An Overview of the Construction of the Live! Casino and Hotel in The Sports Complex District, South Philadelphia

Over the course of the past few years, the Live! Casino and Hotel rose to become a welcome addition to the nearby stadiums in the Sports Complex District in South Philadelphia. The structure, located at 900 Packer Avenue, just to the north of Citizens Bank Park, holds over 1.5 million square feet of space, more than the 1.4-million-square-foot Rivers Casino in North Philadelphia. Designed by Bower Lewis Thower Architects and developed by The Cordish Company and Greenwood Racing and Entertainment, the casino stands three stories tall, with the hotel rising 215 feet and 14 stories high.

Live! Casino and Hotel site April 2019. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Live! Casino and Hotel August 2019. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Originally, the site was home to an Holiday Inn hotel. The building stood 11 stories tall and was completed in 1974, and stood for 45 years until it was demolished to make way for the Live! Casino and Hotel. The Holiday Inn was reduced to a pile of rubble by April 2019, and three months later after the cleanup, the red tower crane was erected on the northeast corner of the site. By August, the steel for the casino was underway, with the first few floors of the concrete structure of the hotel under construction.

Live! Casino and Hotel September 2019. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Live! Casino and Hotel November 2019. Photo by Thomas Koloski

By the next month, the concrete was being poured on the casino floors, while the hotel rose halfway up. The hotel’s concrete slabs were topped in November, and the angled crown was toped out in the next month, with a miniature metal pine tree placed on top of the structure. The crane was taken down in February 2020, and the first panels of the cladding were installed. The cladding reached the top of the building by August, and the Live! logos were installed later in the year. The casino opened on February 11, 2021.

Live! Casino and Hotel January 2020. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Live! Casino and Hotel with the Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Thomas Koloski

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