PHILADELPHIA | Schuylkill Yards Future Phases | 1,095 - 375 FT | 70 - 28 FLOORS

[JurassicPhilly]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Amtrak was created because the legacy roads (many of which donn't exist anymore) wanted out of their gov mandated obligation to provide pssenger services. The market on many routes decreased to pitiful levels, but many where also seeing healthy ridership, but the rail roads did not see the vast majority of their passenger services as having a bright future. But governments across the nation acknowledged they didn't want to see paasenger services dissappear, and paired with the notion that a country should maintain at least a bare bones passenger rail network, Congress created the NPRC. That's the back-of-the-napkin history. Now, if BNSF or UP came to Congress and said let us operate the trans-West long distance trains, I think it should be considered, but its a nonsense hypothetical becuase they DO NOT want anything to do with running passenger trains. They are multi-billion dollar cargo haulers and that's where the money is. For this reason, moving people around by train should not first and foremost be about the pursuit of profit. It is a neccessary service in the interest of society that should not be expected to rake in huge returns for shareholders. The economic benefits come from facilitating the mobility of people for the purposes that are required by those people (tourism, business, recreation, family, etc.), not the actual physical transport of people.

This is a brilliant analysis, which contains no false propositions, internal contradictions, or causal fallacies.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by JurassicPhilly

This is a brilliant analysis, which contains no false propositions, internal contradictions, or causal fallacies.

Cool. Then we're done with Amtrak.

So those trees are gonna be cool.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by JurassicPhilly

This is a brilliant analysis, which contains no false propositions, internal contradictions, or causal fallacies.

Is that sarcasm I smell? Would you like to add or correct something?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Is that sarcasm I smell? Would you like to add or correct something?

I think he was being genuine. I see nothing wrong with what you said.

[hammersklavier]

OK, that's enough. We have a transportation thread for these sorts of discussions.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by City Wide

I think what is being called the Transit Terminal Tower is part of the long term (as in dream on!) plans for the 30th St. Station District, not Schuylkill Yards. If you think SY's is slow in coming, you'll going to love the time line for the Station District, as in unfortunately not anywhere in the foreseeable future.
What's with the ACC love? Did you ever think that was going to happen?

I think the reason why the ACC is so beloved, especially on this site has more to do with it's height. I believe the ACC was supposed to attract and retain a major company here to this city, which would've helped with the city's revenue greatly. Ever since the ACC was first proposed, Philadelphia had seen many companies either leave the city or get merged (Rohm & Haas, Sunoco, CIGNA, GlaxoSmithKline, Santander/Sovereign Bank, Lincoln Financial, Pepboys, etc.).

I've already visited the CITC, and even though it's a professionally built tower, I wasn't fully impressed with both the design and the interior. The ACC promised to not only become the city and state's tallest, it promised to have an upscale mall, a patio with a winter garden, a fitness center, an IMAX theatre, a green roof, and an observation deck open to the public. Compared to the CITC, I was very impressed with the ACC's impeccable design (designed by Kohn Pederson Fox out of NYC) compared to the industrial type that was used for the CITC. The CITC doesn't have these amenities and I believe those are the reasons why the CITC is constantly panned on this site and the ACC is still highly revered, even though the ACC never was fully realized. We can only imagine what the city would've been like and looked like had the ACC already been erected!!!

[Boku]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

The CITC doesn't have these amenities and I believe those are the reasons why the CITC is constantly panned on this site and the ACC is still highly revered, even though the ACC never was fully realized. We can only imagine what the city would've been like and looked like had the ACC already been erected!!!

You are literally the only person here who talks about the ACC.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by Boku

You are literally the only person here who talks about the ACC.

And it is not beloved on this site or otherwise in the minds of most. The only thing it had going for it was height. Personally, I think it was an ugly design that was pie in the sky and never going to happen from the getgo. Certainly not without a very sizable anchor tenant lined up.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I think the reason why the ACC is so beloved, especially on this site has more to do with it's height. I believe the ACC was supposed to attract and retain a major company here to this city, which would've helped with the city's revenue greatly. Ever since the ACC was first proposed, Philadelphia had seen many companies either leave the city or get merged (Rohm & Haas, Sunoco, CIGNA, GlaxoSmithKline, Santander/Sovereign Bank, Lincoln Financial, Pepboys, etc.).

I've already visited the CITC, and even though it's a professionally built tower, I wasn't fully impressed with both the design and the interior. The ACC promised to not only become the city and state's tallest, it promised to have an upscale mall, a patio with a winter garden, a fitness center, an IMAX theatre, a green roof, and an observation deck open to the public. Compared to the CITC, I was very impressed with the ACC's impeccable design (designed by Kohn Pederson Fox out of NYC) compared to the industrial type that was used for the CITC. The CITC doesn't have these amenities and I believe those are the reasons why the CITC is constantly panned on this site and the ACC is still highly revered, even though the ACC never was fully realized. We can only imagine what the city would've been like and looked like had the ACC already been erected!!!

Buildings don't attract companies. It's rare. Much more common, companies create the ability to build buildings.

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by jsbrook

And it is not beloved on this site or otherwise in the minds of most. The only thing it had going for it was height. Personally, I think it was an ugly design that was pie in the sky and never going to happen from the getgo. Certainly not without a very sizable anchor tenant lined up.

Height boners. It might have been designed by real architects, but I agree it always seemed like a very tall dream, and one that personally didn't do much for me. But hey, if it had been successfully built, I certainly wouldn't have done anything to stop it's march to the sky.
This forum seems to have some readers who don't seem to realize or accept that some proposals are just floated out there with no real concrete plans or sense even by the developers that they will actually happen. 30th St. Station District was just a exercise (which happens every 10 to 15 years) just to explore what could happen there, and 'they' accepted the publics input. 1301 Market St. is in a different class of proposal; it needed a major tenant to sign up before it was ever going to get off the drawing board. And if such a tenant popped up, they would be courted by 4 or 5 developers working in CC, UC, the Navy Yard and the suburbs.
And back to the Schuylkill Yards, this is another dreamy proposal but it's got some serious backers and is in a fairly hot area, so something might, hopefully will get built as part of that proposal. But again the drawings for the whole concept are just to show some sex appeal and aren't to state what's actually planned. I would be very pleasantly surprised if what is shown as a 1100' building ever gets built, I'd be glad for one that is half that height. Building that tall adds a lot to the design and construction cost, doing a drawing of a very tall building is the same cost as drawing a shorter building.

Does anyone have a sense if the first suggested build (3101 JFK?) at SY's is dependent on new faces, new tenants coming on board?

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

even though the ACC never was fully realized.

Understatement of the century.

It was about as unrealized as a project can be. It was NEVER going to be built, certainly not in the form we saw.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

Aaaaaaaand as soon as we get back on topic, we get back to the ACC.

When do the redwoods come in? Their planting area was being prepped yesterday.

... again

[kingtut]

I don't know about this being a far feched idea . Spark Theraputics has a 2.4 billion $ 's to play with and another Pharma company moving it's R&D to U. City plus Penn's pipeline of spin offs . The dynamics have changed in a positive way more capital and more research $'s flooding into U. City . I'm sure Brandywine and Wexford will benifit greatly as Philly will also .

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by City Wide

Does anyone have a sense if the first suggested build (3101 JFK?) at SY's is dependent on new faces, new tenants coming on board?

IIRC Brandywine said that they have "multiple interested tenants."

[McBane]

I'm pretty confident some of these towers get built.

The burning question is who those tenants are and more specifically, where they're coming from. PA suburbs? NJ/DE? Outside the region completely? Perhaps expanding local firms? Or maybe just relocating from CC to take advantage of tax breaks?

[City Wide]

Originally Posted by McBane

I'm pretty confident some of these towers get built.

The burning question is who those tenants are and more specifically, where they're coming from. PA suburbs? NJ/DE? Outside the region completely? Perhaps expanding local firms? Or maybe just relocating from CC to take advantage of tax breaks?

With the tax laws and rules changing its hard to keep up, but after a bunch of high priced law offices moved from CC into the Circa Center I think the State wrote a rule/law stopping that from happening. But there must be 3 or 4 different types of "zones" and they'll all alittle different from each other, the spirit of the law---as if lawyers care about such things when applied to themselves---is to entice outsiders to move into the zones. What's an outsider? Ask your nearest lawyer.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by McBane

I'm pretty confident some of these towers get built.

The burning question is who those tenants are and more specifically, where they're coming from. PA suburbs? NJ/DE? Outside the region completely? Perhaps expanding local firms? Or maybe just relocating from CC to take advantage of tax breaks?

I hope we can poach some suburban tenants. The KOZ and federal opportunity status make this the rare spot in the city where operating costs can be comparable. Plus it's the perfect location for commuters who still want to live in the suburbs.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by City Wide

With the tax laws and rules changing its hard to keep up, but after a bunch of high priced law offices moved from CC into the Circa Center I think the State wrote a rule/law stopping that from happening. But there must be 3 or 4 different types of "zones" and they'll all alittle different from each other, the spirit of the law---as if lawyers care about such things when applied to themselves---is to entice outsiders to move into the zones. What's an outsider? Ask your nearest lawyer.

That's not the current KOZ zone requirement. You can move from a non-KOZ in the city to a KOZ if you meet the requirements. One way is by expanding headcount by 20% in the first year of operations in the KOZ zone. So, unlikely for an old established law firm, but certainly possible for a branch office of a big company, growing start-ups, or some other entity. There are other ways you be eligible, one of which is invest the equivalent of 10 % of the previous year’s gross revenues in capital improvements to the KOZ Property (applicable for those who buy a building).

[domodeez]

Originally Posted by McBane

I'm pretty confident some of these towers get built.

The burning question is who those tenants are and more specifically, where they're coming from. PA suburbs? NJ/DE? Outside the region completely? Perhaps expanding local firms? Or maybe just relocating from CC to take advantage of tax breaks?

Any chance Vanguard goes in a new direction and expands its existing Philly presence to a bigger footprint in SY following the passing of Jack Bogle?

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by domodeez

Any chance Vanguard goes in a new direction and expands its existing Philly presence to a bigger footprint in SY following the passing of Jack Bogle?

About 1 in a million.....