PHILADELPHIA | Symphony House | 350 FT / 107 M | 31 FLOORS

[Born Pure Philly]

Name: Symphony House (http://www.symphonyhousecondo.com/)
Height: 350 Ft.
Floors: 31
Date of Completion: 2007
Groundbreaking: April 12th, 2005
Architect: Bower Lewis Thrower Architects

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/img004.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/img002.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/img003.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/phillytrax/image/39783330.jpg

These were posted by Giovanni Sasso...

http://phillyskyline.com/123abc/symphony1.jpg

http://phillyskyline.com/123abc/symphony2.jpg

http://phillyskyline.com/123abc/symphony3.jpg


Put the pictures from groundbreaking in here.

[Pluto]

Philly BOOM!

[volguus zildrohar]

Just two notes - change the groundbreaking date to April 12, 2005. :)

And could the person hosting the rendering possibly reduce the size to make the page easier to load. It'll get top heavy with renderings and photos I'm sure.

[shadowbat]

^Done.:)

[volguus zildrohar]

Gracias. I've inserted one of the renderings in the rundown update.

[Stephenapolis]

Nice tower.

[tranceclubbinphilly]

Philly BOOM!

yes PHILLY BOOM!!!!!

[SJPhillyBoy]

Developer's web-site:

http://www.symphonyhousecondo.com/

[Garbageman]

You guys are SOBs - more construction!?

What currently sits on this site? The Building seems to blend well with it's surroundings.

BTW, the last picture shows some spendid density. I love how that lowrise neighborhood crashes right into a sea of highrises.

[mpls]

yuck!!!

[giovanni sasso]

garbageman, there's nothing but a parking lot (and a huge effing clear channel billboard) there right now. this is a very welcomed project.

they're holding a groundbreaking ceremony right this very moment (which shadowbat and swinefeld are attending, i believe).

[tranceclubbinphilly]

The Building does go well with the surroundings and i like how the ground floor has a throw back look to it

[tranceclubbinphilly]

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=8233

Nice link for more info about this project and the Philadelphia Theatre Company little dated though (Oct 13th 2004)

[SJPhillyBoy]

BTW, the last picture shows some spendid density. I love how that lowrise neighborhood crashes right into a sea of highrises.

That is South Philly "crashing" into Center City. South Philly is probably one of the densest places in the USA.

http://www.symphonyhousecondo.com/

[josef]

The theater is at the base of the parking?? That's pretty cool.
The view from the pictures on their site is amazing... I bet it'll be awesome at night. *drool*

[Swinefeld]

Ladies and gentlemen.....
Swiney Swinefeld presents.....
A virtual guide to the Symphony House Condominiums ground breaking ceremony.

Too bad more forumers didn't show, it was a nice event. I was given two promo kits and got up and personal with some of the big shots. Plus free lunch!
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/4518/symphony017vj.jpg

http://img142.echo.cx/img142/251/symphony02hhat3fb.jpg

These were students and the School for Performing Arts.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/4563/symphony03band1jz.jpg

Is that Eagles defensive tackle Darwin Walker? Yup.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/489/symphony04coreys9cg.jpg

Master of Ceremonies and President of Dranoff Properties, Carl Dranoff.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/1148/symphony05dranoff7mf.jpg

The Governor of Pennsylvania, Edward G. Rendell.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/3264/symphony06rendell6qp.jpg

Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Gwen Faison.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/6826/symphony07faizon4zx.jpg

Judge Midge Rendell, wife of Governor Ed Rendell.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/790/symphony08midge3ar.jpg

uhh...I forgot her name.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/8036/symphony09mngdr7uf.jpg

Record industry mogul Kenny Gamble.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/1056/symphony10kgambol4ze.jpg

The "honorable" Mayor of Philadelphia, John F. Street.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/1091/symphony11street9ky.jpg

Ahhh...group love.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/4340/symphony12group8sx.jpg

Some highlights of the printed material.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/9898/symphony132pi.jpg

http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2143/symphony14mrcondo5yx.jpg

Some interior renderings.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/428/symphony15int00cj.jpg

http://img142.echo.cx/img142/9638/symphony15int14yh.jpg

http://img142.echo.cx/img142/4656/symphony15int25ww.jpg

http://img142.echo.cx/img142/1783/symphony15int30qj.jpg

Prices?

2 Bedroom, 1384-1390 sq. ft. $845,00-1,005,000.
2 Bedroom/Den, 1367-1405 sq. ft. $855,00-1,010,000.
3 Bedroom, 1709 sq. ft. $1,070,000-1,110,000.
3 Bedroom/Den, 1826 sq. ft. $1,300,000-1,310,500.
Penthouse, 4569-4663 sq. ft. $3,750,000

How high?

Straight from Carl Dranoff's mouth, "How tall? 350 feet."

[volguus zildrohar]

KILLER SCOOP!

And dude, Street was eyeballin' you in that group shot.

Awesome stuff. I'm sorry I missed it.

Height/350 feet? Check.

[SJPhillyBoy]

Swinefeld, That is just excellent coverage! Who needs The Inquirer or Daily News.

[Palms]

KILLER SCOOP!

And dude, Street was eyeballin' you in that group shot.

Awesome stuff. I'm sorry I missed it.

Height/350 feet? Check.


Thats too funny, the mayor posed for Swinefeld or maybe the mayor is cross-eyed.

Great job Swinefeld

[kazpmk]

great news for philly. I just hope one day construction will begin on 1441 Chestnut and/or the ritz carlton, but that could be many months away.

[frank_pentangeli]

Street Loooooooooooooooves you

[giovanni sasso]

excellent work, swine ... our man on the scene.

some observations about the interior renderings:
- the skyline views are exaggerated (1500 locust is 390' and you can see its roof).
- all of the people -- every last one of them -- is white. surprised kenny gamble didn't comment on that.

those minor annoyances aside, i kinda like this building. a lot of people have commented that it's a piece of pomo crap, but i like the silly mansard roof. the window holes at ground level are a bit much, but on the whole i'll take two of these if they get rid of our parking lots.

[jlendo]

Great work Swinefeld, i really like the design of this building and it expands the skyline south which is also good.

That Darwin Walker not Corey
and the guy in the purple shorts is black, so that almost every last one of them

[volguus zildrohar]

Nuh-uh, he's clearly cablinasian.

[Pluto]

and the guy in the purple shorts is black

:haha:

[jlendo]

Nuh-uh, he's clearly cablinasian.

Maybe its Tiger, yo that would be sweet:D

[Swinefeld]

Tiger in da house!

The website lists one bedrooms w/den from the mid $600s.

[giamomj]

Pool boy....yeah. Nice bod, tho. Carls Dranoff looks like he's had two face lifts. I say good for him, what with two towers, now, to go wtih them. Doesn't seems thirty years married...good for him...pool boy....purple shorts. Yeah.

[Wheelingman04]

I like this tower.

[LostInTheZone]

there's nothing wrong with throwback architecture, in itself. what makes it look bad is when they go cheap on materials. i hope that red is real brick and the tan is limestone, it will look terrible if they stucco it. dranoff's other projects (esp left bank, victor building) give me some confidence though.

it really looks great for its surroundings, it looks like it really belongs on south broad. i love how they stepped down a bit on the theater part to fit the neighborhood, and it'll help extend the 'theater district' south a bit.

[Swinefeld]

it really looks great for its surroundings, it looks like it really belongs on south broad. i love how they stepped down a bit on the theater part to fit the neighborhood, and it'll help extend the 'theater district' south a bit.

What Dranoff said yesterday at the ground breaking ceremony is that he wanted the design of Symphony House to incorporate elements of the surrounding architecture (the Drake, the Bellvue, etc.). I guess he was successful on that count.

[LostInTheZone]

are those tiles on the mansard? it actually looks like a compliment to the drake in the aerial rendering.

[volguus zildrohar]

I'm thinking that entire building is meant to be complementary to The Drake. The roof line, the materials and even the height.

[frank_pentangeli]

So wait, is the 2nd tower a definite?

[Crawford]

Let's be honest, this building is not a looker. Looks circa-1984.

That said, the project will be wonderful for Broad Street.

What is Camden's Mayor doing at the groundbreaking?

[frank_pentangeli]

It's right over there ----->, so I guess she took a stroll

[giovanni sasso]

dranoff converted the victor in downtown camden so she was probably a personal invite from dranoff himself.

and come on -- mayor street will be at the groundbreaking for camden's next high rise condo tower. :banana:

[Pluto]

I think the design is perfect for its purpose and location. I wouldn't change it... save for making it taller.

[Swinefeld]

dranoff converted the victor in downtown camden so she was probably a personal invite from dranoff himself.

Correctamundo, Potsy.

[SJPhillyBoy]

OMG, He called you Potsy.

[volguus zildrohar]

Swiney's gone nuts.

[FlyersFan118]

oh boy, he called you potsy.

Nice tower, nonetheless.


God...yet ANOTHER Philly thread to roam. thats like 5 at this point.

[LostInTheZone]

where exactly could they fit a second tower in that neighborhood? unless they plan on knocking something down?

[Eigenwelt]

The building will compliment the Drake, esp. from inside the Kimmel.

Great coverage....2 pages already. WTF, I am almost hoping things slow down in town or I will have too many threads to read each day. :p

[FlyersFan118]

So far we have:

Philly IV
Philadelphia - Comcast Center
Philadelphia - Cira Centre
Philadelphia - Waterfront Square
Philadelphia - Symphony House


Imagine having 1441, Ritz, 10 Ritt and Mandeville to patrol along with the above 5.


THEN we'd have a TRUE boom, on the scale of the 80's-90's almost.

[Eigenwelt]

Cira will die off pretty soon.

[volguus zildrohar]

To be replaced by 10 Rittenhouse.

I remember how fast the St. James thread fell off the Earth. That thread got pretty sizeable...even resurfaced not too long ago.

Retrospective time!

[FlyersFan118]

I hope the NIMBYs don't kill 10 Ritt - I really love that building.

[buildup]

Even though 10 Rittenhouse should have began construction this month and I don't think it has the city's final approval, I do believe it will be built.

[Amazing Indy]

Have you noticed that ever since Swinefeld called Sasso "Potsy" we haven't seen Sasso here? Very interesting, lol, jk of course.

[Swinefeld]

Sit on it, Indy.

http://orgs.jmu.edu/clubtennis/profiles/Fonzie.jpg

[Amazing Indy]

^HAHAHAHA. Good stuff Swiney.

[FlyersFan118]

LMAO


Swiney's lost it.

[tranceclubbinphilly]

Hey who does the updates on the main site, this building is not even listed!

[Philly-Drew]

Would it be too much to ask for another 20 stories or so on this building? I really wish we had a 50+ story residential building here. St. James is close though.

I must say that I do love this picture.

http://phillyskyline.com/123abc/symphony3.jpg

[Lecom]

He's after you
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/4340/symphony12group8sx.jpg

[FlyersFan118]

Lecom, I'm gonna have nightmares for a week. That is just a plain scary picture of our dictator. :no:

[shadowbat]

The first soldier beams have arrived on site now. The've also been digging up some old gas tanks that were on the site previously. I took a couple of pictures of the early construction a few weeks back from the 8th floor of 333 S. Broad. They'll be up soon.:)

[giovanni sasso]

on this first of may, 2005, i bring you this unexciting picture of the construction site from across the street at broad & lombard, my first of symphony house under construction. mind you, my eyes are a bit messed up and still adjusting to the new glasses, so i didn't notice the overexposure, but all the same, you can see the chain link construction fence and the bulldozer moving dirt for symphony house. oh yeah, and the drake, too.

http://phillyskyline.com/bldgs/symph/symph_uc001.jpg

[volguus zildrohar]

I passed the site tonight on the way to do some minor drinking. Mounds of dirt indeed.

And...glasses? Have you become one of us?

http://people.smu.edu/dmurray/glasses.jpg

[giovanni sasso]

that's almost exactly what i look like now.

http://www.streethawks.nl/news/smileys/nerd.gif

[mbenzgt]

TODAY

http://www.devonrealtyinvestments.com/1115047476.jpg

[Eigenwelt]

That a webcam pic?

[frank_pentangeli]

from: http://www.devonrealtyinvestments.com/

[FlyersFan118]

haha, my eyes are near-perfect.

And mounds of dirt are better than a parking lot anyday.


ANY DAY.

[shadowbat]

There's a webcam on 333????
I have to check this out.....

[volguus zildrohar]

Yay! We have a construction webcam!

We've become Denver!

[shadowbat]

Well...I just came back from upstairs and I found no visable camera on the outside of the building...maybe it was on the roof. Hopefully my pics will come out better as soon as I get the disc for it.

[Jularc]

This is so cool... It is actually happening!... Oh I am going to get some photos of this... I have access to the Academy House.... I will see what I can get. Cool Update Photos!

[buildup]

That's a great position for a Symphony House webcam. Can't wait to see it rise.

[banned]

It might be a webcam, but that is a still shot from it. The picture has not changed since yesterday (the traffic signal is still yellow).

The website doesn't appear to be fully functioning either, none of the "links" at the top work.

[shadowbat]

^That happened when I tried the site as well.
I also spotted the camera location on the roof top of 333. The security guard I asked also said that there was a webcam installed at the same place to monitor the Kimmel Center when it was u/c.

[FlyersFan118]

It doesn't work for me.

[shadowbat]

The site evolves...

Concrete being pulverized, gas tanks are dug up...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1751_087.jpg
Sales office is crudely propped up...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1753_089.jpg
Scooping away...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1754_090.jpg
First soldier beams have arrived.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1755_091.jpg
A few days later, the concrete is being poured for the underpinnings and the crude props removed...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1767_101.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1768_102.jpg
More beams arrived...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1769_103.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1773_107.jpg
A few days later even more beams are stacked
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1774_108.jpg
The new sign is being installed...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1775_109.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1776_110.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/shadowbat/symphony%20house/DSCF1777_111.jpg

[Swinefeld]

I can't compete with Batman's perch. Here's two from a terestial mortal.

May 10th, 2005.
http://img193.echo.cx/img193/117/symphony13sm.jpg

http://img193.echo.cx/img193/4844/symphony24rq.jpg

[FlyersFan118]

great pictures, both of you.

[shadowbat]

Sweet! I was just about to tell everybody about the action going on there right now. The beams have been driven along the Pine Street side as well as on the Pierce College side. Some wooden boarding has been placed. More concrete was being poured for the underpinnings. It was quite a relief from an otherwise BORING sculpture critique. :laugh:
Oh, and I'll try to keep track of the days the photos were taken in the future.

[LostInTheZone]

sucks to live in that red brick house right now. :laugh:

wonder if theyre being compensated.

[giovanni sasso]

ha ha, i wonder if anyone lives there. symphony house's sales offices are in the left unit but i'm not sure about the right side. i'm a block away from the naval square construction and they're just building four story townhouses, so i can imagine how loud it must be within a block of a skyscraper's construction.

nice work, swine and the bat.

[shadowbat]

^Those buildings used to belong to Pierce College (or maybe they still do) and there were offices inside them. I was wondering if they would be razed because on some of the renderings, the tower looks like it extends to the small alleylike street whose name escapes me at the moment. But I'm sure they wouldn't waste all that expensive underpinning with demolition, aside from moving the sales office mid-construction.

[Philly-Drew]

Awesome shots with the web cam!

Here are a couple more I took today (5/22/05) from the ground:

http://www.coolcitylife.com/philadelphia/Symphony-House/2005-05-22-Symph-House-a.jpg

http://www.coolcitylife.com/philadelphia/Symphony-House/2005-05-22-Symph-House-c.jpg

Check out the mural in the background:

http://www.coolcitylife.com/philadelphia/Symphony-House/2005-05-22-mural.jpg

http://www.coolcitylife.com/philadelphia/Symphony-House/2005-05-22-Symph-House-g.jpg

[PHILA]

^ Cool

[buildup]

The ball is rolling here now! In a few months there will be four sites going up at the same time (Symphony House, 10 Rittenhouse, Waterfront Square and Comcast Center) with the possibility of one or two more sites getting underway.

[Joey D]

This Mural is actually 3D. The figures jut out of the wall.

http://www.andrewandtracey.com/otherpics/Symphony-House/2005-05-22-mural.jpg

[frank_pentangeli]

No offense to the mural(which I think is very cool), but that low-rise Subway is a bad use of that land. There's a few of these low-rise chains, it escapes me the exact locations though.

[FlyersFan118]

^agreed. cool mural tho.

[buildup]

I don't know what is worse - Having the fast food joint or a surface parking lot.

[Eigenwelt]

My first instincts was to say a fast food joint (despite being something I despise) would be preferrable because of its larger workforce, and therefore larger tax base boost.

They also seem to be less of a barren wasteland, and damage the urban fabric slightly less then a surface lot.

However, a surface lot is more easily developable, and probally doesn;t have a lease which needs to be dealt with when it is sold. So, in the end they might be 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other.

[Philly-Drew]

That SubWay sucks there man. Like, do something with the sign so it doesn't detract from the mural.

[FlyersFan118]

I hope 10 Ritt doesn't get Nimby'd...I love it.

And Buildup, did you forget about Mandeville? That might be going ^ by the end of the year.

And I was down on Delaware Ave the other day...I just noticed for the first time the World Trade Square banner there. lmao.

little late there.

That banner there made me like the project a little more (I really didn't like it too much before) - a HUGE complex like that in that spot would dramatically alter the skyline. It'd totally throw off how semetric the skyline is now...but I doubt I'd mind. Comcast is already throwing things off a little. Mandeville would too. Not a huge deal.

I'd like to see it happen now, especially because of its mammoth size.

...Oh, and getting the Philadelphia World Trade Center out of Camden and into Philly would be nice too. :hilarious

[iamrobk]

I think it would be cool because, along with WFS and 700 Delaware, it would give us a pretty decent mini-skyline.

[looper121]

I think it would be cool because, along with WFS and 700 Delaware, it would give us a pretty decent mini-skyline.

The way it is looking, WFS will be it's own skyline. The current structures are really coming along. I came back from a Mem. Day cookout in Jersey and noticed how high they are already...

[FlyersFan118]

Not really...they're 5 buildings that are being built so that it's hard to see a mini skyline. From most views, it'll just look like 3 buildings, since the two smaller buildings will be kinda blocked out. Add WTS and 700 D.A. to it and you got yourself a mini skyline.

[looper121]

Not really...they're 5 buildings that are being built so that it's hard to see a mini skyline. From most views, it'll just look like 3 buildings, since the two smaller buildings will be kinda blocked out. Add WTS and 700 D.A. to it and you got yourself a mini skyline.

tongue in cheek hombre, tongue in cheek...

[LostInTheZone]

someone a while back mentioned something about a second Symphony tower. where was it supposed to go?

[FlyersFan118]

When was that mentioned? I only heard about a second Cira...

[LostInTheZone]

So wait, is the 2nd tower a definite?

actually, looking back through the thread, it was only mentioned once (on page 2), and it threw me off. maybe frank posted on the wrong forum or something. oh well.

im still really excited for this project! next year is going to look crazy when all these big projects start putting up their steel frames ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

[shadowbat]

Yesterday I noticed two circular excavations at the northeast corner of the site...Caisonns...pilings??

[nimrod]

Ok as promised a few craptastic pics....... I was being pushed along by some dudes in suits who pulled up in there BMW 745 soo they were quick point and shoots www.pbase.com/nimrod0472/other_philly_projects

[SJPhillyBoy]

As with Comcast Center, the Pit is deepening on this one too!
Nice nimrod.