PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[plutonicpanda]

Originally Posted by City Wide

Great, glad to have you. There's NO reason why one can't be pro-development and still be a preservationist. If all this City had was "development" and no preservation before too long we'd be no different then (boring) Atlanta.

Atlanta is not boring at all, but I suppose that is a matter of opinion.

[EastSideHBG]

I didn't find Atlanta to be boring at all and why the need to take shots at other cities?

Some of the proposals lately are interesting and I can't help but think that CC is peeking around the same corner some other cities have once they became cool and hip: money talks and an out with the old, in with the new type of attitude. Gotta love progress but it's interesting to think that progress can sometimes kill what made a place cool and charming to begin with...

[volguus zildrohar]

There are always going to be people who care about preserving the past. There are no shortage of such people in Philadelphia but they need to work in a concerted way and fight worthy battles. Not every building is worthy of preservation simply because it is old but the real gems are often the ones that are targeted.

The city elders and power brokers who allow our architectural treasures to be destroyed sometimes were the people who allowed the structures to reach a state of entropy in the first place and also fail to realize that the entire spirit of preservation is not about a single building or neighborhood but is about maintaining reasonable chunks of the historical identity of a place, an identity that is woven into the brick, stone and glass of centuries old structures that tell stories that are sometimes big, often small but all crucially important legacies of the lives and ideas that together gave life and meaning to this place, our Philadelphia. Allowing it all to be wiped away and worse, replaced with the most superficial slap-dash unconsidered types of buildings says much about what we as a city think of ourselves and what is being said is in no way commensurate with a city that has the ideals we like to think that we have. Glass doesn't automatically equal good and stone doesn't automatically equal obsolete. Observant people understand that and wise leaders might even keep that in mind sometimes. The future will tell us how many of either group we have in the halls of power when some yo-yo wants to replace The Bourse with some ludicrous vision complete with "steaming grottoes" (only old school Phillyheads will remember that reference)

[plutonicpanda]

BTW, if you want to see a city that doesn't give two shits about historic preservation, look no further than OKC. Great city. Great people. But the place has no concept of why it's important to preserve buildings. In the past year alone they've already razed 5 historic buildings with plans to raze about 4 more. Very sad.

[br323206]

Originally Posted by plutonicpanda

BTW, if you want to see a city that doesn't give two shits about historic preservation, look no further than OKC. Great city. Great people. But the place has no concept of why it's important to preserve buildings. In the past year alone they've already razed 5 historic buildings with plans to raze about 4 more. Very sad.

Fun fact: At it's widest, OKC is about 40 miles wide, east to west. That's about the same distance from the tip of far Northeast Philly to Wilmington, or about the distance from the Delaware River at Penn's Landing to Coatesville, or about the distance from the Sports Complex to Quakertown.

[summersm343]

TPG Growth, a Tech staffing firm, funded by Uber's funders, to open office, hire 250 in Philadelphia

The same group that invested in Uber - and proudly claims it has disrupted the taxi and limo business - will soon, through one of its companies, open an office in Philadelphia with the aim of disrupting recruitment in niche fields of technology.

TPG Growth, which has invested in Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify, is the majority owner of Frank Recruitment Group, the British-based company that chose Philadelphia for its third U.S. office.

"You have a high density of bright college graduates who are up for a challenge," said Frank chief executive James Lloyd Townshend, explaining why his company picked Philadelphia.

Frank will staff its office with 250 fresh or recent college graduates, filling those spots within a year, Townshend said in an interview Monday.

The office is set to open Sept. 12 and is hiring now.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20...unders__to_hire_250_in_Philadelphia.html

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by summersm343

TPG Growth, a Tech staffing firm, funded by Uber's funders, to open office, hire 250 in Philadelphia

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20...unders__to_hire_250_in_Philadelphia.html

I wonder where their office will be, the article doesn't say. Seems like they'd be a good fit for 2400 or 2100 Market.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

I wonder where their office will be, the article doesn't say. Seems like they'd be a good fit for 2400 or 2100 Market.

No, the article says the office will open September 12, before either of those will be built. Which is great! 250 jobs within the next year in Philly is a great thing!

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by McBane

That really 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵, the National was such a unique building. Between this, Jewelers Row, and the former Please Touch Museum, I might be starting to become a preservationist!

Keep in mind that the plan is to rebuild the façade on the new building. AFAIK it's all been meticulously stored away somewhere.

But I agree, Please Touch was a travesty, and if we're not careful, Jewelers Row will be, too.

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

I didn't find Atlanta to be boring at all and why the need to take shots at other cities?

Some of the proposals lately are interesting and I can't help but think that CC is peeking around the same corner some other cities have once they became cool and hip: money talks and an out with the old, in with the new type of attitude. Gotta love progress but it's interesting to think that progress can sometimes kill what made a place cool and charming to begin with...

I'm hanging out in the BAT plaza right now, which is an awesome place to do work outdoors on a day as nice as today, but it's also a very blah place -- with 1 and 2 Logan Square, the hotel with the TGI Friday's, Windsor, Sheraton, and former Glaxo and excelleRx buildings all rising up around it, there really isn't much uniquely "Philadelphia" about it. It's just generic offices and hotels and could be in any major downtown -- here, New York, SF, LA, Atlanta, Chicago...

This is such a huge part of why we need context-sensitive architecture. Culturally-rich cites consist of layer upon layer of development, built up over time. The Beacon, which took out the old Lululemon but is mainly a Brown Brothers Harriman overbuild, respects this by adding yet another layer on an already complex, multilayered streetscape. Developers like Toll Brothers so often think in greenfield terms and so the first thing they try to do is level a site flat. But many of Philly's sites, from Jeweler's Row to Rittenhouse Row to the outlying neighborhoods, need a more sophisticated and context-sensitive understanding of development.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Keep in mind that the plan is to rebuild the façade on the new building. AFAIK it's all been meticulously stored away somewhere.

That was my understanding too. But I also believe the firm that did the demo subsequently sold the site to a new developer. I'm sure the new developer is bound by whatever historic rehab requirements came with the site . . . but then again I won't be at all surprised if they find a way to get out of doing a complete reconstruction of the mid-century moderne enamel tile / stainless steel first/second floor facade. I could easily see them negotiating a semi-faithful facade reconstruction.

Personally, I'd be OK with that too, I think, if it were done in a quality way. The old facade was fairly cool and interesting, but I don't think every tiny detail needs to be preserved either.

[summersm343]

Comcast completes DreamWorks Animation acquisition

Third tower?

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160823_Comcast_completes_Dreamworks_acquisition.html

[Leviathant]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

I won't be at all surprised if they find a way to get out of doing a complete reconstruction of the mid-century moderne enamel tile / stainless steel first/second floor facade. I could easily see them negotiating a semi-faithful facade reconstruction.

Personally, I'd be OK with that too, I think, if it were done in a quality way. The old facade was fairly cool and interesting, but I don't think every tiny detail needs to be preserved either.

It's going to have to be a recreation/reconstruction, if anything. They were definitely smashing the orange tilework during demolition.

[Philly-Drew]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

....
But I agree, Please Touch was a travesty, and if we're not careful, Jewelers Row will be, too.
....

The petition to save Jewelers Row has passed the 5,100 mark.

https://www.change.org/p/anne-fadullon-save-jewelers-row

[TechTalkGuy]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Comcast completes DreamWorks Animation acquisition

Third tower?

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160823_Comcast_completes_Dreamworks_acquisition.html

Yes, let's keep on building and remember, Comcast is the most iconic corporation building up the skyline.

[plutonicpanda]

Originally Posted by br323206

Fun fact: At it's widest, OKC is about 40 miles wide, east to west. That's about the same distance from the tip of far Northeast Philly to Wilmington, or about the distance from the Delaware River at Penn's Landing to Coatesville, or about the distance from the Sports Complex to Quakertown.

Yeah, it's a huge city in regards to land mass. Something like the 4th largest if I recall right. They are imposing new fees to limit development on the fringe and de-annexing several square miles of the city which is roughly 620 square miles or so.

[br323206]

Originally Posted by plutonicpanda

Yeah, it's a huge city in regards to land mass. Something like the 4th largest if I recall right. They are imposing new fees to limit development on the fringe and de-annexing several square miles of the city which is roughly 620 square miles or so.

Interesting.. Do you have a link to information about this? I've never heard of a city de-annexing property. A quick google didn't come up with any info, but I did learn that in the middle of the 20th Century the city was only about 25 square miles. Pretty insane geographic growth--which definitely inflates its population.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Leviathant

It's going to have to be a recreation/reconstruction, if anything. They were definitely smashing the orange tilework during demolition.

From what I understood, they quickly realized that, upon closer inspection, those tiles were not salvageable. So they had someone recreate some tiles that they will incorporate into the design as accents. Nothing more than a nod to the original façade.

Who knows now, though. Shortly after demo, the developers sold the site. I'd like to know the story behind that.

[Larry King]

Who even cares if they use orange tiles? At this point, I'd be happy just to see it get built

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Larry King

Who even cares if they use orange tiles? At this point, I'd be happy just to see it get built

Agreed. I seem to be in the vast minority that thought the orange national building was ugly as sin.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Agreed. I seem to be in the vast minority that thought the orange national building was ugly as sin.

I think it affected some people like a mutt puppy. Terminally cute (especially in its context) in an ugly sort of way. For me, with its Fifties vibe, it provided happy flashbacks of childhood trips to a Woolworth's lunch counter.