Features

Mellon Bank Center. Photo via Elizabeth Day Art & Architectural Illustration

A Look at the Former, Taller Iteration of Mellon Bank Center, Center City

8:00 am on February 12, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The 824-foot Mellon Bank Center at 1735 Market Street was completed in 1990. Originally, the tower had a similar design yet with a taller shape and several other differences. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by CommonWealth REIT, the tower would have stood 880 feet tall and would have featured projecting floor space at the corners up to an estimated height of 400 feet. The crown would have also appeared more skeletal than it looks today. Stone patterns all around the base are different.

American Commerce Center rendering via Kohn Pendersen Fox

The Story of the American Commerce Center, Once Planned as Philadelphia’s Tallest Tower

8:00 am on February 10, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

During the construction of the first Comcast Center tower, many wondered whether the 975-foot-tall skyscraper would rank as the city’s tallest for much longer. Just a few months before the former’s topping out, details were released about the American Commerce Center at 1800 Arch Street, a proposal that stunned many development watchers with its 1,510-foot height. The project was being developed by Hill International Real Estate Partners and designed by Kohn Pendersen Fox, a firm that is also behind the 792-foot-tall Mellon Bank Center, currently the city’s fifth-tallest building, and Arthaus, a 542-foot-tall skyscraper currently under construction. The development was ultimately canceled and the 1,121-foot-tall Comcast Technology Center was built at the site.

Philadelphia skyline from South Street Bridge. Photo by The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Illustrated History of Philadelphia’s Skyscraper Boom of 1984-1991

8:00 am on January 28, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

The Philadelphia skyline is anchored by a group of particularly tall buildings, but just 40 years ago, not a single tower rose over 548 feet, the height of the City Hall tower that was completed in 1901. An informal “gentlemen’s agreement” held towers back from rising above the limit, but no developer was successful until One Commerce Square was approved in 1984, which was soon followed by a series of even taller skyscrapers. Philly YIMBY looks at the history behind these Center City buildings, which shaped a major portion of the Philadelphia skyline as we know it today.

One Liberty Place from Cira Green. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Designing One Liberty Place, the Tower that Transformed Philadelphia’s Skyline

8:00 am on January 18, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street is an intricately designed skyscraper has dominated the skyline of Center City for over three decades. Designed by Murphy/Jahn and developed by Rouse and Associates, the tower is clad in a pattern of stone, metal, and glass that rises up to the angled crown and the thin spire. The tower first rose to its final 61-story height in the beginning of 1987, when the top floor was assembled beneath the future spire. Philly YIMBY looks back at the design process by architect Helmut Jahn via drawings from 1984, which show multiple design iterations.

How One Liberty Place Revolutionized the Philadelphia Skyline

8:00 am on January 5, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In August 1987, the 945-foot-tall One Liberty Place officially opened at 1650 Market Street as Philadelphia’s tallest skyscraper, soaring above the long-held unofficial height limit of 548 feet, set by the tower of City Hall in 1901. This remarkable skyscraper with a fantastical design ultimately led to the city gaining a new cluster of tall and massive skyscrapers that define the skyline to this day. In this feature, Philadelphia YIMBY explores the building’s progress from concept to reality, as well as its tenure as the city’s tallest skyscraper for 31 years.

1826 Chestnut Street. Looking southeast. Credit: Goodman Properties

Conceptual Renderings Revealed for a 42-Story Tower at 1826 Chestnut Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City

7:30 am on December 10, 2020 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

A few days ago, SkyscraperPage user FairmountFellow revealed a pair of renderings showing a skyscraper situated atop an existing prewar building at 1826 Chestnut Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City. The image, which the user allegedly “saw in a local cooperative presentation,” revealed no further information, yet various clues offer more details. The building shows a floor count of around 42 stories, and its location next to the recently proposed skyscraper at 113-121 South 19th Street suggest a height of roughly 550 feet. In the image corner is the partial logo of Goodman Properties, which has a page for the building on its website. It is unclear whether Goodman intends to develop the building as pictured or if it is a conceptual presentation geared to attract investors.

The new Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Thomas Koloski

A Look Back At How The Comcast Technology Center Changed The Philadelphia Skyline

8:00 am on November 7, 2020 By Thomas Koloski

In October 2018, the 1,121-foot-tall, 60-story Comcast Technology Center at 1800 Arch Street opened as Philadelphia’s tallest building, with office space and a Four Seasons hotel on the upper floors opening in August 2019. In…

YIMBY Presents Concept Renderings for the Philadelphia Skyline of the Next Decade

8:00 am on October 25, 2020 By Thomas Koloski

The Philadelphia skyline has come a long way over the past 300 years, and still has a long way to go with the developments currently on the drawing boards. Philly YIMBY presents a tour of the past, present and future of the city’s skyline, with exclusive renderings of the skyline’s appearance ten years from now.

YIMBY Presents Exclusive Concept Massings for the Penn’s Landing Redevelopment in Center City

8:00 am on October 18, 2020 By Thomas Koloski

The Penn’s Landing redevelopment plan, revealed last month ago as a winner of a major planning competition, will bring dramatic change to the Delaware River waterfront with a total of 3.6 million square feet of floor space. Developed by The Durst Organization, the project is also slated to bring a 11.5-acre park that will connect the I-95 Park to Penn’s Landing, with green space built atop new platforms over the Delaware Expressway. Two large lots of land will be redeveloped to bring a total of 15 buildings, with the southern portion featuring high-rises up to around 300 feet in height and the towers in the northern portion rising up to around 700 feet. The project will bring 1,834 residential units to the eastern edge of Center City. Philadelphia YIMBY’s exclusive set of concept massings display the impact the development will have on the skyline about eight years from now when the project anticipates completion.

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

567-Foot-Tall Skyscraper Revealed at 113-121 South 19th Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City

8:00 am on October 11, 2020 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

The Rittenhouse Square area is poised for dramatic skyline changes in the coming years, where the 599-foot-tall Laurel is the city’s tallest under-construction building. Yesterday, a Civic Design Review document revealed Pearl Properties’ plan for a 567-foot-tall tower at 113-121 South 19th Street. The svelte, 567-foot-tall, 49-story, 267,874-square-foot skyscraper will incorporate existing historic buildings into the base and will include 30,180 square feet of commercial space at the lower floors and 183 residential units above. DAS Architecture and Planning is the project architect.

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