To The Swarthmorean,
I would like to give my input on the proposed development of new condominiums on Park Avenue. As background, I grew up in Swarthmore and moved back last year. I am also a real estate developer who has built many large projects globally and who is an investor in local real estate.
It is important that we engage positively with developers so we can improve the built environment in ways that benefit Swarthmore. Furthermore, since Swarthmore benefits from the R3, it is incumbent upon us to allow densification and avoid the “not in my backyard” mentality. Densification around public transport is key to avoiding further suburban sprawl and finding greener ways to live.
However, we also need to think deeply about what makes Swarthmore such a great place and how the borough can preserve that historical value. Towns that have created exceptional historical placemaking have architectural protections in code and clear review processes to make sure that new designs add to the public good – not leach off of the public good and hurt the town center.
The concern I have today is that the condominium development is moving forward with incomplete development ideas that are problematic in terms of scale and involve destruction of historical buildings. As a developer, I have always had to take into account the municipality and its rules and regulations. Every project has a large budget to adjust design to meet municipality requirements including those from design teams, police and fire departments. This condominium project is seeking approval of its structure before even doing a basic design review process.
To highlight the absurdity of this, I can point to my work in Erbil, Iraq. Iraq was coming out of one war and on the verge of a new one, but as a developer I still had to get municipality approval and put together the appropriate massing, traffic and other required plans. I can’t imagine that a town like Swarthmore, founded more than 150 years ago, would not be doing the basics that a developing city beset by war was able to do.
Swarthmore downtown is an amazing public good that needs to be protected. We should find ways to allow densification– and I support having a dense project at the site. However, I do not support an accelerated design-review process that puts at risk the character of Swarthmore. We would be destroying the value of our town center so that a developer can get a return from off-plan sales. The developer will be gone with his profits once the condos are sold, but we will have the building there for years to come. Swarthmore is an extremely desirable place to live and when densification is allowed, real value can be created. Enough value is created that a developer should be able to slow down his design process and make some changes that protect the character of Swarthmore while still making a good return on investment.
Sam Sidiqi
Swarthmore
