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

[Urban Jungle]

In a perfect world NBC moves all operations to the new flagship headquarters american commerce center directly across parent company comcast. Philadelphia builds its media/tv/movie productions out of the new building. 5star hotel plans follow through for the tower to accomodate the frenzy.
In a perfect world....

I don't really like the name anymore.. Give it a stronger name, why is it a commerce center again? How about "The Keystone State Building"

[Don098]

Originally Posted by Urban Jungle

In a perfect world NBC moves all operations to the new flagship headquarters american commerce center directly across parent company comcast. Philadelphia builds its media/tv/movie productions out of the new building. 5star hotel plans follow through for the tower to accomodate the frenzy.
In a perfect world....

I don't really like the name anymore.. Give it a stronger name, why is it a commerce center again? How about "The Keystone State Building"

I think you need to change it from "in a perfect world" to "in another dimension" lol. That will never happen. I agree about the name, I've always hated it. It's sort of a delusional name...it could only work in the financial capital of the country which would be NYC.

[Wheelingman04]

Damn, I hope that tower gets built. It would put Philly and the state of PA on another level.

[McBane]

any possible link between comcast and the ACC is totally ridiculous. comcast is very happy in their current HQ and, if additional space is needed, TWO PENN PLAZA can be built to accommodate the need.

instead of fantasizing about something will never happen (comcast spurring the development of ACC), how about we focus on the possiblity of TWO PENN PLAZA?

amazing how quickly people forget that TWO PENN PLAZA was designed specifically to accommodate future growth of comcast.

[Urban Jungle]

Originally Posted by McBane

any possible link between comcast and the ACC is totally ridiculous. comcast is very happy in their current HQ and, if additional space is needed, TWO PENN PLAZA can be built to accommodate the need.

instead of fantasizing about something will never happen (comcast spurring the development of ACC), how about we focus on the possiblity of TWO PENN PLAZA?

amazing how quickly people forget that TWO PENN PLAZA was designed specifically to accommodate future growth of comcast.

Calm down buddy, obviously you don't understand the word speculation. But thank you for clarifying what most of us already know. Unfortunately this isn't a thread about comcast nor Two Penn Plaza.

[Don098]

Originally Posted by McBane

any possible link between comcast and the ACC is totally ridiculous. comcast is very happy in their current HQ and, if additional space is needed, TWO PENN PLAZA can be built to accommodate the need.

instead of fantasizing about something will never happen (comcast spurring the development of ACC), how about we focus on the possiblity of TWO PENN PLAZA?

amazing how quickly people forget that TWO PENN PLAZA was designed specifically to accommodate future growth of comcast.

Whoa whoa whoa...so I guess this quote of mine from the last page "There has been some speculation that Comcast thought about scrapping II Penn Plaza for some space in the ACC..." It' pretty hard to say I forgot about II Penn Plaza when I referenced it by name...

Yea, a multi-billion dollar conglomerate that just inhereted a huge share of a national media network really has no chance of "spurring the development of ACC" and will "never happen". You should read up on some of the outcomes from other major deals of this magnitude and you'll see that in some cases it even turned cities around...

Would you RATHER have II Penn Plaza than the ACC, because based upon your response, it definitely sounds like that. I, for one, would MUCH rather see the ACC go up. That post was very puzzling, McBane...

[hammersklavier]

Personally, I would rather have both. There currently aren't any studios in the Comcast Center; Comcast's studios are in the Wachovia building on the Avenue of the Arts. II Penn would be a good place to stick studio space and the ACC new offices needed to support NBC...

[McBane]

both would be nice.

even better would be if they built 2 penn plaza higher than planned. sticking with philadelphia's "let's be as inconspicuous as possible" style of building, stern decided to make 2 penn plaza the same height as suburban station and other neighboring buildings (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10 penn center), which all sit at about 300 ft.

hopefully, the NBC-universal deal gives comcast the need for more space at 2 penn plaza so that area can have some variety of building heights. right now the 975 foot tall CC surrounded by a bunch of towers that are all about 300 feet tall looks kinda lame.

p.s. why would any architect wand their building want to "blend in" with those hideous, squat penn center buildings?

p.s.s. yes, i understand that underground railroad tracks prevent the building of something really tall, but even 400 feet would allow 2 penn center to stand above its neighbors, distinguish itself from drab penn center, and provide the area some architectural variety.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by McBane

both would be nice.

even better would be if they built 2 penn plaza higher than planned. sticking with philadelphia's "let's be as inconspicuous as possible" style of building, stern decided to make 2 penn plaza the same height as suburban station and other neighboring buildings (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10 penn center), which all sit at about 300 ft.

hopefully, the NBC-universal deal gives comcast the need for more space at 2 penn plaza so that area can have some variety of building heights. right now the 975 foot tall CC surrounded by a bunch of towers that are all about 300 feet tall looks kinda lame.

p.s. why would any architect wand their building want to "blend in" with those hideous, squat penn center buildings?

p.s.s. yes, i understand that underground railroad tracks prevent the building of something really tall, but even 400 feet would allow 2 penn center to stand above its neighbors, distinguish itself from drab penn center, and provide the area some architectural variety.

The original II Penn scheme was to have it feature an Art Deco façade similar to Suburban Station's (which is hardly hideous), thereby framing Comcast's post-Rohian proportions and style with that of a previous era. A very good plan and response to context, I thought. Now that Stern wants to look at it again, though, if it loses the Art Deco façade, then I'm with you, it only works at those proportions if it directly engages I Penn Center (i.e. the Suburban Station building).

Also, don't forget that the fourth tallest building (Mellon Bank Center) in the city is just across from II Penn, and that Comcast sits right next to BAT to the north as well.

[volguus zildrohar]

Just a thought,

I just saw a thread for a proposal for a new tower in Miami for Santander, one of the world's largest banks, which purchased Sovereign Bank recently. The proposal makes sense of course but what's the over/under on them as a potential tenant of ACC - particularly if they expand here in the US? Financial institutions tend to locate amongst themselves but if this city was able to to continue raising its international profile perhaps Philadelphia may become a place foreign companies look to domestically to make their presence known.

[Skintreesnail]

that would make sense, given Philadelphia's proximity to NYC and DC. Get TD Bank and Wells Fargo on board...

[We Got Five]

They already tried TD, no dice. Now Wells Fargo is an interesting name...

[hammersklavier]

Get Santander to anchor the ACC? That would be a great idea!

[bucks native]

re new leases:

January 15, 2010

Towers still towers over Market St.

Merged firm to renew lease at Centre Square

Philadelphia Business Journal - by Natalie Kostelni Staff Writer

source: http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2010/01/18/story2.html?ana=e_ph

Perhaps the biggest wild card will be GlaxoSmithKline, which has major operations in Center City. The company has a lease that expires in 2013 for about 650,000 square feet at One Franklin Plaza from HRPT Properties Trust. It leases another 220,000 square feet at Three Franklin Plaza from Liberty Property Trust, and that lease runs out in 2014.

GlaxoSmithKline’s decision has the potential to kick off a new downtown building. While the company could stay where it is at One and Three Franklin Plaza overlooking the Vine Street Expressway, it could seek 900,000 square feet of space. If it keeps all of that space in Center City and decides to move, the company would have to relocate into a building that has yet to be built. One office project on the drawing board is the American Commerce Center, a 2.2-million-square-foot proposal for 18th and Arch streets that would create the tallest building in Philadelphia. It would need at least two years of construction time to get out of the ground.

[pwp]

This is great news... keeping my fingers crossed. GSK was always on the list of potential anchors, hopefully they will work something out!

[We Got Five]

What's even more important is another big organization leasing up One and Three Franklin Plaza if GSK leaves for the ACC. Leases that expire in 2013 and 2014 will need to be locked in in the next 1-2 years...ACC construction would probably take 4 years to complete. The time is now.

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

Does anyone know, when construction will begin. Perhaps somebody asked that recently, I apologize.

[pwp]

Originally Posted by OneWorldTradeCenter

Does anyone know, when construction will begin. Perhaps somebody asked that recently, I apologize.

As of now nothing is set in stone. I'm sure the initially projected date is not gonna happen at this point. Hopefully within 2 years?

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

Originally Posted by pwp

As of now nothing is set in stone. I'm sure the initially projected date is not gonna happen at this point. Hopefully within 2 years?

What? In two years. Oh my god... Which completion year should we give now, the diagrams say 2012. But that´s not realistic.

[theWatusi]

Originally Posted by OneWorldTradeCenter

Does anyone know, when construction will begin. Perhaps somebody asked that recently, I apologize.

Whenever they can land a tenant.