PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX - Page 715

PhilliesPhan · #**14281** Posted **Apr 18, 2017, 8:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wondertwinalpha

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/logan-square/hanover-north-broad-hitting-its-stride

This one has made quite a difference filling in the open space on N. Broad. Whether you like the design or not we need more of this.

I just walked by Hanover North Broad a few minutes ago. I always walk from Temple's main campus to the Center City campus to take in just how much North Broad has changed. Hanover North Broad is a huge part of that change, and a major reason why the stretch between City Hall and Spring Garden needs minimal infill (and a major project at Broad and Race).

I can't wait for North Broad to be completely infilled between City Hall and the Met on Broad and Poplar. With development flowing upwards from City Hall and downwards from Temple, it will only be a matter of time before Broad and Girard gets the density that it deserves!

Groundhog · #**14282** Posted **Apr 18, 2017, 9:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

Aside from the new infill development, we have had two iconic skyscrapers constructed: FMC Tower, which extended the skyscraper canyon over the Schuylkill, and we gained our first supertall with the construction of CTC. I would also consider The Alexander to be somewhat iconic, and it definitely extended the skyline north over the VSE. One Riverside and the Roberts Center extended our skyline south (who would have ever thought that would happen?). Finally, we have had (and will continue to have) iconic renovations. The Divine Lorraine is the best example of this. Moving forward, the Beury Building and Metropolitan Opera House will round this off in the upcoming months.

Out of all of the booms that I have been following across the country, none have been as comprehensive as the one I have been witnessing here at home!

Don't forget about the W. I think that is going to turn a lot of heads and be as recognizable as the IBX tower at the very least.

Mr Saturn64 · #**14283** Posted **Apr 18, 2017, 9:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

In regards to the current boom cycle: it has been exciting to watch!

I care much less about 400+ foot skyscrapers as I do about reconstructing our urban form.

Out of all of the booms that I have been following across the country, none have been as comprehensive as the one I have been witnessing here at home!

Yeah, but wouldn't it be nice to see a bit more of the 400+ footers? At least less downsizing. CTC, FMC, and the W are all going to taller than City Hall (which for me indicates a big deal of a building in Philly), but so many more keep getting downsized (1911 Walnut, 1910 Chestnut) and caught in financial hell (SLS). Granted, we do have 1911 Walnut, 1300 Market, and Cathedral Campus possibly coming up sometime soon (likely in that order), but for it to be a true "boom," at least I feel, we should be building that "urban form" you speak of and keep going up as well.

OslPhlWasChi · #**14284** Posted **Apr 18, 2017, 9:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wondertwinalpha

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/logan-square/hanover-north-broad-hitting-its-stride

This one has made quite a difference filling in the open space on N. Broad. Whether you like the design or not we need more of this.

I agree! Looking at the photos, this project has been transformational for the street level of North Broad. Great example of a project that is appropriately dense (even if not tall), is not catering to the highest end of the residential spectrum, and will have a hugely positive impact on the surrounding neighborhood!

Hrytsyu · #**14285** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 3:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1487

more city job growth- this company moved here with 30 employees 2 years ago and now has 80. Acquired another company and will now have 110- presumably in CC.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...-acquires-pharmametrics-health-care.html

Nice reference! Although many people are concerned about the loss of companies such as Crown Cork & Seal to some obscure location nobody really wants to be, the type of businesses we REALLY want to attract are those similar to sited article.

summersm343 · #**14286** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 4:35 AM**

Center City health tech company acquires MontCo firm following major investment

Quote:

Center City heath care tech company IntegriChain announced Tuesday it's acquired a Fort Washington firm, the first deal the pharma-focused company has made since a Silicon Valley private equity firm bought out all its outsider investors last year.

It employs about 80, a number that will grow to nearly 110 following the acquisition of PharmaMetrics. Annual bookings are expected to exceed $25 million with the deal.

The deal comes two years after IntegriChain moved its operations from Princeton to 8 Penn Center in Center City, complete with a tech-friendly office design that includes bright blue booths, collaboration areas and bike storage. The move was designed to attract young, "high-caliber" tech talent, its vice president and CFO said at the time.

The company also added benefits designed to retain those employees, including generous parental leave for men and women and a student loan contribution plan that helps employees with student loans pay down their principals quicker. Student loan repayment benefits are increasingly becoming a tool for companies in need of a competitive hiring advantage.

It worked, the company told the Philadelphia Business Journal last year, as it swelled its ranks from 30 employees to 70 in the year after its relocation.

Read more here:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...-acquires-pharmametrics-health-care.html

summersm343 · #**14287** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 4:43 AM**

Verizon fades from forerunner's namesake Philly tower, as rival Comcast's presence grows

Quote:

Telecom giant Verizon is poised to vacate the Center City office tower built for its predecessor company, Bell Atlantic Corp., where rival Comcast has become the dominant tenant.

By the end of the year, Verizon Communications Inc. plans to leave all its space at the roughly one million-square-foot building formerly called the Bell Atlantic Tower and now known as Three Logan Square, spokesman Michael Murphy said.

The move could clear the way for Comcast Corp. — already the tower’s biggest occupant with about 200,000 square feet under lease — to further expand its footprint there, said Mitch Marcus, a managing director at commercial real estate services firm JLL in Philadelphia.

As recently as 2007, Verizon occupied 28 floors of the 1717 Arch St. building, more than half of its 53 stories of offices, according to a directory of Philadelphia office properties from that year.

But in recent years, Verizon’s Center City presence has receded. The company now occupies only about 89,000 square feet in the former Bell Atlantic building, less than a tenth of its office space, brokerage Newmark Grubb Knight Frank said in a report this month.

That space is used by employees of Verizon’s information technology, network, finance, and sales departments, Murphy said. Those workers will relocate to Verizon’s offices in a former Bell switching station at 900 Race St. before the end of the year, he said.

With Verizon’s space soon to be available there, the former Bell Atlantic building’s proximity to Comcast’s other operations would make it a natural location for the expanding and acquisitive technology and entertainment company to grow its Center City office presence, Marcus said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/re...lantic-tower-three-logan-brandywine.html

summersm343 · #**14288** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 5:03 AM**

New thread created: Equal Justice Center

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=7777138#post7777138

GtownFriend · #**14289** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 7:02 AM**

Where have all the other Verizon employees gone?

jsbrook · #**14290** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 10:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GtownFriend

Where have all the other Verizon employees gone?

Probably New York in and around its headquarters on 6th Avenue. Verizon was created when Bell Atlantic merged with New York company NYNEX in the 1990s, and when it did so, it dramatically reduced its presence in Philly and moved its headquarters to New York. Looks like Verizon is consolidating its Philly presence at 900 Race, where some of its workers are already located.

It's a pipe dream, but I think it'd be amazing if we could get Verizon to relocate its headquarters BACK to Philly.

1487 · #**14291** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 12:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Yeah, but wouldn't it be nice to see a bit more of the 400+ footers? At least less downsizing. CTC, FMC, and the W are all going to taller than City Hall (which for me indicates a big deal of a building in Philly), but so many more keep getting downsized (1911 Walnut, 1910 Chestnut) and caught in financial hell (SLS). Granted, we do have 1911 Walnut, 1300 Market, and Cathedral Campus possibly coming up sometime soon (likely in that order), but for it to be a true "boom," at least I feel, we should be building that "urban form" you speak of and keep going up as well.

The thing is there is nothing we can do to predict what is going to happen or to will these projects into fruition. People can be mad that we aren't getting more tall towers in this expansion phase, but being mad won't change anything nor does it serve as evidence that a lot hasn't happened in this cycle. MORE has happened int his cycle than in the last one when you factor in all the single family housing being built all over the city. Also significant is that we have hi rises where none existed before such as by the river. You cant drive down 76 through CC and tell anyone this really wasn't a boom cycle.

ONe thing we are seeing is increasingly developers are counting on ample state funds to get their projects built and that is a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. Unfortunately, the projects that have shaky financing and want $20M+ from the state are probably the projects that are least likely to advance.

Nova08 · #**14292** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 12:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbrook

Probably New York in and around its headquarters on 6th Avenue. Verizon was created when Bell Atlantic merged with New York company NYNEX in the 1990s, and when it did so, it dramatically reduced its presence in Philly and moved its headquarters to New York. Looks like Verizon is consolidating its Philly presence at 900 Race, where some of its workers are already located.

It's a pipe dream, but I think it'd be amazing if we could get Verizon to relocate its headquarters BACK to Philly.

Only time will tell on this one...

This Week in Comcast: With FCC auction over, acquisition rumors start
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...uction-acquistion-cell-fast-furious.html

Quote:

MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett wrote in a note to investors Monday that he expected Comcast would’ve spent more than twice as much and essentially “played to a draw” in the auction, raising questions about whether or not it would look to acquire a wireless carrier to bolster its new mobile venture.

jsbrook · #**14293** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 1:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nova08

Only time will tell on this one...

This Week in Comcast: With FCC auction over, acquisition rumors start
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...uction-acquistion-cell-fast-furious.html

Yeah, we will see...I'm not really expecting anything, but it's possible. Lowell McAdam has publicly stated he'd be open to a merger with Comcast, Disney, or others.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...pen-to-deal-talks-from-comcast-to-disney

Of course, a lot of regulatory and other complications and hoops before that would happen.

Urbanthusiat · #**14294** Posted **Apr 19, 2017, 4:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GtownFriend

Where have all the other Verizon employees gone?

The article notes that they'll be moving to a building at 9th and Race. I don't like the idea that this lives lessens the likelihood of a new Comcast tower, but I don't mind more jobs on that side of town either.

br323206 · #**14295** Posted **Apr 20, 2017, 1:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

The article notes that they'll be moving to a building at 9th and Race. I don't like the idea that this lives lessens the likelihood of a new Comcast tower, but I don't mind more jobs on that side of town either.

If I was an employee I'd be pissed. They moved from an awesome tower to this...