PHILADELPHIA | American Commerce Center | 1,510' Pinnacle / 1,210' Roof | 63 FLOORS

[volguus zildrohar]

I've had that image for a while. I haven't tried finding a hard copy of it but the Historical Society might be a place to start...also strangely enough flea markets. I understand that there is a sizeable market there for old Philadelphia postcards. This poster kinda nips the idea of Philadelphia lacking a highrise history down a peg or two...all but a handful of those buildings depicted are now gone - the most recent though a year or two ago.

[suphilly]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

^^^I don't know phillyscooter/ but I would try your historical society.
I've had this in my computer files for quite some time.


Funny, I almost didn't post it.
I'm glad I did.

Just search ebay for "Skyscrapers of Philadelphia"

They are 13x19 reprints I just ordered on

[Krases]

I guess the Philadelphia City Hall was the tallest building in the city until 1987. That's pretty cool!

[Zapatan]

That's an awesome chart and all but damn have we gotten off topic


let's not forget that this thread is about..

[SSBMEXPERT]

^^

That's funny, I tried finding a larger version of that ACC pic, with no luck until now.

Anyway, when do you all think that we'll be seeing some new articles on this? I know that in a sense that no news can be good news. But the thought of not seeing any news makes me a little uneasy.

Because if I can keep seeing recent articles on other skyscrapers that haven't been buit yet (Example: The Chicago Spire). Why is it so hard to come across anything new on this??

For some reason I just find this frustrating... Is there really absolutey nothing new on this at all? Or are some of the other supertalls so much easier to cover because of the popularity of the city surrounding them?

...Or do they just stand a better chance of being built?

Or am I just being a tad too frantic about this? *Sigh*

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

That's an awesome chart and all but damn have we gotten off topic


let's not forget that this thread is about..

That's a great rendering for a great building thanks!

[Monsieur Goat]

Originally Posted by justremember

Actually, as many have alluded to, somewhat of the opposite is true.

At the turn of the century, Philadelphia was constructing one of the most elaborate buildings in the world. Philadelphia's City Hall was built to be the tallest in the world, and if you go to it today, you'll realize that it's basically a museum in and of itself. When the building was complete, I believe only the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument were taller (I may be wrong, but this would have made City Hall the tallest BUILDING as opposed to just structures).

City Hall was such a dominate, important, and iconic building that it was decided, not by law but by the "gentleman's agreement" not to build buildings taller than City Hall. This is not a reflection of a lack of finances in Philadelphia, but of the grandeur of the city's main municipal building. Between the 1910s and the 1980s other buildings were build. The PSFS building comes to mind, which is considered by many to be the first building built in the international style.

So, Philadelphia's relative lack of height is do to historical tradition, and not this fake inferiority that some people like to paste on us.

I know I'm late on this, but some things really irk me.

Okay I would just like to that I did know about the gentlemen's agreement, but I said the problem with money as the less obvious reason.

"This is not a reflection of a lack of finances in Philadelphia, but of the grandeur of the city's main municipal building."

Im not talking about construction in the 19th century, which there was a lot of construction, but the city did not have the resources to build huge skyscrapers in the 60s, 70s, and until the mid 80s. There is proof of the city having not enough funding to build a huge skyscraper.

"So, Philadelphia's relative lack of height is do to historical tradition, and not this fake inferiority that some people like to paste on us."

I am from Philadelphia and do dislike the lack of credit we get, but the city did not have the money to build skyscrapers in the 70s into the mid 80s.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Monsieur Goat

Okay I would just like to that I did know about the gentlemen's agreement, but I said the problem with money as the less obvious reason.

"This is not a reflection of a lack of finances in Philadelphia, but of the grandeur of the city's main municipal building."

Im not talking about construction in the 19th century, which there was a lot of construction, but the city did not have the resources to build huge skyscrapers in the 60s, 70s, and until the mid 80s. There is proof of the city having not enough funding to build a huge skyscraper.

"So, Philadelphia's relative lack of height is do to historical tradition, and not this fake inferiority that some people like to paste on us."

I am from Philadelphia and do dislike the lack of credit we get, but the city did not have the money to build skyscrapers in the 70s into the mid 80s.

The municipalities do not normally fund skyscraper construction, private enterprise does. (There are some exceptions.) Philly had money enough to build the BSL during this time period, no? And the Boulevard?

But since the companies based in Philly didn't want to break the tradition and convention of City Hall being the tallest building in the city, then the traditional gentleman's agreement held. This was only ever de facto and never de jure.

DC BTW has the same kind of agreement, but there it's law. No building can be taller than the Washington Monument in DC. Taller buildings skirting the borders abound.

[theWatusi]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

DC BTW has the same kind of agreement, but there it's law. No building can be taller than the Washington Monument in DC. Taller buildings skirting the borders abound.

That's not true. The height limit in DC is a function of the street that the building fronts.

[Don098]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

That's not true. The height limit in DC is a function of the street that the building fronts.

Amazingly after further research, Watusi is actually right. That must be some kind of myth that no building can be taller than the Washington Monument because there is no mention of it anywhere in the Height of Buildings Act of 1910. The building was the Capitol. I always wondering why there weren't any buildings over about 200 feet in DC if no one could build higher than the Monument, figuring that thing's almost 500 feet tall (not sure of the actual height). Well, now I have my answer.

Anyway, I wish the ACC was getting a redesign while it waits for a tenant.

[theWatusi]

Originally Posted by Don098

Amazingly after further research, Watusi is actually right.

It had to happen sooner or later.

[Dball]

DC may also me limited due to Reagan Airport even though the Virginia side has bigger structures.

[Zapatan]

alright economy, rebound soon, i'm curious to see if this thing still has a fighting chance, it would be sad if it didn't

[Zapatan]

So apparently this thing is approved according to the official sites, that means once the economy rebounds it could be a go...


god philly deserves this building, what a massive beautiful structure

[uaarkson]

I want them to get this building, but I'm not crazy about it. The base is an artistic disaster and the top is irritatingly similar to 1WTC.

[Don098]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

So apparently this thing is approved according to the official sites, that means once the economy rebounds it could be a go...


god philly deserves this building, what a massive beautiful structure

No, this has only been cleared by the zoning commission; it still has to get final approval from the City Planning Commission. Those talks cooled once the economy collapsed. This building still has to sign an anchor tenant and then secure funding. It's not just sitting around waiting to be built.

[Zapatan]

^I think there's still somewhat of a chance that this building could go foward though when the economy gets better

[volguus zildrohar]

Well yes there is somewhat of a chance of it being built. Same thing goes for finding Atlantis.

The developers want to build it. Groups with an interest in the project don't necessarily have objections. The only real question is - when things rebound - can the space be absorbed. Even if the building lands a major tenant that will still put hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space on the market. The retail amenities the building offers are actually sorely needed, particularly in the corner of Center City where the project is located but it seems such thingws only come bundled with highrise projects around these parts.

[wanderer34]

I believe that the tower WILL get built, it's only a question of when the economy gets better. Right now the Dow Jones is in five digits, so it's a little indication that things are getting better than from last year, but you still need to take into account the unemployment rate in America, as well as in Phila, which might be slightly higher than the national average. If the building doesn't get approved this year. I'm hoping at least for next year, since it's supposed to take two years for the tower to get completed from start to finish.

[Zapatan]

well comcast center went through a long process before it got built (and 225 feet taller i might add)

i don´t think calling this thing dead is fair, maybe when the econ reboots


sueño contigo mi amor, que bella torre!