PHILADELPHIA | 2400 Market | 305 FT | 20 FLOORS

[Urbanthusiat]

Yeah, I suspect the materials on the upper floors will leave something to be desired, but it seems it meets the street well which is good. I tend to think this was about the best they could have done with this site without demolishing the structure and still making an acceptable profit. I'm no structural engineer but I have to imagine making a tower would have been much more expensive and would have cut into profits significantly. I'm willing to forgive the flaws of this project because it meets the street well and is the first major project of this sort along the Schuylikill in MANY years.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Yeah, I suspect the materials on the upper floors will leave something to be desired, but it seems it meets the street well which is good. I tend to think this was about the best they could have done with this site without demolishing the structure and still making a profit. I'm no structural engineer but I have to imagine making a tower would have been much more expensive and would have cut into profits significantly. I'm willing to forgive the flaws of this project because it meets the street well and is the first major project of this sort along the Schuylikill in MANY years.

Agree. I'm just being nitpicky. Since it's PMC, it necessarily is going to be the path of least resistance and this ain't half bad.

[summersm343]

A Preview of the New 2400 Market

We knew that what PMC Property Group had planned to put on top of the former Marketplace Design Center was not going to be a simple tower slab.

What we hadn’t expected was that it would be this interesting visually.

The final design Varenhorst and Gensler Philadelphia submitted to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission for Civic Design Review is a little more restrained than the fairly restrained preliminary one, but both are still an improvement over the taller conceptual design PMC released when it first announced the project.

Each of the building’s three components retain their own distinctive expression: the original five-story building (two retail floors, one below Market Street level, and three floors of offices) gets window treatments more in line with its light industrial heritage as well as a new main entrance where the Wayland mural is now located. A four-story office addition that had featured balconies on every floor in an earlier iteration has been turned into a sleek glass box with a terrace atop it. Above the terrace floor is a 12-story residential tower clad in gray metal panels with thermal glass windows; the tower’s protrusions and voids offer additional terrace space. (The residential tower will have its own entrance from the pedestrian walkway overlooking 24th Street.)

Those terraces are part of the building’s quest for LEED Gold certification, as the green surfaces and plantings will help reduce stormwater runoff. Xeriscaping and water-saving plumbing fixtures will reduce water consumption, and the building will be clad in thermally efficient metal and glass.

Varenhorst’s submission also states that the project will include “dynamic open spaces that will attract the masses and further rejeuvenate the Schuylkill banks.” One of those spaces will be a new promenade along the building’s west side that overlooks the Schuylkill River Trail and the river itself.

The Civic Design Review panel will take up this project at its scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 31, at 1 p.m. in the Planning Commission conference room at 1515 Arch Street.

Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/property/20...hXpKaR6GJuL.99

[Knight Hospitaller]

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, but that looks good.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, but that looks good.

Take a pill; maybe it'll pass.

[SJPhillyBoy]

This building looks like it is from the "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" movie.

[Aaamazarite]

Originally Posted by SJPhillyBoy

This building looks like it is from the "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" movie.

You totally called it-- this building looked like a 1970s idea of 1990s architecture. For those of you not nearly nerd enough to know what we're talking about, here's a Then-and-Now album of those filming locations at UC Irvine

[mmikeyphilly]

Good Call SJPhillyBoy!!
Enjoyed the "then and now" site Aaamazarite

My first thought was: _______? Hey, maybe if Aramark doesn't find this appealing, maybe, just maybe....a site for a replacement of this?

[/IMG]

[cafeguy]

Originally Posted by mmikeyphilly

Good Call SJPhillyBoy!!
Enjoyed the "then and now" site Aaamazarite

My first thought was: _______? Hey, maybe if Aramark doesn't find this appealing, maybe, just maybe....a site for a replacement of this?

[/IMG]

Speaking of this one...I started getting annoyed that they STILL have what appears is a fake grass construction fence surrounding this area that was once open to the public. Its completely ugly and I always wondered why its been...what...nearly 5 years maybe...since this ugly fence went up.

So, I climbed up and looked over the fence to see the construction and to figure out why its still there, only to figure out that its now a private space with as much design as you would expect from the "plaza" of a cherry hill residential building. Its incredibly depressing inside and is clearly supposed to be a private courtyard amenity for the residents. Next time anyone swings past, peak over that chain linked fence and behold an excellent place for a horror movie.

Some developers... I just don't understand why they will let things sit to fallow. Its like they want to make a second tier project immediately right off the bat. They dont want to wait 20 years for a current project to become outdated. No, they want it today, immediately. And somehow...people still pay the premium to live/rent these places.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Saw a post on Urban PHL that said "[t]his project has been withdrawn from today's CDR Committee agenda at the request of the development team." Anyone know what's up?

[Schn3ll]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Saw a post on Urban PHL that said "[t]his project has been withdrawn from today's CDR Committee agenda at the request of the development team." Anyone know what's up?

Please be a redesign to slim down that massing... woof.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Saw a post on Urban PHL that said "[t]his project has been withdrawn from today's CDR Committee agenda at the request of the development team." Anyone know what's up?

Again? That's the second damn month in a row.

[domodeez]

It was the Director of City Planning who shared the news on FB, but he didn't say why.

[Urbanthusiat]

Well last time they pulled out we saw an improvement in the design, hopefully that remains the case!

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by cafeguy

Some developers... I just don't understand why they will let things sit to fallow.

Because our city allows them to do so. I'm not sure how it's even legal to set up a temporary chain link fence, permanently, on Broad Street.

Can I just set up temporary fence structures on my sidewalk? Perhaps in the fall, I can set up a haystack maze that all Pedestrians have to weave in and out of to pass in front of my house...

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Because our city allows them to do so. I'm not sure how it's even legal to set up a temporary chain link fence, permanently, on Broad Street.

Can I just set up temporary fence structures on my sidewalk? Perhaps in the fall, I can set up a haystack maze that all Pedestrians have to weave in and out of to pass in front of my house...

But even for active construction sites, this is a problem. How long had the sidewalk been closed at 20th and Market? The construction company had a permit to close down the sidewalk for 18 months?

[Jawnadelphia]

Was in Toronto - came across this construction site - of course I immediately thought of 2400 Market - the base looks the same. Wish this site could be 2 towers, I understand the added costs. Something like this would be perfect. (btw, the new construction/boom in Toronto is stunning, I think only NYC and Miami can compare in North America).

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/proj...t-condominiums


Here's for hoping.

[iheartphilly]

[QUOTE=TallCoolOne;7461589]Was in Toronto - came across this construction site - of course I immediately thought of 2400 Market - the base looks the same. Wish this site could be 2 towers, I understand the added costs. Something like this would be perfect. (btw, the new construction/boom in Toronto is stunning, I think only NYC and Miami can compare in North America).

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/proj...t-condominiums

This is the right idea to eliminate the awful wall feel. The architects for 2400 should play with this design, but certainly building two towers with a gap in between is the right idea. Thanks for sharing!

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by TallCoolOne

Was in Toronto - came across this construction site - of course I immediately thought of 2400 Market - the base looks the same. Wish this site could be 2 towers, I understand the added costs. Something like this would be perfect. (btw, the new construction/boom in Toronto is stunning, I think only NYC and Miami can compare in North America).

http://urbantoronto.ca/database/proj...t-condominiums

Here's for hoping.

Nice find. This actually looks like the architects are trying. For those who defend the bland box architecture culture that's pretty pervasive in Philly right now, that's a good example of how to take a dull footprint, and turn it into something visually interesting, if not exciting.

[1487]

does anyone know why this was pulled from the CDR hearing?