Hmmmmmm...
I wonder if this could be something more? I know whatever it was would have to go through CDR and we would've seen it by now, but maybe it's below the square feet for CDR requirement.

What building is that? The Gallery?

Maybe?
It's not really in the right location for that western tower.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/929/2...e4e67359_h.jpgFDP6

Yes, sorry for missing that bit. The picture has more reflection/glare than I thought it did.

I agree that the crane is way out of position for the northwest tower in the renders. It's probably just for raising the roof over the old Penney's/Burlington space for the theatre. That higher roofline is visible in the rendering above. Currently the tower pads rise above the Penney's/Burlington roofline.

I highly doubt we're witnessing a new, out-of-nowhere highrise. Too many rules and regs in place for the city to not know about it. Plus, the regular contributors on this forum are way too good to hear about but not report on a nugget of news, a juicy rumor, an L&I posting, etc. Nothing gets by some of you people! (which is why the Philly forum is the best one on Skyscraper.com....)

Maybe if we had an exact address, someone could look it up on the L&I website?

I was thinking about this when I saw them erecting the crane. Take a look at the type of crane it is, and how far above the roofline the cab is. It really isn't all that high, as far as tower cranes go. This is a type of tower crane that's meant to operate in confined spaces, such as when you've got taller buildings in the immediate vicinity of the work site, while still being able to reach every corner of the work site. It is, in short, the perfect crane to re-roof a large horizontal expanse, especially when the alternative is either unfeasible or impractical. I mean, they had Market Street closed down on Saturday afternoon installing this thing! Can you imagine having to re-roof the whole site with street-based cranes?

Something else I'm noticing: If you look closely enough, every installed detail corresponds with the render so far. It's quite sneaky, too, because this render is done from a much more flattering angle -- and with much more flattering (i.e. low) light -- than we'll ever get to see. Strange, that.

You can also see that they're doing some work on the back tower base from 10th and Arch. Specifically, they've got some of the vents there completely knocked out. PREIT is notorious for waiting until the last second to announce anything -- any fool with a brain could see that the Strawbridge's basement was being outfitted for an anchor tenant several months before Burlington Coat Factory announced it was moving down there. Any fool with a brain can see that the NE corner of 10th and Market is being outfitted for a 3-story mini-anchor right now as well -- the escalator gaps in the middle of those floorplates are obvious and plain as day. I reckon that's where the Primark's gonna go.

Love Park
 

Finally got to walk thru Love Park yesterday - it's coming along.

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/838/4...ef28b65b_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/835/4...95d68cd1_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/882/2...9f4fb58a_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/852/3...79402620_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/904/3...7d0e0170_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/939/2...825561c5_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/828/4...bcd3ec33_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/927/4...2abe0da2_b.jpg

http:////c1.staticflickr.com/1/914/2...2fcaf37c_b.jpg

^
Fabulous...these photos of the new love park shows a great public place to hang out. Once the trees get bigger and the canopy grows, the shade will make it enjoyable on hot summer days. Love all the seating too. Great asset for Philly.

I see some steps that are begging for a skateboard :rolleyes:

Will there be a place for food trucks? Love Park is a great place for grabbing a quick bite from a truck and dining al fresco during the lunch hour. It would have been smart for the city to create a lane for food trucks to park and somehow encourage their presence. I'm guessing this isn't going to happen, which is a shame. If not food trucks, is there a focal point to this space - an attraction that will bring people here? Food truck seems like low hanging fruit. They certainly bring crowds....

There's this thing called the Love Sculpture - oh and a huge fountain and splash area, and a big lawn but yeah food trucks.

In all seriousness, I don't see why they won't allow the food trucks back? JFK is a 6 lane road there, plenty of room for them.

Yeah, I tried on purpose not to take a pic of the sculpture and the fountain (with its pre-opening water malfunction last week!).

Also, remember the flying saucer building will be all glass -- and a cafe/wine bar of some sort.

AFAIK the food trucks will be back, although I'm not 100% sure when.

Also, it's almost like all the people taking pictures of a not-yet-finished park a few weeks ago and claiming it was a disaster were jumping the gun a bit... :rolleyes:

Perhaps those people are skateboarders or just miss the gritty ness the old love park represented.

Now I wouldn’t say the parks a disaster, I am impressed with the new pics TC1 posted but I am still skeptical I will like this love park more than the last.

Any news on the fountain by the way?

My only issue with the park is they really cheaped out on the landscaping and trees. I bought a street tree for my house after mine died and as tall as those and was only $800. You would think with a multi-million budget they could have afforded more mature trees. I think they did 16'-18' for a little over $2k. I would imagine they would get a bulk discount for the park as they would be buying many, plus they have their own labor. I wish they'd just spent a tiny bit of extra cash to make the tree canopy that much better.

I'm about 95% certain, I seem to remember reading something a while a go about them definitely coming back, but can't remember where.

Patience padawan. Trees grow. Maybe the $$ saved on the trees allowed them to upgrade another component of the park - like those slick benches.

Could also be the case that they had intended to buy larger trees but cost overruns due to the parking garage issues forced them to change their strategy.

Regardless, people complain enough about the City's taxes so this was hardly a win-win situation. :haha:

So you must be a skateboarder... The last Love Park was a objectively an urban design disaster of epic proportions. Obscured views, multi-levels, weird angles and sightlines, dark nooks and crannies that served perfectly for mugging stations and homeless shelters... There's a reason that when they fixed the roof they completely scrapped the original design.