Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has not had the best time on or off the field since his move from Seattle. The 33-year-old has struggled with his form on the field and has had several cringy moments off of it.
First, it was the Broncos’ ‘Let’s Ride’ promotional video that had no music or anything behind him. Now his latest Subway commercial has left fans unimpressed with the quarterback’s acting skills. Watch his commercial below.
To say that NFL fans had a really dim take on Wilson’s commercial is an understatement, with one fan roasting the 33-year-old.
“Its incredible how someone can be a borderline HOF NFL QB while married to Ciara & still such a dweeb.”
As expected, other NFL fans chimed in on the quarterback’s cringy performance for his signature Subway sandwich, and it makes for grim reading.
@PFTCommenter brilliant call by subway here. give the cringiest guy in football a commercial and it’ll bring itself to consumers 😂
It is clear that all fans are in agreement that this is not Wilson’s finest moment in front of the camera.
Russell Wilson has had his struggles early on in Denver
For a veteran player who spent nearly a decade with one team, o then move to a different franchise, there are always going to be little kinks to be ironed out. Switching to a new coach, new teammates and a different gameplan, Wilson has struggled to come to grips with what rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett is trying to do.
While Denver is 2-1 and second in the much-vaunted AFC West, the general consensus is that the Broncos are horrible at the moment, and so is their new quarterback.
In his first three games as a member of the Denver Broncos, the 33-year-old has 743 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception while completing only 59.4% of his passes.
Denver lost to the Seahawks to open their season 17-16, and then followed that up with an uninspiring 16-9 win over the lowly Houston Texans. The dour 11-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers left many Denver fans questioning why the franchise even signed the 33-year-old.
It will take time for Wilson to get acclimated to his new surroundings, but as we know, the NFL is a results-driven business, and while he has won two of his first three games, the manner in which he and the team are playing leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the franchise’s fans.
What doesn’t make it better is the 33-year-old’s commercials that, for many, come off as cringy. For now, the former Seahawk is struggling in Denver, both on and off the field, but all NFL fans can do is hope that he turns it around. He’ll have a chance to do so, starting on Sunday against Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Hollywood actors Elizabeth Olsen, Andy Garcia, and Nestor Carbonell were among the A-list guests at a star-studded party in Los Angeles on Thursday promoting the auction of a Banksy mural – with a seven-story building attached.
The famous work of art is the city’s only native Banksy piece, painted in secret one night in 2010 while the owners of the property were away.
Jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino and her husband Alfonso Campos have been forced to sell their mid-rise art deco building after going bankrupt during the pandemic.
In court filings they estimate the downtown LA commercial property is worth $16million – but they are hoping to get at least $30million at an auction next month, suggesting the real draw for investors is the painting, not the building.
Hollywood stars Andy Garcia, Elizabeth Olsen and Nestor Carbonell attended Tarina Tarantino (second from right) and her husband Alfonso Campos’ (far left) party promoting the auction of their mid-rise art deco building in LA last Thursday
The seven-story building, located on S Broadway and W 9th St in downtown Los Angeles, is known for its Banksy mural ‘Girl on a Swing’
Jewelry designer Tarina Tarantino and her husband told DailyMail.com they are hoping to sell the building as art as well as real estate – for at least $30million
‘Is it a building with a Banksy or a Banksy with a building?’ Tarantino said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
‘We’re attempting to do something that hasn’t been done before, which is selling the building as art,’ Campos added. ‘Most people want to cut it up.’
The artsy couple’s Hollywood friends at the event included Godfather and Oceans 11 star Garcia and Bates Motel actor Carbonell, who both joked with DailyMail.com that they would by vying to place the first bid on the building.
WandaVision star Olsen also attended with musician husband Robbie Arnett.
The actress revealed to DailyMail.com during the evening that she would not be starring in season two of Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, despite rumors swirling about her involvement.
The mural, Girl on a Swing, depicts a large red ‘Parking’ sign with the last three letters whitewashed and a child swinging from the letter ‘A’.
Tarantino and Campos said Banksy painted the mural in 2010 while visiting LA for the premiere of his documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop.
They recounted to DailyMail.com how they almost turned down the multi-million-dollar addition to their building.
‘We were both in New York during the fashion trade show. We got a phone call from a friend of ours,’ Campos said.
‘He said, listen, I’m with this really amazing artist who wants to do something on the side of your building. I can’t tell you, but I promise you you’re going to thank me.’
The couple had bought the property for $4million in 2007 just before the crash, and were struggling while they plowed $1.8million into its renovation – so were hesitant to allow some unknown graffiti on the historic edifice.
WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen, pictured chatting with Tarantino, attended the party with musician husband Robbie Arnett
The Godfather and Oceans 11 star Andy Garcia and Bates Motel actor Nestor Carbonell – who are both friends with the artsy couple – both joked with DailyMail.com that they would by vying to place the first bid on the building
The Thursday night party was held on the ground floor of the South Broadway 26,500 sq ft building
But after reluctantly agreeing, they returned from the East Coast to find a crowd surrounding the new Banksy mural.
‘It was almost like those Virgin Apparitions in Latin America, there were 100-200 people surrounding this wall.
‘We didn’t realize at the time the incredible gift, the impact that that mural would have, not only in our building, but also the city of LA. It’s become this destination for locals.’
Campos said once he and his wife saw the Girl on a Swing, they decided they needed to preserve it and even turned down offers in excess of $1million from Facebook for a cutout of the wall.
‘We were getting offers immediately from people in Silicon Valley, from Facebook. They were offering pretty high prices at the time,’ he said.
‘As tempting as that was, we were looking at the crowd and we both thought no way.’
The building, located on 908-910 South Broadway, was built in 1914 from a Meyer & Holler design, the architects behind the iconic Egyptian Theater, and became an iconic movie buff landmark as the location where Harold Lloyd dangled from a clock in the 1923 silent movie Safety Last.
The property also used to house L.L. Burns’s Western Costume Company, which had a near monopoly on movie costumes during Hollywood’s silent film era.
The Thursday night party was held on the ground floor of the South Broadway 26,500 sq ft building.
One guest at the party was Banksy’s producer Daniel Salin, who has worked with the artist since 2006.
Campos, pictured with Garcia and Carbonell, said he and his wife turned down offers in excess of $1million from Facebook for a cutout of the wall after it became a local attraction
The couple, who bought the commercial property for $4million in 2007 just before the economic crash, revealed Banksy painted the mural in secret one night in 2010 while they were out of town
The mural, Girl on a Swing, depicts a large red ‘Parking’ sign with the last three letters whitewashed and a child swinging from the letter ‘A’ and is the city’s only native Banksy piece
‘With the success of Banksy, a lot of incredible works have disappeared for the public,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘It is a beautiful thing that there is one left in Los Angeles. It’s a great piece, I hope it stays together.’
‘It’s always been difficult to value outdoor street pieces, but if you’ve been keeping an eye on the Banksy market in the last two or three years, it’s quadrupled.
‘I’ve seen him go from the very embryonic stage of his ideas to full completion. And there’s nobody like him.’
A smaller Banksy mural painted on an English electrical shop, Crowbar Girl, was cut out and sold for a rumored $2.4million last year.
His famous shredded artwork titled Love Is in the Bin sold for a record $25.4million at Sotheby’s in October 2021.
Holly Dunlap, former head of the Private Client Group at Sotheby’s in London, has told the New York Times the mural could be worth at least $10million on its own – but Sotheby’s has refused to sell sawn-off Banksy murals.
Garcia told DailyMail.com he believes the piece should stay put.
‘Why would you cut it out? That would be a ridiculous thing to do. It would be foolish I think. It’s iconic, the fact that it’s there. It’s not just a piece of graffiti.’
The actor and director added that he would have the first shot at buying the building, but would be hitting his friends with a low-ball.
‘I’m very good friends with Tarina and Alfonso. I’ll have the opening bid – $24.97,’ he said.
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Rapidly growing payment orchestration provider BR-DGE has today announced a commercial and technological partnership with Vyne, the specialist account-to-account (A2A) payments platform.
This new partnership will provide greater choice for merchants who use the BR-DGE platform, optimising the merchant and consumer payment experience. BR-DGE merchants will benefit from Vyne’s Open Banking solution, which allows payments via bank transfer at a low cost for merchants. Each payment made through Vyne is also automatically Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliant, dramatically reducing the risk of fraud for customers and merchants while eliminating chargebacks, all without impacting conversion.
Through a single point of integration, BR-DGE’s merchants can access a world of payment providers, anti-fraud capabilities and alternative payment methods (APMs). Leveraging Vyne’s Open Banking powered payments solution, BR-DGE’s merchants will be able to reduce transaction fees and improve conversion rates and cash flow.
Vyne’s full stack solution enables merchants to receive customer funds instantly and further offer the ability to process full and partial refunds in real-time, as well as pay-outs and batched settlement with full reconciliation. The Secure Customer Authentication (SCA) embedded payment process will help to improve merchant checkout conversions by offering a seamless user experience via different channels, including online checkouts, payment by SMS, chat or email, and QR codes.
The collaboration will stimulate growth for both businesses as BR-DGE and Vyne innovate to improve the merchant and consumer payment experience. It builds on BR-DGE recently announcing a merchant partnership with leading independent travel company, Travel Counsellors. Vyne’s solution recently went live with a number of brands in the THG portfolio, including Myprotein, Glossybox, and Pop In A Box.
Commenting on the partnership, Tom Voaden, Strategic Partnership Lead at BR-DGE, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Vyne to enhance our payment offering to both merchants and their customers. At BR-DGE, we understand the immense benefits of Open Banking and are leveraging its power to provide a frictionless payment experience for all.
This latest partnership with Vyne further solidifies our Open Banking capabilities and ensures that our merchants continue to have access to the most convenient and secure payment solutions available. It also presents brilliant opportunities for both firms as we continue our journey of growth.”
Luke Flomo, Chief Revenue Officer at Vyne, added: “Merchants should be able to enhance their payments proposition easily, without strenuous development. BR-DGE enables merchants to seamlessly add payment methods through a single, simple integration. By adding Vyne’s Open-Banking-powered Pay with Bank to BR-DGE’s ecosystem, more merchants will be able to benefit from fairer fees, increased conversion and real-time cash flow. Our partnership with BR-DGE is an exciting move in our wider partnership’s strategy.”
CINCINNATI — Federal numbers show more than two-thirds of children have had at least one traumatic experience by age 16. An initiative aims to help local organizations address health issues like these through a $1 million grant.
Jayla Bradshaw is a sophomore at Princeton High School.
“I like it,” said Bradshaw. “It’s just like middle school. It’s just like a little more work.”
But school hasn’t always been a breeze for Bradshaw. She said virtual learning during the pandemic had its challenges.
“You really had to learn by yourself and your classmates weren’t with you, so you couldn’t get help from them,” she said. “And it was lonely working by yourself all the time.”
Virtual learning also meant spending a lot of time at home. This led to her fighting regularly with her brother.
“Me and my little brother, we used to argue more because we were always with each other, and we just didn’t get enough space or time to yourself,” she said.
The Center for Healing the Hurt is helping hundreds of teens like Bradshaw. It offers free counseling services for inner-city children dealing with trauma. Professional Clinical Counselor Dr. Shantel Thomas said this is crucial for the community.
“We decided there needed to be a place for children to come to talk about their trauma and their pain and hurt instead of acting it out in ways that will harm them or someone else,” said Thomas.
Bradshaw said these services help her because it gives her another perspective and she feels more comfortable expressing herself.
“When you talk to your parents, it’s going to be different because that’s your brother and it’s a kid, so they wouldn’t understand as much as someone who doesn’t know you,” said Bradshaw.
They’re able to help even more teens now thanks to a $1 million Health Equity Fund from Bethesda Ideas Investments Innovation, better know as Bi3. They’re one of nine Black-led organizations in Cincinnati to receive money to address poverty and systemic inequality. The center received $20,000 from the grant.
“Now those families that could not come, that some we had to turn away because everybody couldn’t do pro-bono work,” said Thomas. ”Now we can help them out. Anyone that walks through the doors can receive those services.”
This funding is a part of a three-year investment. Bi3 hopes to make more investments like these in the future.
(Glenwood) — Mills County officials are revisiting possible changes to an ordinance governing commercial solar projects.
During its regular monthly meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., the Mills County Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to discuss and possibly approve several proposed amendments to Chapter 27 of the county ordinances involving utility solar. If approved, the amendments would then go before the county board of supervisors for review. Holly Jackson is the Mills County Building and Zoning Technician. In a recent interview with KMA News, Jackson says that the primary concerns addressed in the amendment involve proper preparatory and accountability measures taken by the developer and the county.
“If we have the right screening requirements, what types of panels and fencing would look like, and height requirements of the panels,” Jackson explained. “And to make sure there is a solid decommissioning plan in place — what that process would be to begin each project. You know would it go through the zoning board of adjustment or the board of supervisors?”
The board of supervisors recently extended the current moratorium on commercial solar projects until November 1. Among other things, proposals have included setting a minimum height limit to go with the county’s current 15-foot maximum limit and requiring proper notification and collaboration with other departments, such as conservation and secondary roads.
However, Jackson said a first draft of the amended ordinance is beginning to take shape.
“We are in a solid place with where the draft of the ordinance is and working with each of those departments in the county that would assist with that,” said Jackson. “Right now, we are exploring what the options are if we need any zoning district amendments to make adjustments to our matrix and we are also establishing a committee that would review all of this information as well.”
Jackson has also communicated with several other jurisdictions dealing with solar developers and ordinance revisions, including Linn and Johnson Counties officials.
In other business Tuesday night, the commission is expected to hear a presentation from Supervisor Richard Crouch regarding an ordinance governing carbon pipelines. Montgomery County officials have had an extended discussion regarding a similar ordinance, mostly in response to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed Midwest Express CO2 Pipeline that would cut through the western portion of Montgomery County.
Leo Iazzolino’s Elite Property Group will turn to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a determination on its plans for a Richmond-based project.
The developer has lodged an application with VCAT claiming that the Yarra City Council failed to make a determination on time.
The Gray Puksand-designed plans for the 1900sq m site at 525 Church Street and 1-7 Kingston Street comprised a $60-million, 12-storey commercial tower with 11,500 sq m of office space.
The plans also show two basement levels with 67 carparking spaces and 140 bicycle spaces.
There would also be a cafe on the ground floor, end-of-trip facilities and a retail tenancy.
Elite Property Group lodged the plans in 2021 but provided additional information in March, 2022, before the plans were advertised by the Yarra City Council.
Around 80 objections were received, according to council records, with council documents showing that the height of the building and its street walls and mass, and lack of cohesion with the surrounding area, were the main areas of concern.
Increased traffic and pedestrian safety as well as amenity impacts around overshadowing, lack of daylight, and wind and noise impacts, were also raised.
▲ The 12-storey office tower proposed by Elite Property Group in Richmond, which will now be the subject of a VCAT hearing in November.
A council has 60 days to assess and make a determination on a planning application, not counting any time spent by the council on advertising or requesting additional information. If it fails to do so within 60 days, then the matter is passed to VCAT for determination.
Elite Property Group lodged the VCAT application on June 17, 2022 after the council failed to make a determination once the advertising period had ended.
Council planning officers recommended recording a failure to determine.
Yarra City Council’s Planning Decisions Committee then met on July 26 and were informed that the application to VCAT had been made.
The committee determined that the plans could go ahead if two storeys were removed to reduce the building height, pedestrian access was improved and there was clear signage around bicycle parking.
Other conditions included the plans needing to abide by certain material finishes and sustainability considerations and the provision of further detail.
A compulsory conference was scheduled for September 13, 2022, with a major cases hearing date set for November 15, 2022.
The council plans to submit to VCAT during the review process that it would have approved the plans subject to conditions.
The tribunal will have to first assess if the council did miss its deadline and if therefore there are sufficient grounds for it to take over the determining process.
The Richmond site was once home to a chocolate factory and was redeveloped in the 1990s to become the home of Duttons Garage, a car showroom, which has since moved to South Yarra.
Furniture retailer Robertsons Furniture and Design has occupied the site for the past decade.
The developer bought the Church Street site in 2018 for $12 million and the Kingston Street site in 2021 for $10 million.
Elite Property Group has previously developed industrial and commercial projects in Dandenong, Carrum Downs, Braeside, Moorabbin and Hallam.
Richmond is among the suburbs in Melbourne’s CBD fringe office market experiencing an increase in investment and activity.
Months of encampments, on-campus protests, meetings, and whispers around Penn and across the city stem from one ongoing issue: the impending sale of affordable housing complex UC Townhomes and plans to re-develop the property, located in the largely gentrified neighborhood of University City.
The University says it is committed to helping solve the city’s affordable housing crisis. But it’s not the only player in the sale of the Townhomes, a privately owned property that came about during the nation’s push to develop urban cities—which was also a catalyst for the historical displacement of predominantly Black and brown communities.
Since the property’s owner announced its decision to sell the Townhomes, residents, student and local activists, and the City Council have been raising their voices against the sale and what the effects of displacement and re-development could mean for the city. The controversy has shone a spotlight on the issue of affordable housing in Philadelphia and re-invigorated years-old demands against the University to give more back to its surrounding community.
But what exactly are the issues behind the UC Townhomes sale? And what do the parties involved have to say about it?
A brief history of the University City Townhomes and affordable housing in Philadelphia:
The University City Townhomes, or UC Townhomes, is a rental property of 70 units located at the corner of 39th and Market streets. Built in 1983, the federally subsidized units were built to offer below-market rates to residents as a compensation for the destruction of the Black Bottom, a predominantly Black and working-class neighborhood now known as “University City.”
But in July 2021, the property’s owner, IBID Associates Limited Partnership, announced it will not renew its annual affordable housing contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it had been renewing for nearly 40 years.
What was bought for a price of $1 in 1982 is now worth $12,967,500, according to the City’s review of the property. The complex has gotten attention from developers looking to build spaces for life sciences companies, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal report, which said the property could sell for up to $100 million.
Nearly 70 families, most of whom are Black and Hispanic families, are at risk of displacement after having lived in the townhomes for years. The families are now up against a Dec. 27 deadline to leave their homes, a date that IBID has pushed back multiple times since the original date of July 8 after requesting the Department of Housing and Development to extend its affordable housing contract.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing residents with continued rental assistance payments in the meantime, after agreeing to extend IBID’s contract largely because many residents had not received housing vouchers necessary to relocate. IBID had given the required one-year notice to the Department of Housing and Urban Development that it would not renew its contract.
“Rental housing in West Philadelphia is in very high demand. And we can’t find a great apartment tonight,” John Kromer, a Fels Institute of Government instructor and the City’s former Director of Housing from 1992 to 2001, told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “But the idea that I think IBID had was we’re gonna give them a lot of lead time so that we can really work on this together and find decent places for these residents to live.”
But for low-income residents in increasingly gentrified areas like West Philadelphia, finding a new place isn’t easy. An inadequate amount of available rental units that accept housing vouchers in the city make it difficult to find affordable and subsidized housing options. Across the city, 1,700 affordable housing units are at risk of expiring in the next 5 years.
- More on federal housing subsidies: The HUD Section 8 program provides housing subsidies to private landlords for about 5 million low-income households across the country, and contracts typically last between five and 20 years. These contracts allow tenants to pay only 30% of their adjusted household monthly income in rent.
- More on the Black Bottom: Between the 1950s and 1970s, the federal government initiated a period of urban redevelopment, often referred to as “urban renewal,” across American cities in an effort to modernize blighted areas. Under this initiative, Penn, Drexel University, University of the Sciences, and Presbyterian Hospital formed the West Philadelphia Corporation and razed many local neighborhoods to clear space for university-affiliated commercial and residential buildings. An estimated 5,000 residents were displaced during this process, but exact numbers remain disputed.
Credit: Derek Wong
Save the UC Townhomes protest on College Green on Feb. 23, 2022.
The ongoing legal battle between the City of Philadelphia, IBID (the Townhome’s owner), and the residents:
The Philadelphia City Council approved a bill in March that would suspend the demolition of the UC Townhomes complex and ensure the area would be directed towards residential rather than commercial use.
“Our ultimate goal with this legislation is to support the public interest by making sure as much affordable housing remains in amenity-rich and transit-adjacent neighborhoods, with a particular focus on residential properties that may otherwise be susceptible in either the near or long term to market pressures,” Councilmember Jamie Gauthier wrote in a Sept. 24 email to the DP.
“I welcome development in my District, but also want to ensure that low income West Philadelphians can live within walking distance of high quality jobs, education, healthcare, and goods and services,” Gauthier wrote.
While the legislation, introduced by West Philadelphia Councilmember Gauthier in Oct. 2021, does not stop the expiration of the property’s subsidized housing contract, it would require a portion of units built in the area to be offered at below market-rate prices. Gauthier recently won the City Council’s support to widen the geographic scope of this bill, seeking to add more affordable housing and subsidized development. The legislation has yet to be implemented, as Mayor Jim Kenney has yet to sign the bill.
But after the demolition ban had passed, IBID filed a federal lawsuit against the City and Gauthier, saying the councilmember had violated the developer’s “constitutional right” to sell the Townhomes, which rests on a 2.6-acre property.
The developer’s original plan was to replace the 70-unit Townhomes building with 70 units of affordable housing, some retail shops, a life sciences and research campus, as well as a job training center that would train and employ local residents, Kevin Feeley, IBID’s representative, told the DP. The City refused the offer, and eventually Gauthier responded with the bill barring development on the site.
“We wanted to do this in a way that would address the issue about what happens to the residents,” Feeley said. “We said from the beginning that we would give a preference to anybody, potential buyers, to anybody who came back with a plan that would include affordable housing in the development. And that gets missed time and time again, that somehow all that IBID wanted was to just sell the property and make as much money as they can.”
Credit: Olivia West
Save the UC Townhomes block party on March 19, 2022.
IBID, the owner, intends to sell the property for the purpose of building a research and development center or luxury housing complex. It’s working with a developer that has agreed to replace the existing UC Townhomes with new units that would first be offered to current Townhomes residents who want to return to a “transformational redevelopment,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
IBID is also working to transfer its funding for subsidized housing at the Townhomes property site to build about 100 additional affordable units in the West Philadelphia area, according to the Inquirer.
Community organizing, protests, and public confrontation:
Members of the local community — from Townhomes residents to local activists to students — have rallied around the fight to not only save the townhomes, but to amplify the city’s issue of dwindling affordable housing.
July: The Save the UC Townhomes coalition had organized an encampment on July 10 at the townhomes to protest its sale. Residents, organizers, and activists slept in more than 15 tents outside the complex for nearly a month in efforts to challenge the prior Sept. 7 eviction date.
IBID Associates, the real estate firm that owns the townhomes, had called the protest “unfortunate and ill-advised” and argued that protestors were trespassing private property. On July 22, a Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge then ordered those participating in the encampment to vacate the property. This led residents to react with defiance, however, saying the judge’s ruling would not end their protest against displacement.
Credit: Jesse Zhang
Save the UC Townhomes encampment on July 16, 2022.
August: The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office enforced a court ruling on Aug. 8 to remove the encampment, and law enforcement ultimately vacated the area of the tents after arriving at the townhomes. This confrontation between the residents and Philadelphia police resulted in a wave of chants, like “Housing is a human right” and “Shame on you.” Officers maintained their understanding of the issue, and said they were solely at the scene to enforce the law.
Over 100 protestors recently interrupted Penn President Liz Magill’s first-ever Convocation speech on Aug. 29, demanding that the University take action to “Stop Penn-trification” and “Save UC Townhomes!”
September: Hundreds of protestors, including townhome residents and supporters, gathered in front of Philadelphia City Hall on Sept. 7 and demanded that the townhomes’ property owner extend its affordable housing contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for two years or sell the townhomes to a third party to preserve the existing rent.
The rally prompted City Councilmembers to release statements in solidarity with residents.
“Ultimately, the responsibility for this crisis is not on city government alone,” City Councilmembers Helen Gym, a 1993 College graduate, and Kendra Brooks wrote in a public statement released on Sept. 8. “We need a federal recommitment to fund and build public housing, and we believe that tax exempt institutions, which have helped drive the increase in housing prices and residential segregation, must now proactively support long-term and permanent housing affordability.”
Gym and Brooks wrote they are in support of: implementing a one-year extension of the federal contract with Housing and Urban Development, committing City dollars to preserve affordable housing in the city and call on state and federal leaders to advance those investments; and as HUD contracts likely continue to expire, establishing a preservation fund and allowing residents time to organize and access housing solutions.
Since Sept. 14, Fossil Free Penn has been leading an encampment on College Green, demanding the University commit funds to preserve the Townhomes and meet with residents this month, divest its endowment from indirect and direct fossil fuel holdings by 2025, and pay PILOTs — payments in lieu of taxes — to the City’s public schools. The latter two have been backed by members of the University community for years.
A petition to “Save the UC Townhomes” has collected over 3,600 signatures.
Credit: Jesse Zhang
Save the UC Townhomes protest at Convocation on Aug. 29, 2022.
What have the Townhomes residents said? And what are their demands?
Several residents have spoken to 34th Street Magazine, a publication of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., about the impending loss of their home and a community many of them have created and lived in for years. Some families are not only worried about finding new housing; they’re also worried about how their children will get to their schools or if they need to attend a different school after relocating — and the challenges that would come with that.
“They’re tearing this whole world apart, and the government is allowing them because it’s the law,” Krystal Young, who has lived in the UC Townhomes for three years, told 34th Street in August. “I’m going to stand up and help put a stop to [the eviction]. With our voices, we have to stick together.”
Save the UC Townhomes, the resident-led local activist group, has outlined several demands, including:
- An immediate halt to the sale and demolition of the UC Townhomes and that the property be made entirely and permanently affordable.
- A 2-year extension for Townhomes residents, which the group says would allow time to find replacement housing that will accept vouchers.
- Assign a maintenance person to the UC Townhomes complex to address years of outstanding repairs in the Townhomes.
- A $500,000 financial compensation per family living in the Townhomes, which the group says amounts to 35% of what may ultimately be the total sale price of the Townhomes.
How is Penn involved with the UC Townhomes, and what has been the University’s response?
Protests on campus and the demands made against Penn administration have put a limelight on the University’s central role in the destruction of the Black Bottom and the ongoing gentrification of West Philadelphia.
Many local community members believe the institution has a responsibility to rescue the Townhomes and help preserve the affordable housing in the city. “The problem of expiring affordable housing subsidies was not one that Penn created, but also not one that they are excused from participating in solving,” Gauthier wrote to the DP.
While the University says they are committed to helping tackle the city’s issue of affordable housing, Penn does not own the UC Townhomes property and it does not have any direct control over the redevelopment plans for the Townhomes property site.
Credit: Kylie Cooper
Save the UC Townhomes protest at the Silfen Forum event with documentarian and filmmaker Ken Burns on April 18, 2022.
Since learning about IBID’s plan to sell the property, Penn representatives have met directly with Townhomes residents, and have actively and regularly engaged City leaders on the matter, according to Stephen MacCarthy, Penn’s Vice President for University Communications. Penn reached out directly to IBID after hearing concerns about communications and possible evictions, MacCarthy wrote in a Sept. 25 email to the DP.
“President Magill has met with and asked senior leaders at Penn to look at ways that the University can use its academic and research strengths, along with its influence locally, to help develop solutions,” MacCarthy wrote to the DP. “We expect we will be able to outline in the very near future some important ways the University can help address this complicated and challenging problem.”
The residents had met Interim President Wendell Pritchett and other top Penn officials in May to discuss the sale of the UC Townhomes, but no coalition demands were met at the time of the meeting. When protesters interrupted Magill’s Convocation speech in August, the University President emphasized the democratic importance of learning to live together and engage in “productive disagreement.” And when Chaplain Charles Howard took over the podium briefly, he told the crowd that he understood the issue’s significance, but that the ceremony was intended to celebrate the Class of 2026.
Penn, which is the largest private employer in the City of Philadelphia, has long faced backlash from student groups and local organizations who say the University has failed to give back enough to the surrounding community. According to MacCarthy, the University currently contributes more to the City’s general fund through a multitude of payments and initiatives than any other City-based employer, including both non-profit or for-profit employers.
“The next question is, what development is going to be next? And what can be done about it to prevent this thing from happening again?” Kromer, the City’s former Director of Housing, told the DP. “The City and Penn and some of the nonprofit organizations that have been active in community development have a very sophisticated knowledge of these issues… if a plan could be agreed on to address this issue, there’s some real talent there and an ability to look at alternatives and find the best solution.”
The brand owners of KFC are stalling the purchase of the Kentucky restaurant and estate created for Harland Sanders for his wife in 1959 over trademark concerns.
Claudia’s Dinner House – located in Shelbyville – was owned by the Sanders and their friends Tommy and Cherry Settle, and now the Settles are committed to finding a new ‘caretaker of this historic brand.’
The Settles are reportedly seeking $9million for the estate, which includes the dinner house, the mansion known as Blackwood Hall, the three acres of land, and the intellectual property, including a KFC flag and a birthday letter to Sanders from President Richard Nixon.
Despite there being a few offers, from franchising it for the first time to making it into an Airbnb, the KFC brand owner Yum! Brands’ legal team has stalled the transaction by submitting a filing to the US Patent & Trademark Office just days after the estate hit the market in June.
The filing seeks to reinforce the KFC trademark protections, including ‘Colonel Sanders’ Original Recipe,’ ‘Col. Harland Sanders’ and ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good,’ according to the New York Post.
‘It’s a very unique situation,’ Realtor Jonathan Klunk of Six Degrees Real Estate told the Post. ‘We are selling Claudia and she doesn’t have as much name recognition as her husband, but a buyer can’t describe her without mentioning both her husband and KFC.’
Klunk said there’s ‘a lot of similarities’ between KFC’s menu and Claudia’s Dinner House, but the dinner house’s offerings have ‘no connection to the KFC recipe.’
Claudia’s Dinner House was owned by the Sanders and their friends Tommy and Cherry Settle, and now the Settles are committed to finding a new ‘caretaker of this historic brand.’
Despite there being a few offers, from franchising it for the first time to making it into an Airbnb, the KFC brand owner Yum! Brands’ legal team has stalled the transaction by submitting a filing to the US Patent & Trademark Office just days after the estate hit the market in June. The filing seeks to reinforce the KFC trademark protections, including ‘Colonel Sanders’ Original Recipe,’ ‘Col. Harland Sanders’ and ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good’
The Settles are reportedly seeking $9million for the estate, which includes the dinner house, the mansion known as Blackwood Hall, the three acres of land, and the intellectual property, including a KFC flag and a birthday letter to Sanders from President Richard Nixon
Colonel Harland Sanders created the restaurant in 1959 for his wife Claudia. It is located in Shelbyville
The Settles did, however, have a run-in with Yum! Brands in 2001, according to the Post, when Tommy found a datebook from 1964 that contained a list of 11 herbs and spices in Blackwood Hall. He wanted to have it authenticated to sell it, but Yum! sued.
The case was later dropped after the brand owners said the recipe was nothing close to the now-famous combination sold in stores today.
Despite the stand-off between the brand and future owners, Klunk said the $6.5billion conglomerate has not offered to buy the property.
The mansion features a lot of green and white, creating an open and light feeling throughout the house
The home has a unique feel to it and has a white grand paint with large windows to cast a lot of light into the room
The mansion features a room with emerald green carget and a six-seater dining room table
The realtor also said they are considering unbundling the estate to sell each property separately to attract more buyers.
Potential buyers, so far, have ranged from a local bourbon company interested in expanding to comfort food, as well as local and large restaurant groups and serial entrepreneurs with many brands.
All potential buyers have to talk to Yum! to detail how they plan to use the brand without inviting litigation.
‘If you want to use the Claudia Sanders brand you have to have a team of intellectual property lawyers,’ Klunk has warned buyers, according to the Post.
‘Whoever is going to take on the Claudia Sanders name is probably in for an uphill and expensive battle,’ Trademark Attorney Brad D. Rose told the Post.
The gift shop offers a selection of fine treats to pack up to take home
It also features a gift shop that sells jams and candies and other treats for customers to purchase
The dinner house features a large staircase and has contrasting light and dark colors for an open, but homely feeling
The dinner house originally served as KFC’s headquarters after the Sanders closed their Corbin KFC location in 1952. That same year, Sanders would begin franchising his company, which would eventually become a global icon.
The couple opened Claudia Sanders Dinner House in 1959 when they moved to Shelbyville. It would become know for its yeast rolls, massive buffet, pies, and fried chicken, Kentucky.com said.
The dinner house would eventually burn down in 1999, but it was rebuilt and the legacy continues on.
‘Claudia was the unspoken hero of her husband’s success in business,’ Jonathan Klunk, a listing agent, said in June in a statement, according to Kentucky.com.
Outdoor tables overlooking lots of greenery are also on the property, allowing customers to enjoy the Kentucky weather
The dinner house has a rustic feel with dark wood chairs and tables and wooden floors
‘And he wanted to honor her by creating Claudia Sanders Dinner House and associated brands. There is so much rich history included in this sale; it is exciting to think about the potential that lies ahead for the right buyer – to honor and protect this legacy and grow the brand even further.’
The Settles have fully owned the estate since the 1970s and are now looking to retire. Cherry, who is now 78, started out as a hostess at the restaurant, while her husband, now 80, supplied the establishment with hams from a plant he owned, when they bought the place.
Claudia and Harland met in the 1930s when she was working at his restaurant in Corbin as a waitress. Claudia would become a huge part of the brand, even packaging food and spices to send to the franchises while Harland was out selling the brand.
They sold the restaurant to Tommy and Cherry in 1974, six years before Harland died in December 1980. Claudia died 16 years later in 1996.
However, even after selling the business, the pair still actively promoted the brand, traveling the world in his iconic white suit and her antebellum dress.
A company headed by former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has snapped up a West Kalgoorlie industrial and engineering workshop property for $10.9 million, its second purchase in the area this year.
Commercial property investor and funds manager Arcana Capital said it had finalised the purchase of the land on which the Pacific Energy building sits.
The total allotment of 20,236sqm across three adjoining lots at 65 Carnegie Street comprises a net lettable area of 4460sqm and includes a big workshop facility with two 20-tonne gantry cranes, an office, warehouse, 44 car bays and substantial concrete hardstand.
The purchase follows Arcana buying another West Kalgoorlie industrial and engineering workshop property on Kayili Road this year for $8.15 million, as well as a medical and allied health property in Mackay, Queensland for $6 million and an industrial workshop in Mackay for $3.5 million.
Arcana said the Carnegie Street property was tenanted by Pacific Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Queensland Investment Corporation, a global investing entity owned by the Queensland Government.
A 10-year lease expires on June 30, 2031.
Arcana said Pacific Energy was a market leader in the design, delivery and implementation of power-generating assets in the remote energy, distributed energy resource and renewables sectors.
Arcana Capital manager of investor relations Colby Phillis said the investment in the asset was particularly driven by Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s position as a key centre for mining and processing of “new economy minerals”.
“Kalgoorlie is in one of the most resource-rich areas of the world with Western Australia set to become a world leader in renewable energy and distributed energy resource projects,” Mr Phillis said.
“With a secure tenant, this purpose-built brand new workshop was very appealing to our investors, with our wholesale fund being well over-subscribed.”
Mr Newman, also the former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, is Arcana Capital managing director and chairman.
The company has been operating since 2015 and has successfully completed the acquisition and ongoing management of 28 properties worth $180.56 million and raised more than $100 million in investor equity.
Its investment portfolio features fuel stations, retail, office and industrial properties in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and WA.