks from the city, through tax increment financing (TIF). This tax incentive allows developers to build major capital projects without having to pay city taxes for a certain number of years.

"It is cost-prohibitive to build a garage in Center City without assistance," says Howard Trachtman, vice president of Parkway Corp. "The returns just don’t warrant it."

It is up to Councilman Darrell Clarke, who represents the district encompassing 15th and Spruce Streets, to introduce a TIF package for Parkway. Trachtman says the company has had "preliminary discussions" with Clarke.

Zuritsky was granted nearly $17 million in tax write-offs for a garage he is building on 12th Street to join the Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market.

No tenants have been secured for the ground-level retail spaces at 15th and Spruce, Trachtman says. "It is too soon."

Neighborhood residents are pushing for a supermarket and, because of the proximity to the RPAC, a restaurant would make sense, sources say.

An anti-parking garage sentiment has permeated Center City over the past year.

During the winter, preservationists screamed in opposition when developer Wayne Spilove tore down several historical buildings to make room for a parking garage at 16th and Sansom Streets.

Rittenhouse Square residents are resisting construction of a seven-story garage proposed by the Philadelphia Parking Authority. The $26 million project would span the 1900 blocks of Walnut and Sansom Streets.

Trachtman says he is not concerned that the negative publicity surrounding these projects would impede a garage from going up near the RPAC.

"Each project stands on its own merit," he says, adding that the objections to those garages are not applicable to 15th and Spruce.

For instance, concerns over heavy traffic are not likely to be much of an issue. The proposed facility would have access from three streets — 15th, Spruce and Latimer.

"The RPAC is coming and we know what that means," Trachtman says, referring to an increase in the number of cars. "I don’t think it makes a difference whether a new garage is built or not."

Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the proposed nine-story garage is that Zuritsky plans to paint it blue, the "flagship color" of Parkway Corp.

—Gwen Shaffer