Several years ago, plans have been revealed for a major megadevelopment to be built on a new deck above the Amtrak railyard on the banks of the Schuylkill River in University City, West Philadelphia. The project is called the Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan, as the first phase includes restoration of the historic 30th Street Station. Designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and developed by Plenary Infrastructure Philadelphia, the master plan shows a large number of high-rises and a supertall skyscraper that would become the tallest, or one of the tallest, buildings in the city.
Another part of the first phase is the Schuylkill Yards project, currently in progress at the southern portion of the district, with multiple buildings in various stages of development. The rest of the site spans the abovementioned railyard. The project would be constructed in a manner similar to the Hudson Yards development in New York City, which also involves colossal towers rising on a platform above a massive railyard.
Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan supertall looking southwest. Model by Thomas Koloski
Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan supertall looking north. Model by Thomas Koloski
When the Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan is completed in the distant future, it will look as if a whole new city has been built in West Philadelphia, competing with the Center City skyline. The high-rise cluster will consist of shorter towers to the north, rising higher toward the supertall, which is shown to be placed in the Amtrak parking lot to the east of the nine-story parking garage next to the Cira Center. The skyscraper will be visible from numerous locations such as the South Street Bridge and others.
The project is scheduled to be built in multiple with an anticipated completion by 2050.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Don’t forget about the biking trails and the two bridges planned.
Imagine a tourist visiting the city arriving at 30th Street Station from the airport line.
A city so dense of skyscrapers for miles around in all directions.
I’m especially excited for 3000 Baring Street (a residential skyscraper taller than City Hall within walking distance from the Philadelphia Zoo and directly behind the Art Museum).
The future looks exciting for Philadelphia!!
“A city so dense of skyscrapers for miles around in all directions.”
Let’s pretend for a moment that this district gets built per the designs pictured here (hint…it’s not going to get built). But, for pretend’s sake, even if this did get built you still wouldn’t have “skyscrapers for miles in all directions.” You’d still only have mostly mid-sized towers (with a few tall towers sprinkled in) smashed into a 2-mile stretch going only east/west.
Well, no Marcus.
From south Philly to north Philly.
From west Philly to the Delaware.
Past proposals show real skyscraper development for those areas. Too bad those developments were canceled.
This will eventually happen, Marcus.
Perhaps in our lifetime, perhaps not.
Only time will tell.
But if you believe that short skyscrapers are not real, then perhaps you might be the type to accept the Flatiron a skyscraper. The lipstick building might be too short for you. The Hearst tower on 8th Avenue is not tall enough.
Those ARE skyscrapers and so are the ones being built all around Philadelphia for many miles in all directions.
I don’t need your response or approval.
I appreciate the skyscrapers that we have.
Wake up, Markus!
You are not the only skyscraper fan around.
The sooner they build this the better
Gotta ask: who will fill these towers?
Startups.
The next google.
The next twitter.
The next apple.
In Philadelphia, the sky’s the limit.
Everyone knows it.
I hear it’s all the rage!
Google, Twitter, and Apple are all here in Northern California.
The next generation of startups could happen in Philadelphia.
I merely mentioned google, twitter & apple as a few examples of successful companies that started small.
To be fair, Google is building millions of square feet of office space in NYC right now, Facebook has signed up for almost 2 million square feet of space that’s currently under construction in NYC, Apple is also leasing an entire building near NYC’s Penn Station, Amazon is taking over the Lord & Tailor Building in Midtown Manhattan (while building out HQ2 near DC) and Salesforce recently leased a tower by Bryant Park in NYC (plus they are constructing a near supertall in Chicago).
So it’s true the big techs are expanded in the east. Just not in Philly.