the future of supertalls in philadelphia

[tower]

is there any?

comcast innovation and technology center will be philadelphia's only supertall when completed, but for how long? obviously nobody has a direct answer to this. comcast wants to remain topdog in philly, and they're doing a good job at proving it. do you think anyone will dare to surpass CITC anytime soon? one could say it's inevitable given time (cira center 4 maybe?) but it's certainly no guarantee.

hopefully CITC will set the bar for another supertall(s) at some point rather than getting stuck as in a stasis as philadelphia's only supertall effort

[scalziand]

Aren't there rumors that Comcast is buying land to build another tower after CITC is done?

[chris08876]

^^^^

I've heard that too. They definitely want to add more employees to the region. Another near-super tall from them would be nice.

[Outta here]

Originally Posted by scalziand

Aren't there rumors that Comcast is buying land to build another tower after CITC is done?

That my friend is just that . A rumor .
I seriously doubt there will be anything taller than CITC by Comcast or any one
else in the foreseeable future .
If Comcast feels the need to build a third tower , I'm betting , nothing over 750 '

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Outta here

That my friend is just that . A rumor .
I seriously doubt there will be anything taller than CITC by Comcast or any one
else in the foreseeable future .
If Comcast feels the need to build a third tower , I'm betting , nothing over 750 '

It's not a rumor that they bought land at 19th and Arch Streets across the street from CITC, that much is fact. It is almost certain they will build *something* there; whether it is "supertall" or not (defined as 300 meters/984 feet) has not been determined. But your 750' figure seems pretty arbitrary. We don't know what their intention or strategy would be by building there. They might want a lot of office space to lease out to other tenants (Philly office occupancy right now is close to 92%, so it's time to build), they might want a residential component as part of a mixed use building, maybe even another hotel component, who knows.

[wanderer34]

If what's said is true about Comcast purchasing land at 19th and Arch for the purpose of development, then what I can see is another skyscraper, but no supertall!!! It seems that with the exception of the CITC, which seems to be the city's only supertall, there haven't been any plans whatsoever for another tower that will reach 1000 ft (300 m). The only plans which reached that plateau were the Center City Tower just south of City Hall, and the American Commerce Center.

The Center City Tower was really nothing more than a concept and not even a real project. It was a good design, but there wasn't any real attempt to get such a tower built at that location. The ACC, on the other hand, was a concrete plan which had it's own funding, and had seamless design, great aesthetics, and numerous amenities (mall, movie theatre, five-star hotel, public spaces, gardens, etc.), but couldn't even get one major tenant to make sure the tower gets built, and as a result, went the way of other aspirational projects which would've made the city great!!!

I don't foresee any towers superseding the CITC in a long time!!! Just look at the current projects being built in Center City. The FMC Tower could've easily been 1000 ft, but the developers decided on 730 ft instead, the Comcast Center could've easily reached 1000 ft, but for some strange reason, it never broke that plateau. The CITC is the only tower that I can think off that although it's technically a supertall due to height, it's roof height is actually 911 ft w/o the spire, and it doesn't even contain an observation deck!!!

The Cira Centre 2 nearby 30th St Station, which is a much better design than the CITC, is about 750 ft and there haven't been any plans to make it taller. So I'm not holding my breath for another supertall to come to this city. We had our best chances ever to obtain a true supertall skyscraper tower when the ACC was first introduced in 2008, and look how that project was killed off due to NIMBYism, corruption, and cronyism!!! I think Philadelphia lives by the unofficial motto of "corrupt and content", as in content in just having mediocre design and mediocre results, in not just the skyline, which I think is one of the country's best, but in the way the city (the gov't, SEPTA, some of the people, etc.) just acts!!! We'll have to live with the CITC as the city's and the state's tallest for a long time!!!

[Austinlee]

Is there any chance that in addition to the new Comcast supertall the ACC tower developers could still build a supertall?

Although I'm sure Norman Foster's tower will rock overall I think the ACC was a more futuristic and exciting rendering.









Also, any remote chance of Mandeville Place to still be built down the road?

[summersm343]

^^No chance for ACC.

Still a chance for Mandeville though.

[summersm343]

Regarding future Supertalls in Philadelphia, there is the Schuylkill Yards development. The tallest tower here could reach 1,095 FT



Then there is the long term capping of the Powelton Yards north of 30th Street Station... the tallest tower in this development could reach over 1,000 FT tall:



I don't see anything else on the horizon yet. I'm sure that won't be it forever. Future Comcast developments? I don't see another supertall here. Along the 1900 block of Arch they would likely build 3 smaller towers here. I heard some rumor that it could be two office buildings about ~500 and ~600 FT and a ~400 FT residential building. Overall it's only speculation at this point.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Regarding future Supertalls in Philadelphia, there is the Schuylkill Yards development. The tallest tower here could reach 1,095 FT

Then there is the long term capping of the Powelton Yards north of 30th Street Station... the tallest tower in this development could reach over 1,000 FT tall:

I don't see anything else on the horizon yet. I'm sure that won't be it forever. Future Comcast developments? I don't see another supertall here. Along the 1900 block of Arch they would likely build 3 smaller towers here. I heard some rumor that it could be two office buildings about ~500 and ~600 FT and a ~400 FT residential building. Overall it's only speculation at this point.

I don't see any reason for Comcast to build another supertall, particularly since they had to add a spire to the CITC to make it taller than Comcast Center. That doesn't rule out another significantly tall skyscraper. They've already assigned the space in CITC and it's not even done yet. They'll likely still be leasing space elsewhere when it opens.

If we do get a supertall, I wouldn't be surprised to see it west of the Schuylkill from a company - or even technology - that we haven't heard of yet. Drexel wants Schuylkill Yards to be a hub of innovation, something Comcast should be investing in with the CITC. If Drexel does it right - connecting the dots between their graduates and new business development - some very exciting stuff could come out of the small start to the Schuylkill Yards. Considering how pricy office space is in University City, it can't sprawl like Cupertino or the Navy Yard, and they'll have to build up.

I know I sound like I'm daydreaming, but just think about how much technology changed the world in the 10 short years between 1995 and 2005. Back then, suburban campuses were the places altering our regions. But today's grads want to live downtown. Wherever technology takes us in the next ten years, we'll be building up to accommodate them. And the new grads building that tech love Philadelphia.