Center City

Riverwalk towers. Image via PMC Property Group

Facade Wraps Construction On Riverwalk South in Center City West

The Center City West neighborhood has taken on a new look over the past few years, as the first of the newest crop of developments are in the final stages of construction. A pair of towers dubbed Riverwalk stands at 60 North 23rd Street, near the Schuylkill River. Designed by Gensler and developed by PMC Property Group, the angled south tower rises 363 feet and 32 stories, and the north tower rises 315 feet and 28 stories. In total, the slab-like towers will soon boast 711 total units.

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Liberty Place complex model. Image via Frank Whittock and Associates Inc

YIMBY Shares Detailed Models of the 1987 Liberty Place Iteration in Center City

The Philadelphia skyline consists of a number of towers that shape the city’s image, with the Liberty Place in Center City towers among its key features. One Liberty Place and Two Liberty Place, addressed at 1650 Market Street and 50 South 16th Street, are located two blocks away from City Hall. The complex, which also includes a shopping center and a hotel, was designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn (recently renamed to Jahn/) and developed by Willard G. Rouse III of Rouse and Associates, which had eventually evolved into Liberty Property Trust and developed both of the Comcast towers. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY presents detailed skyline massings of the 1987 Liberty Place iteration.

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Broad and Lombard. Image via SITIO Architects + Urbanism

New Renderings Revealed for Broad and Lombard in Rittenhouse Square, Center City

The Virgin Hotels proposal at 500 South Broad Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City, has been revamped with a new design. Designed by SITIO Architects + Urbanism and developed by The Badger Group and Goldenberg Group LLC, the 468-unit development now known as Broad and Lombard will now boast a tower that will stand 542 feet (alternately pictured at 573 feet) and 43 stories tall. The project involves a renovation of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Building, with work helmed by Voith and MacTavish Architects. The new tower will echo the design of the Public Health Building and will stand tall in the Philadelphia skyline.

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One Meridian Plaza on fire. Image from The Arizona Republic

YIMBY Revisits the Deconstruction of One Meridian Plaza in Center City

During the 1960s and 1970s, multiple developments with massive amounts of office space, occupied by banking firms in particular, were constructed in Center City Philadelphia. Most of these developments featured a light brown Brutalist exterior with contrasting dark glass. Among the first such structures built was One Meridian Plaza, located at 1416 South Penn Square, which stood 492 feet and 38 stories. Designed by Vincent Kling & Associates (later known as KlingStubbins, now part of JACOBS) and developed by the Girard Bank and Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance, the tower started construction in 1968 and was completed in 1972, and featured the light brown stone cladding commonly seen during the period, along with rows of dark glass leading up to the bay windows at the top. The skyscraper eventually met its tragic demise in 1991, and was deconstructed in the following years in a process that YIMBY revisits in today’s feature.

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Center City West. Looking north. Credit: Google Maps

YIMBY Observes the Rise of Center City West

Center City West is a section of Center City located roughly between 21st, Chestnut, and Arch streets and the Schuylkill River. For decades, the neighborhood was comprised primarily of parking lots, yet in recent years the area has been on the rise with a large number of projects that have recently been completed, underway, and proposed. The largest developments that have originally been completed in the neighborhood are the PECO Building, completed in 1970, and the Aramark Headquarters which renovated the structure of an existing building at 2400 Market Street in 2019. With Aramark relocating its headquarters to the neighborhood, the company saw the potential of the area’s growth. 2222 Market Street, the first development of the new construction wave was revealed in 2019, and is currently underway.

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