Center City

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.

Center City Tower rendering with Liberty Place. Image via Kling Lindquist

A Look Back at Center City Tower, Once Planned as the City’s First Supertall Skyscraper

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

In the late 1990’s, a massive supertall was planned at the site of the 492-foot-tall One Meridian Plaza, an office skyscraper damaged by a fatal fire in 1991 and demolished in 1999. The proposed Center City Tower at 1414 South Penn Square in Center City would have been built where The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton and the under-construction W/Element Hotel currently stand. Designed by Kling Lindquist, the 1,050-foot tower would have become the first supertall skyscraper in Philadelphia, rather than the Comcast Technology Center, which took the title 20 years later. Notably, Comcast was also considering taking office space at Center City Tower, and the cable company’s decision to pull out of the project and to build Comcast Center at 17th and Arch Street instead was a major reason behind the supertall’s cancellation.

12+Sansom at 123-27 South 12th Street. Rendering credit: Studios Architecture

New Massing for 12 + Sansom at 123 South 12th Street in Market East, Center City

7:30 am on February 26, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In a follow-up to the recent design update to the 12 + Sansom project at 123 South 12th Street, Philadelphia YIMBY shares with its readers exclusive, brand new massing models of the 265-fot-tall, 20-story building’s future presence on the skyline. Designed by Studios Architecture (with Bower Lewis Tower Architects as the architect of record) and developed by Greystar Real Estate Partners, the 412-unit residential building will significantly boost the density in the Market East section of Center City. The tower’s shape and exterior have completely changed since the last iteration.

W/Element Hotel with decorative lighting. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Decorative Lighting Tested Atop W/Element Hotel at 1441 Chestnut Street in Center City

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

In recent days, decorative lighting was undergoing testing atop the W/Element Hotel at 1441 Chestnut Street in Center City, as the dual-branded hotel readies for its grand opening in the coming months (Element Hotel in April and the W Hotel in May). Designed by Cope-Linder Architects and developed by Chestlen Development, the tower’s nighttime illumination will be particularly effective due to the tower’s prominent height of 617 feet and 52 stories, further enhanced by the dramatic design inspired by the ripples on the Schuylkill River. During Superbowl LII, the Lighting Practice, the building’s illumination designer, was inspired by multiple skyscrapers that were illuminated in green in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles and decided to switch from an all-white design to a multi-colored LED system.

Timber Towers. Rendering via Hickok Cole

Examining Timber Towers, a Visionary Concept for Wood-Framed High-Rises Suggested for Center City

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

In 2018, architecture firm Hickok Cole published a design concept for Timber Towers, a trio of mixed-use high-rises that would use wood as the principal structural material. The concept, which won an honorable mention in the SKYHIVE Skyscraper Challenge, was designed to span an entire block in Center City to the northwest of the Comcast Technology Center. According to the architects, the 1.9-million-square-foot plan would use 2,075,125 cubic feet of wood products, “easily replenished by North American forests in less than three hours,” and sequester 80,775 US tons of carbon dioxide within the structure, resulting in emissions savings are the equivalent those produced by 12,073 cars within one year.

Updated Design Revealed for 12 + Sansom, a 20-Story Tower Planned at 123 South 12th Street in Market East, Center City

8:00 am on February 19, 2021 By Colin LeStourgeon

An updated design has been revealed for 12 + Sansom, a high-rise development proposed at 123 South 12th Street in Market East, Center City. Designed by Studios Architecture (with BLT Architects as the architect of record), the 371,700-square-foot structure will stand at a height of 20 floors and 265 feet, and will contain 412 residential units, 94 underground parking spaces, and storage for 138 bicycles.

17th and Vine rendering via Hiliier Architecture

A Look at an Unbuilt 50-Story Tower Once Proposed at 1739 Vine Street in Franklintown

8:00 am on February 17, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Nearly 20 years ago, a 890-foot-tall, 50-story skyscraper was proposed at 1739 Vine Street in Franklintown, North Philadelphia (or, by an alternate definition, in Logan Square, Center City). Located just to the north of Vine Street, at the intersection with North 17th Street, the tower would have dominated the northern edge of the skyline core. Designed by Hillier Architecture, the project featured a major setback on the north side and a taller, curved section at the south side, with a spire extending above the main structure. Renderings show a façade of light turquoise glass with white metal highlights.

542-Foot Tall Arthaus Tops Out in Washington Square West, Center City

8:00 am on February 15, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The concrete structure at the Arthaus condominium at 311 South Broad Street has officially topped out on February 12th, when the last bucket of concrete was lifted to the pinnacle. A celebratory ceremony was held on that day, as work continued on the 542-foot-tall, 47-story tower, located in Washington Square West in south Center City. The skyscraper will house 108 residential units, along with retail situated on the first four floors. The project is developed by Dranoff Properties, which had acquired the site in 2013 with the intent of constructing the SLS International Hotel. Eugene Kohn of Kohn Pedersen Fox has been the lead designer since the earliest stages, when the development was still planned as a hotel.

Site Clearance in Progress at Penn’s Landing Redevelopment in Center City

8:00 am on February 14, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The massive Penn’s Landing Redevelopment project will dramatically transform the Delaware River waterfront south of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Developed by The Durst Organization, the complex will create over 3.6 million square feet of floor space, as well as a 11.5-acre public park. The $2.2 billion project will add 1,834 residential units and a significant amount of office space, while expanding the Center City skyline to the east and likely inviting high-rise growth in the gap between the waterfront and the skyline core.

113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture

New Permits Filed at 113-121 South 19th Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City

8:00 am on February 11, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Permits have been issued for the consolidation of the five properties that make up the site of the 567-foot-tall, 49-story skyscraper proposed at 113-121 South 19th Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City. The façades of most of the prewar buildings at the site will be incorporated into the future tower’s base. The 183-unit building will feature balconies on most floors on the south side of the tower. The tower was designed by DAS Architecture and Planning and developed by Pearl Properties, which built the 272-foot-tall residential building called The Harper nearby at 112 South 19th Street nearly two years ago. The high-rise will stand two blocks north of Rittenhouse Square, featuring a mix of glass, metal and stone at the façade.

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