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  #61  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 2:35 AM
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NO WAY!!!!!!!! It started! this is one of the best projects on the east coast! I guess philadelphia has a good office market
     
     
  #62  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 2:56 AM
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Wow thats 2 years shaved off the original estimate which was 4th quarter 2012. PC Online stated the annex demolition is starting immediately and that the post office renovation and building of the new towers would happen simutaneously. What do you guys think 9-12 months of demo? Maybe this time next year they start actually building. That gives them 2 years to meet the end of 2010 deadline.

Very exciting news. $800 M project to go along with the billion dollars worth of construction at HUP South campus.
If PC Online is correct then this is fantastic news...I still am a little confused as to how it was just announced a few months ago and miraculously two years were shaved off its ETC...

still we don't really have reason to think it won't be built when it says it will be built...

I don't remember what they said when it was announced, but, did they already have tenants for the towers? I guess I'm just confused how they're going to build a 40 some odd story tower in todays market....or are they just assuming they'll have tennants in such a high profile spot...
     
     
  #63  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 4:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Ninjawho View Post
If PC Online is correct then this is fantastic news...I still am a little confused as to how it was just announced a few months ago and miraculously two years were shaved off its ETC...

still we don't really have reason to think it won't be built when it says it will be built...

I don't remember what they said when it was announced, but, did they already have tenants for the towers? I guess I'm just confused how they're going to build a 40 some odd story tower in todays market....or are they just assuming they'll have tennants in such a high profile spot...
I was thinking they erred when they said total project complete by end 2010. Originally Phase 1 was to end by 2010 (Post office renovation + parking garage) Then phase 2 was to begin. But who knows- with 2 different sources reporting total project completion by end of 2010 maybe Brandywine + Penn put the project on speed dial.. I know Brandywine has been moving alot of money around taking on partners, selling off property etc. Maybe this project has become priority #1.


That 40-50 story tower is going to be mixed use. 500,000 sq. ft of office space which Penn has committed at least 100,000 sq ft of. With center city vacancy rates under 10% that other 400,000 sq.ft will go pretty quickly. 225 hotels rooms and 50 condos.

The smaller tower is going to be all residential.
     
     
  #64  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 2:36 PM
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Has anyone been up to the site at all? I'll try to get there this weekend but if anyone works near there, please check it out and let us know whats actually going on right now.

Thanks.
     
     
  #65  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 2:52 PM
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I think someone touched on this before but it seems like the towers might not be rising for quite some time even though the project has started. That being said, I don't think anyone thought this was going to get going as quickly as it has and the brandywine article still says the project will be finished by 2010 (unlike this months gazette article below which says 2012). Hmmm

http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1107/gaz01.html

The post office renovation and parking garage are slated for completion by 2010, with the towers rising in 2012. By that time, Carnaroli said, new athletic fields will have been installed south of Walnut Street and the Franklin Field Pavilion will be taking shape [“New Campus Dawning,” Sept|Oct 2006].

The Walnut Street Bridge has long been considered a vital gateway between Center City and the Penn campus. Steinberg hopes that with Cira Centre South, the University will push the west side of the Schuylkill River toward a kind of urban-renewal tipping point.
     
     
  #66  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 3:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Ninjawho View Post
I guess I'm just confused how they're going to build a 40 some odd story tower in todays market....or are they just assuming they'll have tennants in such a high profile spot...

Ughhh Market?

this isn't a luxury condo project.
     
     
  #67  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 3:57 PM
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Officials break ground on Cira Centre South

Anthony Campisi

Daily Pennsylvanian

It's not every day that an Ivy League president operates a trackhoe.
But Penn President Amy Gutmann used one yesterday before an audience of local business and political leaders, including Mayor-elect Michael Nutter and city Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, to officially began construction on the recently acquired postal lands.

Gutmann kicked off the demolition of the postal Annex, the building attached to the famed post office located at 30th and Market streets.

It's being cleared to make room for Cira Centre South, a development by Brandywine Realty Trust on the northern 14 acres of property the University bought from the U.S. Postal Service over the summer.

If the project is approved by city planning and zoning authorities, Brandywine hopes to put a 40- to 50-story office tower and a 25- to 30-story residential tower on the site to complement its Cira Centre development, attached to 30th Street Station.

Though the plan is facing criticism from the city Planning Commission for potential traffic tie-ups, Gutmann, Brandywine and city officials were all smiles yesterday.

Calling Cira Centre South the "linchpin" of Penn's development with Brandywine, Gutmann said the demolition marked "beginning of the beginning" of an attempt to transform the area east of campus into a vibrant neighborhood that will attract new residents and businesses to the area.

Councilwoman Blackwell, whose district includes Penn and the postal lands, agreed.

"We think West Philadelphia is looking kind of good," she said in a speech before taking her own place at the controls of the trackhoe.

Brandywine CEO Jerry Sweeney was quick to stress the project's economic benefits, noting a plan to include minority contractors and construction workers in developing the site.

Penn Connects, the University's expansion plan, "has the ability to truly transform the city," he said.

In her speech, Gutmann enumerated ways in which she thinks the project will do just that, stressing that Penn Connects provides a way to expand campus "in a way that would add to West Philadelphia" rather than displacing residents to the west.

She also said Penn Connects would bridge the gap between Center and University cities, a theme echoed by Mayor John Street, who said the project "is really reaching across the river."

The development will include offices, residential space, a hotel, parking and retail between 30th, Walnut and Arch streets between the Schuylkill River and Penn's current campus. In addition to Cira South, Penn Connects also includes plans for Penn Park, a collection of athletic and recreational fields on the east end of campus.

Penn and Brandywine expect Cira South to cost about $800 million and have the project ready in phases, with the first phase completed in the third quarter of 2010.

- Staff writer Roger Weber contributed reporting to this article.
     
     
  #68  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2007, 8:00 PM
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Unbelievable news! I'm glad this project is underway, even if the 1st phase doesnt include the tower they have to start somewhere. Hopefully, we will see the skyline expand west by 2012.
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  #69  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2007, 2:50 AM
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This is an exciting project. The location is popular with many center city executives. The high rent is more than offset for many by the tax advantages (depends on the space/margin ratio of the business). The parking, highway, and transit access are also appealing for suburbanites (most execs).
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  #70  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2007, 5:05 AM
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Any news on this? Have they started de-construction of the post office?
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  #71  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 10:25 PM
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I was by the Annex last wednesday and there were Demo crews starting on the exterior on the west side of the building.
     
     
  #72  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 10:39 PM
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There was a national survey done on all the cities relative health and Philly didn't do well in the office construction market. But Cira 2 is in that Enterprise Zone that has a 10 or 15 year tax abatement for tennants. They did fill in the loopholes and made it for new companies from outside the city only. That tax abatement is the only reason this is being built earlier than proposed. And it will be filled by the time it is complete.
     
     
  #73  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 1:36 AM
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There was a national survey done on all the cities relative health and Philly didn't do well in the office construction market. But Cira 2 is in that Enterprise Zone that has a 10 or 15 year tax abatement for tennants. They did fill in the loopholes and made it for new companies from outside the city only. That tax abatement is the only reason this is being built earlier than proposed. And it will be filled by the time it is complete.
Where did you hear that this is happening earlier than proposed? Phase II is supposed to have the new tower construction and last I heard it was scheduled to be completed in 2012. Did it move up?
     
     
  #74  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2007, 5:30 PM
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This project is too good to be on page 2
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  #75  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2007, 11:29 PM
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Any pictures of the current progress made by the demolition for this project?
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  #76  
Old Posted Jan 10, 2008, 3:39 PM
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Here are some pics bryson662001 was kind enough to snap (after a heads-up from PhillyPants-AC about the model currently in Cira I):

disclaimer: the tall tower standing directly behind (west of) 30th St Station is not in the proposal posted at the start of this thread, so is probably more visionary as opposed to being a valid part of the plan - unfortunate IMO since I think it's the best looking of all the towers):





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  #77  
Old Posted Jan 10, 2008, 4:43 PM
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Cira I-Nice
Cira II-Nicer
Cira III-Nicest?
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  #78  
Old Posted Jan 10, 2008, 6:09 PM
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Originally Posted by looper121 View Post
Cira I-Nice
Cira II-Nicer
Cira III-Nicest?
     
     
  #79  
Old Posted Jan 11, 2008, 3:36 AM
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would be, could be, should be pretty cool mini skyline, if/maybe/when if ever this will done...

either way, is Cira2 progressing at all???
     
     
  #80  
Old Posted Jan 11, 2008, 4:18 AM
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OMG PLLLEEEEASE officially propose "Cira 3" - that looks insanely spectacular...i know what i'm dreaming about tonight!
     
     
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