Articles by Thomas Koloski

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

Philly YIMBY Visits the Recently Completed Live! Casino and Hotel in The Sports Complex District, South Philadelphia

7:30 am on May 10, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY has recently made a site visit to the Live! Casino and Hotel at 900 Packer Avenue, where it has recently finished construction in the Sports Complex District in South Philadelphia. The 1.5 million-square-foot development opened on February 11th, with both the casino and hotel opening to the public. The hotel stands 14 stories tall and features 215 units. The complex was designed by Bower Lewis Thrower Architects, which has also designed Symphony House and was on the design team for the FMC Tower. The developers, the Cordish Company and Greenwood Racing and Entertainment, has also erected two other Live! Casino and Hotel’s in Pittsburgh and Maryland.

Philadelphia 1987 and 2020 south elevation. Model and image by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 1987 and the 2020 Skyline

8:00 am on May 9, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Over the decades, the Philadelphia skyline has seen many transformations with different iconic images, such as when City Hall stood all alone in the early 1900s. One of the key years in the high-rise history of the city is 1987, when One Liberty Place dramatically surpassed City Hall in height and opened later in the same year. Another key year is 2018, when the skyline gained its first supertall tower with the completion of the Comcast Technology Center. Today Philly YIMBY compares the skyline’s appearance in 1987 to its state in 2020.

Philadelphia City Hall. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Looking at Philadelphia City Hall in Center City

8:00 am on May 8, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The Philadelphia City Hall, located at 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City, is an astonishing 548-foot tall structure that was completed in 1901 (though occupation first started in 1877) at the intersection of Market Street and Broad Street. The nine-story structure is the world’s tallest freestanding masonry building and has a lovely Second Empire style architecture (also known as Napoleon III style), with the municipal floors and the clock tower decked out with decorative cornices and pillars. The building was designed by John McArthur Jr. and Thomas Ustick Walter. McArthur has also designed the First National Bank and Walter was the fourth architect of the Capitol building in Washington DC, having designed the Capitol dome on top of the Capitol Building.

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the 1945 Skyline

8:00 am on May 7, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1940s, development in Philadelphia progressed at a slow pace as over the previous four years the United States of America was engaged in World War II after Japan’s surprise attack on Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941, further slowed down by the Great Depression, which lasted through the 1930s. However, in the preceding decades, many ornate buildings rose into the skyline with fantastic masonry designs. Most of the largest buildings were built around the City Hall in Center City, which created a hub of development when the Second Empire style building was completed in 1901.

Bank of the Southwest Tower in the Houston skyline. Image via Jahn/Murphy, Inc

Looking at the Unbuilt Bank of the Southwest Tower, Houston’s Precursor to One Liberty Place

8:00 am on May 6, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Before One Liberty Place topped the Philadelphia skyline in 1987, a larger skyscraper, also designed by Helmut Jahn, was proposed in the city of Houston, with a design that featured striking similarities to the future Philadelphia tower. Known as the Bank of the Southwest, the supertall was planned to count 82 floors, with an angled crown capped with a sharp spire that would rise 1,404 feet high. The larger office floors were to have angled cuts on each corner. The firm of Jahn/Murphy, Inc. was chosen after a design contest in 1982 and the tower was projected to be completed by 1986. The tower was cancelled by 1983 due to a lack of funding, but elements of the design were later integrated into the Philadelphia skyscraper.

300 North Christopher Columbus Boulevard. Image by Handel Architects

New Renderings Released for 300 North Christopher Columbus Boulevard in Northern Liberties

8:00 am on May 3, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

New renderings have been released for 300 North Columbus Boulevard via a Civic Design Review submission, giving an updated look at the high-rise that will stand just to the north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The structure will rise 28 stories and 316 feet tall, and will be located on the north side of the Old City neighborhood, near the boundary of Center City and Northern Liberties to the north, where several projects underway and many proposals have been revealed. The building was designed by Handel Architects, which had also designed the 805-foot Madison House at 15 East 30th Street in New York City. The project is being developed by The Durst Organization, which is also developing the massive Penn’s Landing Redevelopment just to the south of the Ben Franklin Bridge.

20th + Arch at 2000-24 Arch Street. Credit: L2P

Gas Station To Relocate For 20th + Arch at 2000 Arch Street In Center City West

7:30 am on May 3, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

A prewar-style gas station will soon be relocated off the site of the 20th+Arch proposal at 2000 Arch Street in Center City West, where construction could start soon. The proposal will add height and density which, while not significant for the skyline, will be imposing for the area. The vicinity of the site feels empty, even though skyscrapers stand the site just blocks away. The building was designed by L2P, which has crafted the previous iteration for the 12-story Wellshaus project at 918 North Delaware Avenue. The building will stand 15 stories above ground at a possible total height of 260 feet. The property is owned and managed by Parkway Commercial Properties, which also runs a number of parking lots in Center City.

Pavilion and surrounding hospital buildings. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Exterior Nearly Complete at Pavilion at 300 South 33rd Street in University City, West Philadelphia

7:00 am on May 3, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Façade work is nearly complete at the Pavilion, a medical building at 300 South 33rd Street in University City. With 1.5 million square feet of interior space, the Pavilion is one of the largest structures in West Philadelphia. The structure rises 343 feet and 17 stories as one of the tallest buildings of Penn Medicine, which is the project developer. The building was designed by the renown architects Foster + Partners, which has done several notable buildings around the world, such as the Gherkin in London, the Hearst Tower in New York City, and the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia. The structure replaces an older Penn Medicine building, a high-rise called Penn Tower.

City Tower model and schematics. Images via Louis I. Kahn

A Look at the Unbuilt City Tower by Louis Kahn in Center City

8:00 am on May 2, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1950s, Philadelphia was starting to see a rise in new development as developers focused on Center City, particularly after the demolition of the “Chinese Wall” opened up a large swath of space from City Hall to the Schuylkill River. A wild proposal called the City Tower was revealed in the late 1950s at 1400 Arch Street, where the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building currently stands. The 30-story tower would have stood just to the north of City Hall. The tower was designed by Louis I. Kahn in a dramatic Futurist style, as the building’s design and form were way ahead of its time.

CHOP Hub for Clinical Collaboration rendering via Perkins + Will

CHOP Hub For Clinical Collaboration Receives Cladding in University City, West Philadelphia

8:00 am on May 1, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Glass and stone cladding is being installed at the CHOP Hub for Clinical Collaboration at 3501 Civic Center Boulevard in University City, West Philadelphia. The tower is about to reach its full height of 377 feet and 19 stories. Designed by Perkins+Will, the structure will feature over 550,000 square feet of floor space. The project is being developed by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which is developing a $4 billion master plan that the Hub for Clinical Collaboration is a part of.

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Articles by Thomas Koloski

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