Posted by Thenbagis on the Philadelphia Development Thread
Development at 2nd and Arch
Changing Skyline: Old City plan deserves praise, not opposition
Inga Saffron Fri, Sep. 14, 2012
http://www.philly.com/philly/home/20...pposition.html
Quote:
Forget the government's economic indicators. You know that Philadelphia's real-estate market is coming out of the doldrums when an old-time, bare-knuckle skyscraper fight breaks out in Old City.
The scene is a familiar one: a surface lot at Second and Race Streets, hard by the Ben Franklin Bridge and the ramp to I-95. Back in the heat of the condo boom, Brown/Hill Development tried to transform the site into real-estate gold by hiring a big-name New York firm, SHoP Architects. They produced one of the city's best designs of the period, an accommodating 110-foot-high midrise. The Old City Civic Association loved it, but the market collapsed before it was built.
Here is the website for the project, complete with petition to support....
http://www.205race.com/
I have to say, I really like it. I like the texture effect from the windows/cladding when looking westward. I also like the view east down Race, it has the feel of three story buildings, rather than a overwhelming building.