The Lewis Tower from Arthaus. Photo by Thomas Koloski

A Look At The Lewis Tower At 1425 Locust Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City

Philadelphia is home to a sizable collection of intricately designed skyscrapers that were built between 1920 and 1940, which still stand out on the cityscape despite being drastically shorter than the modern towers of Center City. The east side of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood features many towers built within that time frame, including The Lewis Tower, now known as The Aria Condos at 1425 Locust Street. The structure rises 389 feet and 33 stories tall, just one block to the north of the 375-foot-tall tower known as The Drake. The skyscraper was designed by Edmund Gilchrist, and Gravell and Hall engineered the steel structure. The Art Deco building was completed in 1929.

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23 West Girard Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects

Renderings Revealed for 107-Unit Development at 23 West Girard Avenue in Fishtown

A recent Civic Design Review has revealed new renderings are out for 23 West Girard Avenue, a mixed-use development proposed in Fishtown, Kensington. Upon completion, the building will rise six stories tall with 5,406 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The upper floors of the building will host 107 residential units, which will occupy the vast majority of the 104,160 square foot building. The building will also offer a 6,000 square foot roof deck which will likely offer sweeping skyline views. There will be 29 parking spaces included with three for electric vehicles and one as a car share spot. JKRP Architects designed the building.

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Philadelphia skyline lit up from South Philadelphia. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Observing the New Lighting Schemes in the Philadelphia Skyline

Last month, Philadelphia YIMBY reported on new lighting schemes that are decorating the nighttime skyline. Though it was already known that One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street and the W/Element Hotel at 1441 Chestnut Street, both located in Center City, are having their lighting tested, both now feature together in the skyline, with new programming visible to the residents of the city. The lights on One Liberty Place, which used to be dimmer and had sections of the lighting noticeably lit a different color, the lights have now been fixed and brightened. The W/Element Hotel used to be a dark skyscraper in the night time skyline with just the aviation warning lights noticeable, but now the skyscraper is lit up nearly as much as the FMC Tower in University City.

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Permits Issued for Parking Garage at East Market Phase 3 in Market East, Center City

Permits have been issued for the parking garage at 1101-53 Chestnut Street, part of the East Market Phase 3 development in Market East, Center City. The garage will be situated underground beneath the two future towers with three levels of underground parking and 300 parking spaces, which will be shared between the two superstructures. t will include 37 compact parking spots with 15 spaces for preferential parking, as well as 15 electric vehicle spaces with chargers and eight ADA spaces, where two will be van-accessible. The garage will total 156,456 square feet and cost an estimated $42,357,933 to construct.

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Credit: KCA Design Associates.

Renderings Revealed for 104-Unit Development at 1631 South 52nd Street in Kingsessing, Southwest Philadelphia

Renderings have been revealed for a two-building, 104-unit multi-family development proposed at 1631 South 52nd Street in KingsessingSouthwest Philadelphia. Building A will hold 40 residential units, with 28,660 square feet of space will be reserved for residential space and an additional 14,330 square feet for amenity, circulation, and building support space. Building B, will include 64 residential units, with 70,288 square feet of residential space and 30,000 square feet of amenity, circulation, and building support space. Designed by KCA Design Associates, the development will also include 46 parking spaces, with two set to be ADA accessible, two reserved for car share spaces, three for electric vehicles and one to be used as a loading space. Each building will also include 13 bike spaces for a total of 26. The structures will each stand five stories tall.

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