PHILADELPHIA | FMC Tower @ Cira Centre South | 736 FT | 49 FLOORS

[eliasrapp98]

Originally Posted by christof

There is a push to increase passenger rail activity at 30th St (big component of what Drexel is trying to do) and you want to pave over rail?

No no no. I mean like a roof making it an underground tunnel. The rail would stay.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by eliasrapp98

They should pave over the train tracks in front FMC and put like a park there. That area is hugely congested. If I had my way, I'd make the expressway go underground from Walnut to JFK, but that's ridiculous to expect.

1. What you're talking about is called capping the train track. Here are a couple of examples of caps.

2. The Schuylkill already is (for all intents and purposes when considered from the street level) underground from Walnut to Arch. It's at the same level as the train tracks, which is to say, one level below the surface street.

Now what I would like to do, is extend Schuylkill Ave., as a cap of that expressway, south to South, and north to Spring Garden. (I would also like to make West River feed into Spring Garden, btw.)

[Insoluble]

Originally Posted by summersm343

(new renders)

Man that lobby is SICK! I love this building. As excited as I am about the CITC going up, I think FMC is going to be the building that absorbs me the most for the next few years. It's just so elegant. It definitely has a presence and will be such a distinctive building on the skyline. Thanks for posting these!

By the way from the rendering it looks like this building won't be flush with the parking garage. Is that the case or am I just misinterpreting what I'm seeing. It doesn't make much sense to me for there to be a gap between the two.

[eliasrapp98]

Originally Posted by christof

The latest rendering are sleek. It makes sense to have the entrance on that block, for it is closest to 30th Street.

I just wish they drop the FMC logo.

Totally agreed. Red logos looks like Atlantic City.

[BenKatzPhillytoParis]

This combined with the Chop towers will really make for a dramatic entry into the city on 76.

[Pennsgrant]

Originally Posted by jakel

I'm surprised the location of the entrance facing east. I would have assumed it would have faced Walnut St, it seems like it's facing the wrong way.

That does seem strange. Could possibly be due to the narrower footprint of the Walnut Street site. Also the entrance will be facing the heart of center city as opposed to the tranquil suburbanesque Penn Park if it were located on Walnut.

Evo pretty much spans the entire block and parallels the parking garage along Chestnut. The Walnut st. (FMC)Tower it appears is going to span only 2/3 of the garage heading east as there is formidable rail infrastructure on its eastern edge.

As far as the sign? I have no problem at all for the company responsible for kicking this tower off to get some free marketing.

[Pennsgrant]

Originally Posted by Plokoon11

I have to say that Cira South FMC tower looks almost as tall as Bell Atlantic Tower, could that have something to do with the elevation differences? If so thats a cool plus.

An illusion.Rendering angle. Although this tower will have make much more of a dramatic impact ton the skyline than the Bell Atlantic Tower could ever dream of.

[MusicMan84]

Looking at one of the renders, it seems there will also be an entrance on the 30th Street side. Also looks like the angles that reveal the entrances make the approach from Walnut more inviting and directs you to the appropriate side, visually.

[miesian]

Because of this tower, FMC will be my first choice for all my specialty chemical needs.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by miesian

Because of this tower, FMC will be my first choice for all my specialty chemical needs.

Mine, too.

What the hell do they make, anyway?

[gttx]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

The rail lines are owned by Amtrak. The costs involved with acquiring the air rights and installing a cap are significant. Believe you me, if a cap happens--and there are few words that can communicate just how badly I want a cap to happen there--it is going to be much, much more intensively developed than just a look-pretty plaza for an office tower.

I imagine this lot will be part of the study of the station and rail yards being commissioned by Amtrak, Drexel, and Brandywine. No news yet of a team, but the RFP/interview phase is over....

Since it would sit on top of the main NEC tracks, I imagine some complications, but this certainly could be a potential development site after FMC/Evo and Cira 2 are done.

[SJPhillyBoy]

Originally Posted by BenKatzPhillytoParis

This combined with the Chop towers will really make for a dramatic entry into the city on 76.

So true.

[ConstructStudent]

Originally Posted by jakel

I'm surprised the location of the entrance facing east. I would have assumed it would have faced Walnut St, it seems like it's facing the wrong way.

There are two entrances; One for the residential portion and Second for the Office Building portion. I think one is on the east and the other is on the west

[ConstructStudent]

Originally Posted by eliasrapp98

They should pave over the train tracks in front FMC and put like a park there. That area is hugely congested. If I had my way, I'd make the expressway go underground from Walnut to JFK, but that's ridiculous to expect.

There is going to be a park on top of the existing parking structure next to it.

[wally]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

The rail lines are owned by Amtrak. The costs involved with acquiring the air rights and installing a cap are significant. Believe you me, if a cap happens--and there are few words that can communicate just how badly I want a cap to happen there--it is going to be much, much more intensively developed than just a look-pretty plaza for an office tower.

Indeed. The costs would be quite significant. I proffered my thoughts on what would be best for that space, not what would be most financially feasible, and I'd certainly want it to be more than a "look-pretty plaza." I'd rather it be a well-landscaped public space. Bring a bit of Millennium Park to the western bank of the Schuylkill. We already have the ball rolling with Penn Park.

Also, the northern side of this area is much larger, and I could see placing a significant building there, while leaving a smaller portion (the part just east of FMC Tower) unbuilt. In fact, that these new renderings still show the parking garage unclad might suggest that they're planning (to some degree) for a building to cover the garage in the future.

[dfc9258]

Hey, I love the look of this FMC Tower, but the diagram is out of synch with the other buildings. The posted height is 656 ft, but on the diagram is appears that this building will be shorter than G. Fred DiBona, Jr. Building. Can this be updated to give a true feeling of how it will compare to the other buildings?

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by wally

Indeed. The costs would be quite significant. I proffered my thoughts on what would be best for that space, not what would be most financially feasible, and I'd certainly want it to be more than a "look-pretty plaza." I'd rather it be a well-landscaped public space. Bring a bit of Millennium Park to the western bank of the Schuylkill. We already have the ball rolling with Penn Park.

Also, the northern side of this area is much larger, and I could see placing a significant building there, while leaving a smaller portion (the part just east of FMC Tower) unbuilt. In fact, that these new renderings still show the parking garage unclad might suggest that they're planning (to some degree) for a building to cover the garage in the future.

Eh...With Penn Park's proximity, I find myself unconvinced of the utility of a plaza at this location. You are certainly right that the 100 block of S. Schuylkill better supports major construction on the north (Chestnut) side, but I think a podium structure with an active ground floor and a green roof would be a better fit at Schuylkill and Walnut.

(That said, this is off-topic, so...)

[Lincolndrive]

http://buildingphilly.com/evo-cira-south-1272014/

Posted a few today. I think they are on either floor 28 or 29 with 33 total but I'm not sure how they factor in the lifted angle of the roof towards the west side. Not too many floors left so we should start seeing the glass going on soon.

[wally]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Eh...With Penn Park's proximity, I find myself unconvinced of the utility of a plaza at this location. You are certainly right that the 100 block of S. Schuylkill better supports major construction on the north (Chestnut) side, but I think a podium structure with an active ground floor and a green roof would be a better fit at Schuylkill and Walnut.

(That said, this is off-topic, so...)

You're more than welcome to your opinion. The problem with Penn Park (if you can call it a problem) is that, while it is open and inviting to an extent, it is also populated with Penn-specific programming (e.g., softball, tennis, etc.). So, it doesn't always feel like a fully-inviting, public place. Penn owns it, of course, so it makes sense that it wouldn't feel completely public.

At the end of the day, I just think that it would be neat to have a substantially sized park with a huge Claes Oldenburg or Anish Kapoor sculpture in it. It would be a nice "Hey, welcome to West Philly!" statement.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by wally

You're more than welcome to your opinion. The problem with Penn Park (if you can call it a problem) is that, while it is open and inviting to an extent, it is also populated with Penn-specific programming (e.g., softball, tennis, etc.). So, it doesn't always feel like a fully-inviting, public place. Penn owns it, of course, so it makes sense that it wouldn't feel completely public.

At the end of the day, I just think that it would be neat to have a substantially sized park with a huge Claes Oldenburg or Anish Kapoor sculpture in it. It would be a nice "Hey, welcome to West Philly!" statement.

Here's my long-term idea for capping 30th St.'s south throat, by the way...