Unbuilt

1325 Buttonwood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. April 2022

A Study in Duality: Construction Nears Completion at 1325 Buttonwood Street in Callowhill, Lower North Philadelphia

8:00 am on April 22, 2022 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Philly YIMBY’s recent site visit discovered that construction is nearly complete at a four-story, two-family residential development at 1325 Buttonwood Street in Callowhill, Lower North Philadelphia. The unusual-looking structure stands on the north side of the block between North 13th Street and North Broad Street. Permits list a floor area of around 3,000 square feet and Kevin O’Neill as the designer and Basch Builders as the contractor. Construction costs are specified at $555,000, of which $315,000 is allocated for general construction, $120,000 for plumbing, and $60,000 apiece for electrical and mechanical work.

Rendering of 701-19 East Girard Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects.

A Detailed Look at the 53-Unit Building Planned at 701 East Girard Avenue in Fishtown, Kensington

8:00 am on March 10, 2022 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Earlier this month, Philadelphia YIMBY visited the site of a four-story, 53-unit apartment building proposed at 701 East Girard Avenue in Fishtown, Kensington. The building, also known under its full address of 701-19 East Girard Avenue, will replace a small strip mall at the northeast corner of East Girard Avenue and East Berks Street. Designed by JKRP Architects and developed by OCF Realty, with OCF Construction as the contractor, the structure will span 58,260 square feet and feature 7,817 square feet of ground-level commercial space, elevator service, a fitness center, bicycle storage, full sprinkling, a 10,999-square-foot green roof, and a 1,855-square-foot roof deck. Permits list the construction cost at $9.3 million. Today we take a closer look at the proposal and its positive impact on the neighborhood, and share schematics for the dome-topped, 17-story hotel proposed at the site in 2014.

Park Tower. Image via Skidmore Owings and Merrill

A Look Back At The Unbuilt Park Tower In Center City

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

During its boom years in the 1980s and the 1990s, the Philadelphia skyline saw multiple tower proposals, many of which ended up not being built. Among these was Park Tower, located at 1501 Arch Street in Center City. Designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill, the two-towered development would include a 32-story, 480-foot-tall building on Cherry Street and the shorter high-rise standing 230 feet and 18 stories tall. The buildings would feature facades clad in red brick and white stone cladding. Today Philadelphia YIMBY looks back at the development and how it would fit into the skyline.

Philadelphia-Red Bank Bridge. Image via Courier Post

Looking Back at the Unbuilt Red Bank Bridge Proposal in South Philadelphia

7:30 am on July 19, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1920s, Philadelphia was on the rise, with industry and was with business activity bustling across the city. The port was generally busy, the skyline was growing, and as automobiles surged in numbers, the city was in need of bridges spanning the Delaware River and connecting to New Jersey on the other side. The proposed Philadelphia-Red Bank Bridge was brought to public attention by Mayor J. Hampton Moore, who suggested that the city is in dire need of a new bridge at its south end. The bridge would have been situated very close to the present location of the Walt Whitman Bridge, though slightly further west and running from the north to the south rather than from the west to the east.

Twin Independence Blue Cross Towers. Photo and edit by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Renderings of the Once-Proposed Twin Independence Blue Cross Towers

8:00 am on May 21, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In February, Philly YIMBY published an examination of the Twin Independence Blue Cross Tower proposal that was planned in the mid-1980s. The Independence Blue Cross Tower were designed by WZMH Architects, who also designed the CN Tower in Toronto, Canda. The developer, The Linpro Company, intended to build two 45-story towers on the 1900 block of Market Street. Each would have stood 625 feet tall, located 1901 Market Street and 1919 Market Street in Center City. If built as a twin pair, they would have stood next to the 565-foot Commerce Square towers, another pair of twin high-rises.

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.

The Centennial Tower. Image from Clarke, Reeves and Company

Remembering the Unbuilt Centennial Tower in Fairmount Park, West Philadelphia

8:00 am on April 20, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

During the planning for the Centennial Exposition of 1876, expo organizers put forth a bold proposal for an incredibly tall structure called the Centennial Tower in Fairmount Park, where two buildings still remain from the expo. The tower was planned at 1,000 feet tall, well before any skyscrapers were built in the city. The tower would have risen as large cross-braced tube that slims down at the top, capped with a short cone top and lightning rod, and would have featured four observation levels. The metal structure was designed by Clarke, Reeves and Company, which had also designed an older bridge that stood at then site of the current Girard Avenue Bridge.

Philadelphia skyline with unbuilt proposals. Image and models by Thomas Koloski

The Unbuilt Skyline: a Comprehensive Look at Philadelphia’s Major Canceled Skyscrapers

8:00 am on March 22, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The Philadelphia skyline has grown enormously over the past few decades, yet there are many formerly planned towers that were once planned yet were never completed. Philly YIMBY recently ran a series of articles that shined a spotlight on a number of unbuilt buildings. The designs came in various unique shapes: some featured curves, some boxy, and others with sharp angled cuts that gave them distinct character. While some were notably more appealing than others, even the most subpar of these designs would have dramatically elevated the city’s already impressive skyline to a new level. Today we present what the skyline would have looked like if all of these developments were built.

Mandeville Place rendering. Image via Richard Meier and Partners Architects

Revisiting Mandeville Place, a 607-Foot-Tall High-Rise Once Proposed at 2401 Walnut Street in Center City West

7:30 am on March 8, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Philly YIMBY’s “unbuilt” series continues with Mandeville Place, a slender, 607-foot-tall high-rise proposed at 2401 Walnut Street in Center City West in the mid-2000s. Designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects and developed by Bedrock Group LLC, the 43-story skyscraper would have joined an existing eight-story building to the south, which would have been converted into hotel space. A shared amenity rooftop was planned between the two structures. The tower would have featured 45 condominium units that would have offered dramatic views of the skyline.

Waldorf Astoria looking northwest. Image via Cope-Linder Architects

Looking at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Once Proposed at 1441 Chestnut Street in Center City

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

Today’s entry in Philly YIMBY’s ongoing “unbuilt” series is the Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Philadelphia, proposed at 1441 Chestnut Street in Center City, where the W/Element Hotel is now nearing completion. The 567-foot-tall, 59-story tower would have occupied the south side of the site of the former One Meridian Plaza, a 492-foot-tall office skyscraper damaged by a lethal fire in 1991 and demolished in 1999 (yesterday YIMBY covered a supertall structure proposed earlier at the site). Like the W/Element Hotel, the Waldorf Astoria iteration was also designed by Cope-Linder Architects, though the developers at the time were Mariner Commercial Properties, Inc. and Gatehouse Capital Corporation. The tower would have featured 181 hotel rooms and 126 residences.

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