They definitely failed Building 101 on this one. They had to have known all of this would be an issue. With respect to the retail, they increased it after complaints for inadequate amounts. Duh. I would have to think the delay and the legal battles have cost a pretty penny, and they would have done just as well had hey approached it differently even with maintaining facades and other concessions.
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Toll Brothers' releases new design for Jewelers Row tower
http://planphilly.com/uploads/media_...752.1128.s.jpg http://planphilly.com/uploads/media_....752.941.s.jpg http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...lers-row-tower ... This is much better. |
4th times a charm? Hardly a charm. But a definite improvement. The bar was set so low, that's not hard.
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^^^ very true, a very low bar to cross.
This plan includes some balconies, which is always a good feature. But it also means that Toll is still playing around trying to decide what the market wants. It might just be the perspective of the drawing, but to me this appears very top heavy, the crown is TALL. |
I think Toll Brothers have become emboldened and decided to design what they wanted in the first place. The 2 previous (especially the first one) was a patronizing design to appease the nostalgic NIMBY's. They're never going to be happy so,"Just Do It!"
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Toll could do a masonry build to blend in with jeweler’s row and make a lot of people happy but they have gone rogue by going mostly glass. If it stood alone, I wouldn’t care and actually would be happy with the design and glass wrap. Kinda reminds me of the 500 walnut project standing next to masonary and brutalist builds. Just build it already.
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if this was a new proposal popping up anywhere else, i would guess we’d all be pretty stoked - the aftertaste of the ugliness is hard to wash out. while this won’t be winning any awards, this is for sure far superior to everything that’s been presented thus far. i hope there’s some additional renderings that pop up of the street level so we can get a better idea of how this integrates, or - more appropriately - stands out.
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Build it!
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Yes, build it already. It's fine as it is. Just do it!
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The renders finally look "ok." But in nearly every project, the renders look a lot better than the finished project. If this project suffers from a similar degradation I think the finished project will slip back into the "Steaming Pile of Shit" category.
The way they just radically change the base with every redesign, seemingly without any rhyme or reason, really goes to show how little they care, how weak they are in their vision. If you had a really purpose driven design here, they'd be reluctant to make changes. They're just throwing shit at a wall until they can get a demo permit. I was in Phoenix recently and I saw their name on numerous mcmansion developments, it seems like they're building a ton out there. I wish they'd just stick to doing shit like that. They're comically not up to the task here. |
I like the brick base better.
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QUESTION: The crown does look big. Did the height change at all? Or did they reduce number of units? |
Looks like someone chopped up the Comcast tower.
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I think it meets the street better surprisingly with the glass frontage. It says more hey come check us out. The previous iterations seemed like a giant "KEEP OUT THIS IS MINE" sign... there's enough going on with the tower to be interesting but the crown is ugly. It's huge and doesn't really "echo" any other structures in the city except maybe the Comcast building and if anything this is the ugly squat clunky step-child. I just hope they know what they're getting into with this spot as far as clientele. They have towers sprouting up in Jersey City rented to mostly young professionals and they look shoddy up close and the units don't look any better. Much like their cookie-cutter homes in the suburbs. Not sure people looking to live in Washington Square will accept that.
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The tower portion is very mediocre but they have done a pretty good job in creating a pedestrian space that echoes the old facades. IMHO I think that more brick a less glass would have helped create a more cohesive street presence.
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As someone who is depressed by this project based on what this will do to a Sansom Street block that harkens back to an era long before it was a jeweler's row, I can still say that I like the new glass base better. Simulating a historical feel often turns out mediocre and worse than contemporary architecture, case in point the turds Toll Bros put forward before.
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The street level design might be Ok in a vacuum, but in this context, this street with its variety of styles, I think this is just another terd in their series of terds. |
CDR Meeting on this:
http://planphilly.com/articles/2018/...s-construction TLDR version: CDR calls turd a turd; crowd expresses anger; Toll team walks out; project moving forward, probably unchanged. |
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