Point Breeze Rebel

[carloss]

Wow...did you find this online or transcribe the whole thing from a flier?

I assume the latter because it's remarkably free of spelling and punctuation errors.

[ArcticSplash]

OK. Here's my redux:

And Now: A Word About Gentrification... - Philadelinquency


I hope this is the last time I have to crank out this much text on this topic.

[Lolly]

OK. Here's my redux:

And Now: A Word About Gentrification... - Philadelinquency


I hope this is the last time I have to crank out this much text on this topic.

Yeah, a bit wordy. But overall, a good piece that speaks the truth.

Previously I held the belief that over-the-top concessions and ass-kissing were the necessary costs of doing business within our goofy Philadelphia zoning system, but considering all the positive attention your and Ori's tactics have garnered lately...

Keep shakin' things up, guys.

PS Sidecar's on Christian Street.

[thoth]

You are absolutely correct in that OCF Realty has poisoned the political environment for everyone else who is building in point breeze. Unless you are OCF Realty and don't need to make money...most normal builders want to stay under the radar to make a quiet buck.

Okay just for the record, I didn't write that stuff. It was forwarded to me electronically. I'm not sure where it originated, although I could make some educated guesses, and I was also surprised that it was relatively typo-free, given past fliers and internet screeds.

[boognish]

You are absolutely correct in that OCF Realty has poisoned the political environment for everyone else who is building in point breeze. Unless you are OCF Realty and don't need to make money...most normal builders want to stay under the radar to make a quiet buck.

Who is "you"?

Unlike your supposed bovine developers who are happy to get led around by rings through their noses in order to get a little hay from city gov't, Ori is standing up and calling out the hypocrisy. I don't care if he becomes a billionaire through all of this. Our gov't is dysfunctional at best all while squandering and redistributing our tax dollars. It's about time someone stood up and drew attention to these poverty pimps.

[ArcticSplash]

Okay just for the record, I didn't write that stuff. It was forwarded to me electronically. I'm not sure where it originated, although I could make some educated guesses, and I was also surprised that it was relatively typo-free, given past fliers and internet screeds.

It doesn't matter who wrote it, but yes it really is a CCPB person but it's not the ones heavily chronicled on here.

She's talking out her butthole when she writes that Ori's never lived in the neighborhood. It almost barely gets into the "Lifer Argument," which is a unique Philadelphia debating tactic where you dismiss a person on the basis of not being born here; ergo all matters, no matter how banal, are void and illogical because you didn't bust out your mom's meatloaf within the City limits.

Here, she accuses Ori of never living in PB. He did. For years. He has plans to move back in after he builds his own home there. And really... if she's so angry that Ori isn't "from" PB, then she should look to her own councilman when he was running for office and living in West Philadelphia. Honestly.



We all know the real reason behind all of CCPB's kicking and screaming. I wrote that long epic on my site this morning b/c I'm going to just link to it from now on.

[John Goodman]

You are absolutely correct in that OCF Realty has poisoned the political environment for everyone else who is building in point breeze. Unless you are OCF Realty and don't need to make money...most normal builders want to stay under the radar to make a quiet buck.

What does this mean?

[palvar]

most normal builders want to stay under the radar to make a quiet buck.

Yes, it would be great for the city if those builders just stayed out in Bucks County where they belong.

[ofeibush]

Most, if not all builders use me as cover in Point Breeze. They quietly support my efforts and do rush to my aid during challenging times like this. They have no interest in being the public voice of reason, but understand what I do and why I do it.

The idea that I have somehow hurt the efforts of other builders is simply wrong. I go through zoning and permitting on behalf of many builders....they are not interested in even looking at real estate unless it is either by right or approved.

[shannons]

It means that there are two types of investment models at play here. Individual builders make money off building houses whereas land speculators might build or start unprofitable enterprises/websites/political campaigns just to promote their land inventory/personal ego/other businesses.

There is no doubt the hostile political environment caused prices to drop throughout the entire neighborhood after the last election and it has recovered since. The weird thing is that its totally unnecessary because the neighborhood would gentrify anyway based on the market fundamentals. This kind of thing forces pragmatic business people to take sides or risk backlash. And it makes poor longtime residents nervous and susceptible to fear mongering. And no builder enjoys nosy bloggers getting up in their business and posting it for the world to see.

This isn't to say that OCF realty hasn't done some good things but it certainly isn't true that he hasn't hurt the business environment. What was a simmering resentment among a few activists is now an all out war that makes everybody take sides.

What does this mean?

[ArcticSplash]

It means that there are two types of investment models at play here. Individual builders make money off building houses whereas land speculators might build or start unprofitable enterprises/websites/political campaigns just to promote their land inventory/personal ego/other businesses.

Ugh, OCF also builds. So do a half-dozen others who are also in PB.

There is no doubt the hostile political environment caused prices to drop throughout the entire neighborhood after the last election and it has recovered since. The weird thing is that its totally unnecessary because the neighborhood would gentrify anyway based on the market fundamentals.

Wow PB has its own economist. Yay!

This kind of thing forces pragmatic business people to take sides or risk backlash. And it makes poor longtime residents nervous and susceptible to fear mongering.

They've been manipulated prior to anyone building any new houses in Point Breeze. What's different now is that there's a cacophony of voices there; demographics have gotten more racially diluted (and not just white, it's more Asian now as well). You're also treating this population as if it's one homogenous mass of opinion. It isn't.

And it's not like Point Breeze's current state is new, either. It's a repeat of SWCC from 8 to 15 years ago.

And no builder enjoys nosy bloggers getting up in their business and posting it for the world to see.

Tough sh*t.

This isn't to say that OCF realty hasn't done some good things but it certainly isn't true that he hasn't hurt the business environment. What was a simmering resentment among a few activists is now an all out war that makes everybody take sides.

Well, that's what it's gonna take to break a broken cycle of failed municipal governance and get some changes made. Everyone knows that. PLENTY of people on City Council know that.

The way the City behaves around any issue revolving around property is very serious and it has a fundamental impact on ALL issues of life here in the City, from taxes, to crime, to schools, to the individual decisions of people moving to the City or calling a realtor and leaving. It's also the only source of wealth the City government has left and it misappropriates its dispensation with an alarming regularity.

We, the taxpayers, fund this miasma, and we certainly have a right to demand that the City reform its attitude towards property. And the City has no more options left, really, because the property the City holds is its sole remaining source of wealth it has left--and how it treats it will ultimately decide the fate of the City. That's why AVI is important, reforming land dispensation (Land Bank) is equally important, how it allots funding to SDP, tax collection is massively important if the City ever hopes of dropping down the Wage Tax to encourage more people to work in the city and also live here, and property circulation is the foundation of blight removal and is a key component of dealing with crime.

This crap affects you from the second you lock the door to your house and walk outside, until you return home at the end of the day. Property matters, and it's intrinsic to fixing this City.



MOST of us realize that. So I don't think anybody takes this lightly. Certainly not I.

[ofeibush]

All the developers in PB are a tight nit bunch. You are confusing developers with builders. Developers hire builders to build homes. Builders do not have the capital to buy land and put a home on it. Some do wear both hats but they are few and far between. Very few of us are land speculators....I am certainly not. I only own land I intend to build in next few months.

Why is it impossible for people to believe someone can do something for someone else? I do not reinvest in ammenities in PB to "increase my land value." I want to be a part of the community I am in and reinvesting is the right thing to do.

Housing does not fluctuate on any given day based on the politics of an area. When housing stock is plentiful, prices go down. When housing stock is limited due to the City controlling supply, prices go up (way up). Prices went down after the last election because for the first time in many years vacant lots were permitted to go to Sheriff Sale with little challenge. That stopped after KJ got into his office in February. Prices are now up 15-20% north of Wharton (I'll post 50 data points to prove this if needed).

The hostile political environment was caused by a few people (not just me) saying **** this corruption. When my parents bought 1131 and 1133 s. Dorrance SPHINC forced me to trade them 2 lots i owned for a letter of support. I said no and the hostility was born then....YEARS ago. As my office has grown and become more sophisticated, my ability to fight the corruption has also grown. Yes, much of that fight requires publicly shaming these criminals....but what would you have me do? Become a criminal too?

And for the record, you should pick sides in this fight! You have someone who is going to war every day to better your community. Rather than standing by his side, you are accepting what a few ladies with an agenda are saying as fact. They are fear mongering and you are saying that's OK. I build a coffee shop, a garden, some homes and get resistance. Rather than saying the resistance and obstructionism is bad, you are saying that the development is what is bad. Did John Longacre have trouble before or after me? Did the guys trying to open up a coffee shop at 18th and Wharton have trouble because of me? Most businesses face this type of resistance and pack up and go home. My friends and I are standing here taking punch after punch from a few powerful angry ladies, a corrupt not-for-profit affordable developer, and an aloof Councilman who prefers business as usual instead of being a leader.

I am willing to partner with any honest player on the other side.....but I will not compromise my integrity or beliefs just to move a project forward. If that means I have to fight than i hope you fight with me and not run away.

Market forces cannot move PB forward alone because the market is not allowed to function normally here. Without this fight Point Breeze will in fact go backwards, not forwards.

[Gladys]

NO ROBINHOOD HERE!

Lets set things straight....

This must be Ori Feibush’s greatest performance. He has really done a number on this community, the media and the City. Lets all calm down and step back for a minute and examine the other side of the story... you know, the one that Ori isn’t telling.

Ori has been fighting the residents of the Point Breeze community for many years. Why? Because he has a “my way or no way attitude”. His version of communicating is not talking to other people, it is talking to himself. In the midst of 3 shootings and gang war fighting, our community and media seems to be more focused and concerned on a vacant lot, rather than 3 very young lives that have been lost.

Now, don’t get me wrong, our neighborhood is not opposed to development, but we are opposed to Ori Feibush because of his arrogant, disrespectful and non-communicative approach when dealing with the neighbors of Point Breeze. And to be honest, stealing a vacant lot is not on the top of our priority list. However, education, crime and violence and unemployment are. Can that make the 6 or 11 PM news? Can folks start blogging about that?

Ori is a RICH DEVELOPER known for shady dealings, screwing his partners, not working with the community, and doing whatever it takes to make a dollar. He lives in a gazillion dollar condo downtown, not in the Point Breeze community. He is a businessman who didn’t like hearing the PRA tell him no because he felt it was going to negatively impact the opening of his coffee shop (which the neighbors of point breeze didn’t want) so, in true Ori fashion, he took it upon himself to take something that wasn’t his, not for the benefit of our community, but for the benefit of HIS OWN POCKETS.

This was a strategic business move and I must say, VERY SMART on his part. Who would want to fight a business owner disguised as someone who genuinely cares about the community, who took it upon himself to clean up a lot and I guess now own it? Sounds like he’s the victim, but do you know who the real victim is? Everyone else, the people who live here and other developers who are following the rules. Ori, part of the 1%, has an “entitlement” attitude and approach towards development in our neighborhood which is why he owns half of Point Breeze already. People are coming to his defense because he wants to have property for free without evening talking to the neighbors about what they want or maybe even getting them involved in the process.

Here’s a thought, why not give the money he supposedly used to build the garden to one of the several neighborhood organizations in Point Breeze and let them develop the area? Oh wait, I know, because they don’t own the property either and he needed to have ownership of the lot in order to prepare for the opening of his new business that never has more than 2 people in it at a time (hence my statement earlier that it’s not what the community wanted).

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, his coffee shop sells coffee to the air and the walls because the people just aren’t there. And, giving funding to a Point Breeze Community Org does not serve Ori’s interest. He doesn’t want to partner, he wants to conquer, take over and force his development plans down everyone’s throat. Ori does what he wants, when he wants and dares anyone to question him or make him suffer any type of consequence.

Is the lot beautiful? Yes? Do I personally like what he did with it? sure. But has anyone used the garden or sat on the benches? I haven’t seen not one person, except Ori himself and camera crews covering this asinine story. Do the people of Point Breeze want lots to be cleaned? Of course but if everyone went around defying the rules and regulations that the City puts in place, we would have total chaos, and developers like Ori who are already rich, would be even richer and in control of all of the land in Point Breeze.

Say I wanted to help help a homeless person - bought the person a new car, a new house and new clothes, wouldn’t I be commended for doing something good for someone else in need? Of course. However, if I STOLE the money from a bank to help the person in need - even if I may have called or asked for a loan or grant from the bank - if I were fed up by their lack of inaction or untimeliness in responding to my request and instead went into the bank and stole the money to help this homeless person, would I be wrong? Hell yes! Why? BECAUSE IT WAS NOT MY MONEY TO TAKE. Ori, in true Ori fashion took something that didn’t belong to him to suit his own needs and now wants people to feel sorry for him because the City is demanding it back.

On Ori’s own website, he posted a letter from the City stating that he could not build on the property but you know what Ori said to himself when he got that letter? First, he probably laughed, then he said, hey, I’m Ori Feibush. I can do what I want, when I want and when he communicated (with himself) about the idea of building a garden, he said, hey I’ll do it anyway and if the city tries to challenge me, I’ll play the victim and run to the media for cover because I’ll make everyone believe that I really care about the community. They won’t figure out that all I care about is MYSELF.

Ori, even though you did something really nice, YOU WERE WRONG. And the fact is, YOU KNOW YOU WERE WRONG. You are acting like a spoiled brat who is throwing a tantrum because you couldn’t get what you wanted, when you wanted it, so, you took it. If you are like this as an adult it scary to think of what you were like as a child!

Let me give you a piece of advice Ori, if you are frustrated about doing development work here in Point Breeze, LEAVE because it’s not like the residents of Point Breeze are overjoyed that are you here. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite. You’ve made it difficult not only for our community but for other developers to come here and build because the community is scared that other developers will take your same arrogant approach which hasn’t worked. Well, on second thought, in some cases, I guess you can say it has because building here in a neighborhood where you do what you want has made you much RICHER.

The beauty of all of this, what really makes this your masterpiece is that YOU REALLY DON’T CARE about our community. In fact, you are playing all of these people, selling this story and making everyone believe you are the victim. Well done! This is your best performance yet.

Oh, and people don’t believe the story about the dead dog on his door step, I learned from several reliable sources (including someone VERY close to him who will forever remain nameless) that he orchestrated the whole thing, once again to claim the victim role. Yes, that was a great performance but this one definitely takes the cake!

I can’t wait for the encore!

Sincerely,

Concerned Point Breeze Resident

I love this ****, always worth a read. Would be great if the majority of people in point breeze like the those who actually live there near the lot, unlike some of CCPB would weigh in. It seems most are just too busy living their lives and enjoying the new scenery to be bothered with such bull****. We all know that in in CCPB minds in order to be a a real member of the code word "community" you can't be any other race than black, or african american or whatever else you want to use to say the same thing. It's the lens through which that group sees everything.

[Gladys]

And really... if she's so angry that Ori isn't "from" PB, then she should look to her own councilman when he was running for office and living in West Philadelphia. Honestly.

I was thinking the same exact thing... but he's a member of her "community". Which doesn't appear to be based on geography.

[JakeL]

There is no doubt the hostile political environment caused prices to drop throughout the entire neighborhood after the last election and it has recovered since.

I'm in the process of buying land in Point Breeze. The current owner lives in NJ and hasn't been to Point Breeze in years. I would be surprised if he, along with other vacant land holders, have even heard of Councilman Johnson, let alone know his political policies. Sure, council has some sway, but in the end, they don't drive the economics of this city. At worst they get in the way, at best they spur on others. I think more people voted in the race for Student Body President at my college than for 2nd Council elections.

[the mule]

OK. Here's my redux:

And Now: A Word About Gentrification... - Philadelinquency


I hope this is the last time I have to crank out this much text on this topic.

From the post:

The allure of Point Breeze is with new construction that is mostly going up in vacant lots. That’s almost all of the development activity that’s going on.

It doesn't impact your argument much but rehabs abound in Point Breeze. They're going on all the time. I can't say if there are more of them than new construction, but new construction gets more attention simply because it's more noticeable. Rehabs often require far less capital so there is a lower barrier to entry and many more people are able to take them on.

[Tartan69]

The hostile political environment was caused by a few people (not just me) saying **** this corruption. When my parents bought 1131 and 1133 s. Dorrance SPHINC forced me to trade them 2 lots i owned for a letter of support. I said no and the hostility was born then....YEARS ago. As my office has grown and become more sophisticated, my ability to fight the corruption has also grown. Yes, much of that fight requires publicly shaming these criminals....but what would you have me do? Become a criminal too?

And for the record, you should pick sides in this fight! You have someone who is going to war every day to better your community. Rather than standing by his side, you are accepting what a few ladies with an agenda are saying as fact. They are fear mongering and you are saying that's OK. I build a coffee shop, a garden, some homes and get resistance. Rather than saying the resistance and obstructionism is bad, you are saying that the development is what is bad. Did John Longacre have trouble before or after me? Did the guys trying to open up a coffee shop at 18th and Wharton have trouble because of me? Most businesses face this type of resistance and pack up and go home. My friends and I are standing here taking punch after punch from a few powerful angry ladies, a corrupt not-for-profit affordable developer, and an aloof Councilman who prefers business as usual instead of being a leader.

I am willing to partner with any honest player on the other side.....but I will not compromise my integrity or beliefs just to move a project forward. If that means I have to fight than i hope you fight with me and not run away.

Market forces cannot move PB forward alone because the market is not allowed to function normally here. Without this fight Point Breeze will in fact go backwards, not forwards.

[MarketStEl]

well, that's what it's gonna take to break a broken cycle of failed municipal governance and get some changes made. Everyone knows that. Plenty of people on city council know that.

The way the city behaves around any issue revolving around property is very serious and it has a fundamental impact on all issues of life here in the city, from taxes, to crime, to schools, to the individual decisions of people moving to the city or calling a realtor and leaving. It's also the only source of wealth the city government has left and it misappropriates its dispensation with an alarming regularity.

We, the taxpayers, fund this miasma, and we certainly have a right to demand that the city reform its attitude towards property. And the city has no more options left, really, because the property the city holds is its sole remaining source of wealth it has left--and how it treats it will ultimately decide the fate of the city. That's why avi is important, reforming land dispensation (land bank) is equally important, how it allots funding to sdp, tax collection is massively important if the city ever hopes of dropping down the wage tax to encourage more people to work in the city and also live here, and property circulation is the foundation of blight removal and is a key component of dealing with crime.

This crap affects you from the second you lock the door to your house and walk outside, until you return home at the end of the day. Property matters, and it's intrinsic to fixing this city.



Most of us realize that. So i don't think anybody takes this lightly. Certainly not i.

poverty!

[Jayfar]

I just spotted a flyer, posted on the door of the Christian Market on Christian St, announcing a "peaceful protest march," Sat 10/13, opposing "the efforts of developers to rename Point Breeze."



Hilarity will ensue.

[bjennerfu]

I just spotted a flyer, posted on the door of the Christian Market on Christian St, announcing a "peaceful protest march," Sat 10/13, opposing "the efforts of developers to rename Point Breeze."



Hilarity will ensue.

I don't blame them at all. I mean seriously it's not like Point Breeze has shootings, crime, blight and anything else to protest march that is even in the ballpark of being important as "renaming" blight breeze, those slimy developers wanting to rename Point Breeze is the biggest concern we the PB citizens are fearful of along with those odd creatures that the developers call 3 story roof decks. oooohhhhhhhhhhhh the horror!!!! lock your doors until the 3 story roof decks move out and the crack dealers move back in!!!!!!!!! I'll be wearing my hoodie! Holla!