The tenth-tallest building on Philly YIMBY’s December 2020 Development Countdown is the 380-foot-tall, 31-story One Dock Street in Society Hill, Center City. Designed by Bower Lewis Thower Architects, the proposal shares the address with the adjacent Philadelphia Marriott Old City and will feature 272 rental units. The building will stand just to the east of I.M. Pei’s 309-foot-tall Society Hill Towers, which in 1964 sprung into the skyline of Old City, one of the city’s oldest districts. Our recent site visit revealed no progress at the site as of yet.
One Dock Street site. Original image from Google Earth, edit by Thomas Koloski
The new tower will be clad in glass and metal and will have slim eastern and western profiles with wide northern and southern profiles. The proposal was first revealed in January 2019, to the excitement of development watchers eager to see skyline and density growth and to the protests of NIMBYs arguing that the building could harm the predominantly low-rise, historic area of the city, despite being located across from three brutalist concrete towers.
Zoning permits were approved a little over three months later. In May 2019, construction permits for the foundation were posted, and seven months later LCOR Incorporated announced that the building could possibly start in 2020, though the zoning board pushed against the building during that year. However, no progress has been visible on the physical site and the city’s website as of yet.
One Dock Street looking northeast. Photo by Thomas Koloski
One Dock Street looking northwest. Photo by Thomas Koloski
No anticipated completion date has been announced, but the building could be completed by 2024.
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If there’s no update on this project, then why publish this article?
It’s part of their countdown of the 31 tallest projects in the city, as explained in the first sentence of the article.
I know I will get ripped an asshole for this but I think this project is a bit out of scale for the neighborhood… just build it on the waterfront, why a block away from society hill towers
When there is no actual update, then this article is a waste of time.
If you want a countdown to check a box on your checklist to justify your employment, then you can simply do that with ONE article, listing all projects.
When there is no news to report, then don’t report.
Are you paying for this website? No?
Calm down and enjoy the free content, Philly doesn’t have as much construction as NYC or Chicago, so the countdown isn’t seamless, but its a YIMBY tradition.
Michael, no city in the United States has the construction power of New York City.
It’s not even a contest.
You mentioned Chicago.
Okay, they have the Riverwalk; however, Philadelphia will have a mini Riverwalk (a 35 year development plan).
I don’t expect Philadelphia to compete with NY and they won’t build taller than the WTC out of respect for 9/11 victims, but Philadelphia does not have an artificial height limit.
Don’t count Philly out of the skyscraper race.
If the Eagles can win the Super Bowl, then Philly can have the country’s tallest.
This is a by right project and there is nothing the NIMBIES can do to stop the project. Then what is the city holding up the project to put NIMBIES ahead of the law?
A shiny new tower with a modern design could devalue Society Hill residents, causing resentment towards this development.
They can’t stop the upcoming construction due to its by right status. Society Hill residents can either sell their units or welcome the new tower. No court has held up the project yet with the exception of the city.
It would be nice if local government actually gave preferential treatment to its existing law-abiding citizens, instead of pandering to billionaire investors who will likely add nothing to the community. “NIMBIES” are the only reason why this neighborhood still kinda feels like a neighborhood within the Center City area. But just like Wall Street, it’s all about the faceless quick-buck bottom line.
any word on the GC?
I am actually the reason why things have been delayed. I have dreadful luck, and I’ve been saving money for years specifically so I can afford to move into a Society Hill Tower condo facing the river. So, of course, the construction will begin immediately after I decide to finally move in, and then I will be stuck with the torturous relentless daily construction noise for the next 3 years or so. Ugh. I suppose I’ll see you guys in Hell.
I’m a client of the Old Sheraton Society Hill, now the Marriott Old City. I do not like the changes they made so far. I is not fitting the Old City theme at all and to add something horrendous to the side of that building is insane. They will have completely distroyed the Old City Theme.