One Liberty Place elevation and Helmut Jahn. Photo and image via JAHN

As the World Remembers Helmut Jahn, One Liberty Place Lights Up the Skyline

Philadelphia YIMBY often shares exciting and uplifting news regarding the city and its development. However, on May 8th, in Chicago, world-renowned architect Helmut Jahn was tragically killed in a road incident not far from his eponymous firm. According to the press, Jahn was biking near his home, 40 miles away from Chicago, when he was struck by two vehicles and was pronounced dead the next day at 81 years old. The architect was born on January 4, 1940 in Zindorf, Germany, and has designed an incredible amount of buildings between 1974 and 2017. In his lifetime, Jahn has produced unique and awe-inspiring designs throughout the world, which stood out as ahead of their time, and has left a dramatic imprint on the Philadelphia skyline.

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Live! Casino and Hotel with the Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Philly YIMBY Visits the Recently Completed Live! Casino and Hotel in The Sports Complex District, South Philadelphia

Philadelphia YIMBY has recently made a site visit to the Live! Casino and Hotel at 900 Packer Avenue, where it has recently finished construction in the Sports Complex District in South Philadelphia. The 1.5 million-square-foot development opened on February 11th, with both the casino and hotel opening to the public. The hotel stands 14 stories tall and features 215 units. The complex was designed by Bower Lewis Thrower Architects, which has also designed Symphony House and was on the design team for the FMC Tower. The developers, the Cordish Company and Greenwood Racing and Entertainment, has also erected two other Live! Casino and Hotel’s in Pittsburgh and Maryland.

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Philadelphia 1987 and 2020 south elevation. Model and image by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 1987 and the 2020 Skyline

Over the decades, the Philadelphia skyline has seen many transformations with different iconic images, such as when City Hall stood all alone in the early 1900s. One of the key years in the high-rise history of the city is 1987, when One Liberty Place dramatically surpassed City Hall in height and opened later in the same year. Another key year is 2018, when the skyline gained its first supertall tower with the completion of the Comcast Technology Center. Today Philly YIMBY compares the skyline’s appearance in 1987 to its state in 2020.

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Cathedral Square Phase 1. Credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz

Tower Crane Constructed At Cathedral Place Phase One In Center City

April Showers bring May towers. Another week, another crane. This time, a tower crane has been observed at the site of Cathedral Place Phase 1 a 245-oot-tall, 23-story high-rise under construction at 222 North 17th Street in Logan SquareCenter City. Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the structure will offer a total of 265,849 square feet of space, with 273 residential units, 3,000 square feet of retail, and 18 parking spaces.

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