http://www.globest.com/news/1148_1148/philadelphia/170366-1.html
1,500-Foot Philly Tower Inches Toward Reality
By Paul Bubny
PHILADELPHIA-The 975-foot Comcast Center at 1701 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in Center City could soon be dwarfed by a nearby tower half again as tall. An informational presentation before the Philadelphia City Planning Commission Tuesday was another step toward eventually getting approvals for Walnut Street Capital’s proposed 1,500-foot, mixed-use American Commerce Center at 1800 Arch St. If completed, it would be one of the 10 tallest buildings in the world.
"We are actively engaged in working with potential tenants" for the ACC project, Peter Kelsen, a land use attorney representing the developer, tells GlobeSt.com. "We have a joint venture partner on board and we don’t see any issue with financing once we get the entitlements and the tenants signed up. These two aspects are moving forward and have been for quite some time, and look pretty positive. We have not concluded the entitlement stage yet and that’s what we’re beginning to do in terms of the formal city process. Tuesday’s meeting was one prerequisite for that."
Walnut Street in mid-March revealed plans for the project, which is being designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. It would include a 63-story office tower with 1.3 million sf, a 26-story hotel and more than 300,000 sf of retail space above and below street level. The announcement came five months after Verizon’s sale of the 1.5-acre parcel at 1800 Arch to Walnut Street, reportedly in partnership with a Washington State pension fund. The site is across the street from the Comcast Center, and last October Joseph Grasso, head of Walnut Street, told GlobeSt.com that the Comcast tower was “deserving of a better neighbor” than the parking lot that had occupied the parcel since 1992.
Kelsen, a partner with the Philadelphia office of Blank Rome LLP, says the reception from the city and community representatives thus far has been "overwhelmingly positive. There are a couple of individuals who live close to the property that have expressed concerns, which we’re addressing." These concerns include traffic flow and construction management, says Kelsen, adding. "I would say the vast majority of comments we’re getting back are favorable. It’s fair to say that the reception we’ve been getting from the city has been encouraging, and we’re pleased by that."
In terms of the project’s office component, Walnut Street hopes to attract "a headquarters user, someone who would want to be in a modern building, a unique building for Philadelphia. Our office component is about 1.3 million sf, so figure someone who’s going to come in for 500,000 sf or so as an anchor."
Tenants are being lined up for the retail component as well. While declining to give specific names, Kelsen says they’ll include a nationally known home furnishings retailer, a health club chain, an upscale supermarket and a high-end restaurant. There will also be an upscale movie theater/foodservice concept, with eight auditoriums each seating no more than about 20 patrons. "The concept comes out of Australia and has been used on the West Coast extensively," says Kelsen.
He says the hotel is planned as a "five-star" operation and has drawn interest from several leading brands. It will offer 300-plus keys along with banquet and meeting facilities.
Once approvals are obtained, Kelsen says, Walnut Street hopes to begin construction in 2009 and complete the project by late 2012. Before this can occur, the company will need to surmount some zoning hurdles, according to published reports. The site is zoned for high-density commercial use of up to one million sf, but Walnut Street will need to persuade the city and planning commission to sign off on greater density. There is also a height restriction for an area including the site, which Walnut Street reportedly will seek to have lifted.
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