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

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.

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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

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.

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Park Tower. Image via Skidmore Owings and Merrill

A Look Back At The Unbuilt Park Tower In Center City

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.

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Philadelphia-Red Bank Bridge. Image via Courier Post

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

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.

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

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

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.

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