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PHILADELPHIA | 8th & Walnut - Penn Medicine at Washington | 12 Stories | 260 FT
The University of Pennsylvania will break ground Monday on its new tower at 8th and Walnut streets in Center City called Penn Medicine at Washington Square. The 12-story, 153,000-square-foot building will sit atop an existing parking structure.
The building designed by Ballinger Architects, will be 260-feet tall and will be leased in its entirety to Pennsylvania Hospital, which is part of Penn Medicine.
I work around the corner from this site so I am keeping an eye on it. So far, nothing is happening. I stopped in the 7-11 and asked the guy in there what he could tell me figuring he'd know something because the 7-11 has to move for this. He seemed totally surprised by the whole thing -- said no one had told him he had to move, had no idea a 12 story building was going up above his head and vowed he would never leave the site. I was totally shocked and he was quite angry. I told him the whole story. He got angrier and stormed off saying "I call landlord, I call landlord." I might have started something there but in any event we know its going to happen even if the 7-11 folks don't. The only sign something is going on is that the sign with the old rendering that was hanging off the building is gone and I'm not sure how long its been gone since I gave up gazing at that a year ago. I'll keep folks posted.
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One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Visible stuff is happening now. Today they erected some type of mold-looking thing on the roof of the garage. Red on the flat side and silver on the braced side. It looks like a mold wall -- but its about 10 feet in from the 8th Street side, flush to the ledge of the Walnut Street side. Can't describe it any better but if its a mold wall why would they start with that. Anyway, something's going on.
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One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Cool glad to hear something has started... I heard that the construction was stalled for some reason, I can't really remember why though. However, everything was worked out and construction was said to be underway shortly. Confirm when construction has visibly started. Thanks Phillydude for the updates!
It's things like this and the AAA building project that I really like because they turn a small, basically dead building into a place with a lot of people and activity while at the same time helping continue the big city "feel" of the area by building those places up.
They may not be as flashy as building skyline-changing skyscrapers but they are a very important part of continuing to grow the city.
Visible stuff is happening now. Today they erected some type of mold-looking thing on the roof of the garage. Red on the flat side and silver on the braced side. It looks like a mold wall -- but its about 10 feet in from the 8th Street side, flush to the ledge of the Walnut Street side. Can't describe it any better but if its a mold wall why would they start with that. Anyway, something's going on.
I was by there on Sunday and noticed the stores (including 7-11) are open for business as well as the garage. Maybe they won't close during construction? Or maybe they are waiting until after the holidays before they get serious?
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Forget it Jake ................it's Market East
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Adding density to an underutilized section of Center City is great.
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