Office

Construction Progresses at 78-Unit Cityplace South in Allentown, PA

Façade work is underway at Cityplace South, a mixed-use development located in downtown Allentown in the greater Philadelphia area. The building stands four stories tall and will hold 78 residential units. The project is attached to an existing nine-story, 120-unit building at 902 Hamilton Street. In addition to the residential space, the development will also feature office space.

Read More

Thomas Jefferson Specialty Care Pavilion (1101 Chestnut Street) via Jefferson Health

Crane Erected at 1101 Chestnut Street for the Jefferson Specialty Care Pavilion in Market East, Center City

A red tower crane has been erected at the Jefferson Specialty Care Pavilion at 1101 Chestnut Street, which is part of the two-tower East Market Phase 3 development in Market East, Center City. Designed by Ennead Architects and Stantec and developed by Jefferson Health, the 372-foot-tall, 24-story building will stand on the east side of the block, next to the 329-foot residential high-rise at 1153 Chestnut Street that is planned as the second phase. The 712,000-square-foot tower will feature an attractive wavy glass façade with Jefferson logos at the top of the building.

Read More

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

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.

Read More

World Trade Square aka Renaissance Plaza. Credit: Alesker & Dundon Architects

Visualizing World Trade Square, an Unbuilt Multi-Tower Complex in Northern Liberties, North Philadelphia

Yesterday Philly YIMBY published a feature story covering the 1,050-foot-tall Philadelphia World Trade Center supertall planned at 456 North Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the Delaware River waterfront in Northern Liberties in 1988. After the proposal fell through, developer Carl Marks Real Estate Group contracted Alesker & Dundon Architects to redesign the project as four shorter yet still impressive skyscrapers, which were to take up most of the 5.5-acre site. The development would now be known as World Trade Square, and later as Renaissance Plaza.

Read More

Philadelphia World Trade Center looking northeast. Model by Thomas Koloski

Revisiting the Unbuilt Philadelphia World Trade Center Supertall Proposal

In 1988, plans were revealed for a 1,050-foot-tall, 65-story Philadelphia World Trade Center supertall at 456 North Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the Northern Liberties waterfront. The tower would have stood just to the north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, located close to the boundary between North Philadelphia and Center City. The plan, which later evolved to the World Trade Square project, consisted of three shorter high-rises alongside the main tower. The skyscraper was designed by Kling Lindquist, which was also bend the Bell Atlantic Tower and the unbuilt Center City Tower. Carl Marks Real Estate Team, along with Lance Silver and Stuart Harting, were the developers.

Read More

Fetching more...