I am skyscraper enthusiast, more like a geek. However, I have to be realistic and not become too preoccupied with the aesthetics and understand the economics and why buildings are the height that they are, which I am sure is due to rentable space, due to market demands or lack thereof. Yes, I agree, that building looks 'top heavy,' it looks like it may fall over. However, in spite of it's lack of real height in that area, does leave an enthusiast like myself unfulfilled. I mean I wish it was 700+ but this is not NYC. Overall, I am sure it will look better than a blank space with moderately manicured grass.

We will have plenty of space for taller buildings with density in UC/SY, but it has to be economically feasible. Just keep in mind, we are not NYC, and I am happy we are not, because I couldn't afford to live in University City or most other places. Philadelphia's niche is it's affordability of living in a diverse, very large urban area with real history and culture. Very few cities can claim this to the level of Philly. Let's enjoy Philadelphia for it's uniqueness and stop creating the self-imposed shadow, that is NYC. We cannot compete with NYC. After all, NYC has something called billionaires row? We'll be lucky if we have a 'thousandaires row.' Or, take a look at downtown Baltimore or Wilmington and we should feel much better. Philly has a better balance of wealth but a little too much poverty but not the extreme disparity of rich and poor like NYC. I have many friends in NYC....and 'ain't nothing going on but the rent.' They wish they lived here. You should see the wide eyes when they say, 'Philly seems such a nice (and affordable) place to live, you actually live in a whole house?

And Oh, how I miss the the lost opportunity of seeing the ACC built. It would have been spectacular! They had the financing, just no anchor tenant. The Comcast CIT Center in it's place? Well, it looks good from certain angles and distances. I do get a kick out of telling out-of-towners that it is the tallest building in America.................Outside of NYC and Chicago.

If we want more density of taller buildings, the city needs to offer incentives to lure our fortune 500 companies in the metro area, such as Vanguard, Crown Holdings and Amerisource to set up headquarters in CC or UC. I heard we blew it with Unisys of Blue Bell, because of some petty locals didn't want the company to put their name outside the building!

For such placeholders, those towers were the most fabulous placeholders I've ever seen. I'm still hoping the final products can do the job that the placeholders did. I still remember the early proposals for the Comcast Center and whether it was 600 or 800 ft, each proposal was nicely done and fantastic.

The proposals have to have the same or at least similar effect that the placeholders had. Either build it or if you can't build the same thing, replace it with something similar. 3151 Market doesn't replace what I consider to be an even more spectacular proposal (https://phillyvoice-production.s3.am...ll-735x490.png) on what I perceive to be 32nd and Market.

Even though we're in the very early stages of SY, all I'm saying is just stick with the plan like the Green Bay Packers of the 1960's with their sweep play, and if we do, there'll be success coming our way!!!

I didn't say we should be like NYC, but we should at least compete, look up the dictionary of compete. Boston is the closest city just north of NYC and it competes in just about everything with NYC and Philadelphia shouldn't be a stranger at this. Just saying we can't compete does manifest an inferiority complex. What's funny is that Philadelphia has higher population growth than NYC currently and comparing Wilmington DE to Philadelphia is like comparing apples to potatoes. We don't need to be comparing ourselves to small fries like Wilmington, it's a regional city while we're a hub of the Delaware Valley as well as the largest city in PA and a Top 10 city at that!



Right now, bygones are bygones and my only concern for Philadelphia is if it can continue being at Top 10 city as San Antonio, Dallas, and San Diego are nipping behind us little by little and threatening our current standing at number 6. I heard that SA had annexed some more land and when Census 2020 stops taking questionnaires at the end of October 31, there's a possibility that SA can surpass us as well as Phoenix, becoming the fifth largest city in America, and I wouldn't be surprised because a lot of TX cities are rapidly growing with double digit growth while we're gradually growing. It remains to be seen how Philadelphia and PA end up for the 2020 Census.

As for MSAs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tistical_areas), The Phila MSA places us at number 8, just behind Miami-Ft Lauderdale-W Palm Beach and slightly below Atlanta and both Miami and Atlanta have double digit growth and it looks like Atlanta is destined to pass us by the end of Census 2020, placing it at number 8 and Philadelphia MSA is destined to fall at number 9. The CSAs, however, seem to forecast the Philadelphia CSA being knocked out of the Top 10 CSAs either by Census 2020 or later this decade (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combin...tistical_areas). And we all know that both Miami (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global...etwork#Alpha_2) and Atlanta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global...Network#Beta_+) have much stronger economies than Philadelphia at this moment (plus much higher growth rates within the cities, counties and the states in comparison to Phila and PA. This isn't a knock on Philadelphia, but it's saying that whatever economic policies Philadelphia has implemented needs to be changed because I don't believe that people just flock to Atlanta and Miami just for the sun alone.

I agree and it shouldn't be just the city of Philadelphia alone, but the commonwealth of PA as well, but state gov't has always been anti-Philadelphia and the only time Philadelphia has ever had some positive light was when former mayor Ed Rendell was elected as governor. Not sure whether we're going to get a company like Vanguard to come to the city, especially considering that Sunoco left for Dallas a few years ago, Lincoln Financial left for Radnor, Crown Holding left for Yardley, Sovereign/Santander left for Boston, UGI left for KOP, and Amerisource isn't leaving Conshohocken anytime soon. Ditto the ACC not eating built and the local and state entities didn't support the ACC as well as local NIMBYs, hence another reason why Atlanta and Miami is on it's way towards surpassing us in population and business while Philadelphia falls in ranking.

It's another reason why Philadelphia hasn't attracted or incubated companies here yet smaller cities like Boston and Newark, NJ and even embattled cities like Chicago with it's high crime and murder rates have no problems retaining their major businesses in their city limits because both the state and local governments work in sync with one another but here in PA, each city is like their own fiefdom and the PA state gov't is a Republican entity which works against urban needs and fulfills the needs of small towns, much to the detriment towards PA eventually. By 2022, that might change, and we may see a more Democrat-controlled state legislature especially since growth has been concentrated on the eastern and south-central portions of the state and decline plagues the western portion.

Despite Covid-19 uncertainties, Drexel's vision of a transformed University City is coming to life

Anything new here? Behind a paywall.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=4#cxrecs_s

Nope.

From the general thread:
Suppose this means 3025 is first to go.

According to the article:

Fall 2020: 3025 JFK Blv (2.5 year constrution time)
Early 2023: 3025 JFK Blv completed
Mid 2023: 3001 JFK Blv Start
2026?: 3001 JFK Blv completed

So they start 3001 when they finish 3025? Im understanding that correctly right?
If so did they say if there would be any other construction aside from the towers between? Like streetwork, greenspace, etc etc

I believe they said that that small tower at the current intersection of JFK and Market would be built simultaneously.

ok, thanks :tup:

Wait, we are talking about 3001 and 3025? Is that the address or is that the year they plan to start?

Friend who does glass window installation texted me to tell me he got the work order for the red building and commented how interesting the plan is.

Does that include a timeline on construction? I'm still confused on when it's likely to be built.

^^
hmm...work order? do they issue that before a shovel hits the ground? also, i was thinking maybe the company that your friend works for put in a bid and they were awarded the bid to install the windows once work gets underway.

If they’re awarding bids that means groundbreaking probably isn’t far off.

Isn't Dechert going to be an anchor tenant for 3001 JFK?

I'll take this a step further: the city has to do more than offer incentives to Fortune 500 companies. The city needs to overhaul itself so that it is more business friendly. Giving little incentives to this company and that so that this building or that one might be built is too small-thinking, and reeks of cronyism. There needs to be a wholesale change in the culture so that it makes so much sense to do business here as to be a no-brainer. Business taxes need to be lower. The city wage tax needs to go down, if not go away altogether. Streamline building approvals. Just make it easier and cheaper to do business in Philadelphia instead of how it is currently, which is rather hostile to business. Even Opportunity Zones are limited, in that they are of short duration and risk abandonment after their 10 year time limit, and only apply to specific sites or neighborhoods. The whole city should be one big unlimited Opportunity Zone.

Looking at historic budget shortfalls = time to cut taxes!

better to have more companies in the city paying less in taxes than fewer companies paying more.

No

I would argue yes. More companies paying slightly less in taxes is FAR better than less companies paying slightly more in taxes. Overall, it generates more tax revenue. As well, it brings more people into the city, living here or commuting here, which in turn generates more tax revenue as well.

Business taxes in Philadelphia need to be lowered - plain and simple. Wage tax needs to be lowered to 2%