1880 John F Kennedy Blvd

Where 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd is

Its block in Center City Philadelphia, drawn from Philadelphia's own building outlines and street centerlines.

The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm

38 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.

The typical floor has 540 ft of exterior wall, and across 19 residential floors the building carries 10,252 ft of it in total, divided among the 272 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.59: a squarish plan, with enough perimeter for a conventional double-loaded corridor. How window line and plate shape are measured.

At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 14.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd scores 92 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 100, Scale 100, Finance 47 — each out of 100, then weighted.

Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 47 out of 100: remaining gap is 32% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.

Built in 1985

Philadelphia records this building as going up in 1985, which puts it in the late-modern stock.

As a rule, typically the hardest to convert: the deepest plates of any era, large central cores, and floor-to-floor heights tight enough that running residential drainage under a ceiling can be the thing that ends a project. That is the era’s general tendency rather than a finding about this building — the model reads an outline and a height, and can see nothing inside — but it is the first thing an architect would want to know, and it colours how much confidence the 99% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$360 per square foot all-in across 259,202 sq ft of converted floor, or $93.3M in total — about $343K for each of the 272 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 3,662 sq ft of windowless core, which has to be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered like the rest of the building and then earns nothing. Against it the model sets a completed value of $197K a home, which for 272 homes is $53.5M.

What would have to be true

A $39.8M gap before any grant, $29.8M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 36% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $39.8M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 272 homes finishing at $343K rather than the $197K the model assumes — 74% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $206 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $306K a home. That is still above the $197K assumed, leaving $29.8M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Center City Philadelphia

1880 John F Kennedy Blvd ranks 7th of the 100 buildings screened here, against a median score of 67.

Its floor plate is better lit than 82% of them, and shallower than 81% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 41st largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 100 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.

Within the CMX5 zone

7th of 63 zoned CMX5 — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.

63 of the screened buildings are zoned CMX5. 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd ranks 7th of them against a median score of 67. 28 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 57 ft from a facade against this building’s 38 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 30,185 homes. The group’s top scorer is 112 N Broad St, at 93.

Its nearest match in size: 1800 John F Kennedy Blvd

The screened building closest to 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd in converted floor area is 1800 John F Kennedy Blvd: 265,987 sq ft over 20 stories, against 259,202 sq ft over 20 here.

The two land within a few points of each other — 92 here, 92 there — so at this size the screen reads them as much the same prospect. On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 200 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd $10.0M, on the assumption it qualifies. Whether it does, no published dataset can say.

That figure assumes the building meets the Act’s vacant-and-abandoned test, which turns on code-enforcement and receivership records no city publishes.

It does not sit in a 2018 designated Opportunity Zone, so it would not draw that Section 201 priority.

Other buildings screened near 1880 John F Kennedy Blvd

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 160 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 1835 Market St
  29 stories · 63% daylit · 565 estimated homes · scores 36/100 (Marginal)
  about 160 ft away
• 1800 John F Kennedy Blvd
  20 stories · 98% daylit · 278 estimated homes · scores 92/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 210 ft away
• 1801 Market St
  27 stories · 66% daylit · 527 estimated homes · scores 40/100 (Marginal)
  about 250 ft away
• 1901 Market St
  45 stories · 70% daylit · 1,009 estimated homes · scores 35/100 (Marginal)
  about 290 ft away