[Jibba]

I hope that the developers of this project don't level the buildings slated to be demolished until they are certain that they can get the new structure up. I read a comment in this thread stating that Philadelphia doesn't have a wealth of historic mid-rises to spare; Chicago has a similar dearth of such buildings. Neither city can afford to lose such precious pieces of history without a guaranteed replacement that is significantly valuable enough to warrant demolition.

In fact, not too long ago a developer here in Chicago leveled a series of vintage mid and low-rise buildings to clear the way for a (decidedly unworthy) replacement before the financing for the replacement was secured. Now we have a vacant lot on our hands where there once stood some beautiful old buildings, and the prospects of the replacement tower actually getting built are anything but certain.