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Absolutely. Within the state AND city. Corrupt politicians, pension funds, etc. Just a bunch of money mismanagement. Also, because the tax structure is SO messed up, Philly misses out on a lot of tax revenue opportunity.
What needs to be restructured the most is the tax structure. Shift the tax burden to objects that CAN'T move out of the city like buildings and property, and lessen the tax burden on corporations. Philly DESPERATELY needs a better business tax structure. Lowering the wage tax and eliminating the business privilege tax would be a good start.
That is too bad because the Federal government is going to fund less and less projects going forward. Cities will need to come up with their own creative ways to fund transit like putting up their own tax dollars and public/private partnerships. That is how D.C. is building the Purple Line and the DC Streetcars. It's the only way to build stuff now. The tolls from drivers is paying for most of the Silver Line.
1. Transbay tower - 1,070'
2. 181 Fremont - 802'
3. One Rincon Hill north tower - 541' (topped out)
4. 350 Mission - 455'
5. Lumina tower 1 - 450'
6. 45 Lansing - 450'
7. 399 Fremont - 440'
8. Lumina tower 2 - 400'
9. 100 Van Ness - 400' (office tower converted to residential, it got competely stripped down to the frame)
10. 535 Mission - 380'
11. 299 Fremont - 350'
12. Trinity Place tower III - 22 stories
13. Mission Bay block 13w - 16 stories
14. 1400 mission - 15 stories
15. 942 mission - 15 stories
16. 1415 Mission - 14 stories
17. 1450 Franklin - 13 stories
18. 1415 Franklin - 13 stories
19. 1321 Mission - 12 stories
20. SFMOMA expansion - 10 stories
Approved highrises that I know of:
1. Sun Tower - 450' (funding fell through, so it's not getting built any time soon)
2. 340 Fremont - 440' (site prep)
3. 325 Fremont - 250' (site prep)
4. California Pacific Medical Center, Cathedral Hill - 240' (demolition)
Plus a bunch of highrises (around 30 of them, judging by renderings) that are part of the approved Treasure Island/Hunters Point/Park Merced redevelopment projects, that I can't find details on. I'd guess most are in the 100'-300' range, and none are taller than 400'.
Highrise proposals that I know of:
1. 50 first street tower 1 - 850'+
2. 50 first street tower 2 - 605'+
3. transbay block 5 - 550'
4. transbay block 8 - 550'
5. transbay block 4 - 450'
6. transbay block 9 - 450'
7. 524 Howard - 450'
8. 1481 Post - 416'
9. 1 Van Ness - 400'
10. 3M tower 1 - 400'
11. 41 Tehama - 380'
12. 75 Howard - 350'
13. 3M tower 2 - 350'
14. transbay block 1 - 300'
15. 350 Bush - 250'
16. 525 Harrison - 16 stories
17. 3M tower 3 - ~150'
18. 3M tower 4 - ~150'
19. 101 Polk street - 13 stories
20. 1634 Pine street - 13 stories
21. 1690 Pine street - 13 stories
22. 1527 Pine street - 12 stories
23. Warriors Arena - 125'
24. 250 4th street - 11 stories
Then there's also the Giants development that will include up to 10 highrises with heights ranging from 120' to 320'. There are also two lots in the Transbay redevelopment area that are zoned for 700'/750' so we'll probably see two more towers of that size get proposed soon enough, which is nice seeing as the majority of highrises going up/getting proposed are under 500'. And there are surely at least a few more proposals that I don't know about.
And finally...
highrises completed within the past several months:
1. Nema tower 1 - 360'
2. Nema tower 2 - 260'
3. 1285 Sutter - 13 stories
4. Foundry Square III - 10 stories
Of course there are some other big projects under construction too, such as the central subway and the transbay terminal.
I don't think any of us Philly posters claimed ONCE that Philly was the MSA with the most construction, we were simply the only ones contributing to the thread, along with MDAllstar. No one else was really contributing before that. Maybe someone from NYC and Seattle and Atlanta here and there, but that's it.
Still, the reason a lot of Philly posters, both here and on skyscraperpage are very excited about this Philly development going on, is because the city was in decline for 60 years. Philly is finally growing again for 7 years now, and by a good amount of people each year, and jobs are moving back to the city as well. New highrises are being built and retailers are moving into the city as well. It's an exciting time for a lot of people to be in Philly to see the renaissance.
It will be exciting to see the new towers getting going this year.
If all goes according to plan, Philly will see 24 towers under construction in 2014
1. Comcast Innovation and Technology Center- 59 floors- 1,121 feet
2. FMC Tower at Cira Centre South- 47 floors- 656 feet- site prep
3. SLS International- 47 floors- 567 feet
4. W & Element by Westin- 50 floors- 550 feet
5. Evo at Cira Centre South- 33 floors- 430 feet- Under Construction
6. 1601 Vine- 32 floors- 380 feet
7. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at 700 Schuylkill- 23 floors- 375 feet
8. 1919 Market- 28 floors- 347 feet
9. 3601 Market- 28 floors- 320 feet- under construction
10. 1213 Walnut- 26 floors- 294 feet
11. Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care- 14 floors- 292 feet- under construction
12. Chinatown Eastern Tower- 24 floors- 282 feet
13. Lancaster Square- 25 floors- 279 feet- under construction
14. 38Chestnut- 25 floors- 278 feet- under construction
15. Family Court Building- 15 floors- 265 feet- under construction
16. One Riverside- 21 floors- 249 feet
17. Temple University Science, Education & Research Center- 10 floors- 241 feet- under construction
18. 3737 Market- 13 floors- 221 feet- under construction
19. The View at Montgomery- 14 floors- 214 feet- under construction
20. Museum Towers II- 16 floors
21. 1900 Arch- 14 floors- Under Construction
22. 2021 Chestnut- 12 floors- Under Construction
23. Henry A. Jordan Medical Center- 11 floors- under construction
24. Rodin Square- 10 floors- site prep
There is also the possibility of the Mellon Independence Tower getting going this year at 35 floors and 429 feet, and phase one of the East Market development at 12th and Market which will include two towers on top of retail podiums, one tower with 325 apartments and the other with 250,000+ sq ft of office space.
Note the key words I bolded. When does anything in Philadelphia go "according to plan"? Pretty much never. The city just lacks the get up and get it done attitude of Boston, SF, DC, NY, and Chicago. I'd say maybe 2 or 3 out of the top ten on your list may actually happen.
Any progress in Philadelphia is always rather small compared to the other cities I listed. How is that development of the waterfront coming along? It isn't.
I'm surprised there's no Chicago posters elaborating on the activity going on in the city. There's allot of construction activity going on in the downtown area.
1. 150 N Riverside - 53 Floors-742 ft- Should Start construction June or July
2. River Point - 52 floors- 730 feet- Under Construction
3. 435 N. Park - 49 Floors- 569 feet- Under Construction
4. 200 North Michigan - 42 Floor- 515 feet
5. Rehabilitation Institute of Chi. - 32 floor- 480 feet- Under Construction
6. 845 North State - 35 floors- 410 feet - Under Construction
7. Arkadia - 33 Floors - 355 feet- Under Construction
8. Chicago and LaSalle - 33 Floors - 345 Feet- Under Construction
9. State and Elm - 25 Floor - 335 Feet- Under Construction
10. 212 West Illinois - 25- 250 Feet- Under Construction
I already posted pages ago about these and there's more too like the mid rises in Lincoln Park for New City currently under construction and the Children's Memorial Hospital redevelopment that was approved recently and will start construction sometime soon. I made a map of some major projects going on in town and this includes the hotel boom. I have to update with a few more as there's always proposals coming out and some of these proposals will most definitely get done (i.e. 740 N Rush and the 38 story tower to replace the HoJo in River North).
Note the key words I bolded. When does anything in Philadelphia go "according to plan"? Pretty much never. The city just lacks the get up and get it done attitude of Boston, SF, DC, NY, and Chicago. I'd say maybe 2 or 3 out of the top ten on your list may actually happen.
Any progress in Philadelphia is always rather small compared to the other cities I listed. How is that development of the waterfront coming along? It isn't.
Waterfront is lacking on the DE side, probably will be for some time. On the other river there are 5 towers going up.
Also among the top ten listed 5 are already under construction
to me 1213 Walnut and the W are maybe the least likely of the bunch - the remainder are either under way or set for shovels within weeks actually.
Waterfront is lacking on the DE side, probably will be for some time. On the other river there are 5 towers going up.
Also among the top ten listed 5 are already under construction
to me 1213 Walnut and the W are maybe the least likely of the bunch - the remainder are either under way or set for shovels within weeks actually.
Maybe. Does Boston have a W hotel? Most certainly. What is it with this town. It is so obvious most big city east coast tourists go right by Philadelphia.
That W hotel will never be built. Philly can't support it.
Take a look at the cheap sale of the Marriot. Why? Too many empty rooms.
Maybe. Does Boston have a W hotel? Most certainly. What is it with this town. It is so obvious most big city east coast tourists go right by Philadelphia.
That W hotel will never be built. Philly can't support it.
Take a look at the cheap sale of the Marriot. Why? Too many empty rooms.
Maybe. Does Boston have a W hotel? Most certainly. What is it with this town. It is so obvious most big city east coast tourists go right by Philadelphia.
That W hotel will never be built. Philly can't support it.
Take a look at the cheap sale of the Marriot. Why? Too many empty rooms.
That's quite surprising. So fascinating that Philly's tourist market isn't stronger given its historical significance to American history, its wonderful architecture, it's numerous museums, etc. I still personally find Philly--along with Cincinnati, Cleaveland, etc--wonderful American gems that should be more vibrant than they are today. Hopefully that trend changes soon.
That's quite surprising. So fascinating that Philly's tourist market isn't stronger given its historical significance to American history, its wonderful architecture, it's numerous museums, etc. I still personally find Philly--along with Cincinnati, Cleaveland, etc--wonderful American gems that should be more vibrant than they are today. Hopefully that trend changes soon.
If you're from Europe, do you really care about 200 year old architecture and 250 year history?
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