A New Philadelphia

With all the whining about shadows and burnt tomatoes on the east bank of the Schuylkill River, University City seems anxious to give Center City a run for its money. Brandywine's recently proposed skyscraper, the FMC Tower at 30th and Walnut seems to be breezing its way into existence with no opposition. 

Even more astonishing, West Philadelphia office space is now higher than Center City's central business district.

Although FMC's name will be on the tower at 30th and Market, the district's universities are behind the district's growth. The current economic climate has driven the region's academic expansion architecturally rivaling the building boom of the early 2000s.

University City's growth is creating an exciting, new Philadelphia skyline. Perhaps part of the appeal driving up rents its more manageable infrastructure.

Philadelphia, unlike New York or more expensive, densely packed cities, is not devoid

of developable land. Most current development is taking place outside Center City. While new University City and North Broad Street projects are being developed with urbanism in mind, they lack the parking and traffic issues that impact Center City but also sit near major public transportation hubs.
With easy parking, University City provides Philadelphia with all the benefits of a new city like Atlanta or Charlotte but at the same time, provides extensive transportation opportunities.

The new developments will ultimately turn University City's corridors into an extension of Center City with all of its demons and realities, but for the time being, it's attractive to new business.

The bonus in all of this is that University City is very much part of Philadelphia, and despite the Schuylkill River, is still integrated into the fabric of our core.

While towers continue to pop up around the district, they're being built within an existing pedestrianized infrastructure.

40th and Walnut may not look like the most desirable addresses now, but putting more residents at the edge of the river will bring sidewalk improvements, parks, and bike lanes.

Soon enough, walking from University City to our city's proper core won't be a burden, but a pleasant walk across a beautiful river and a true gateway to Center City.

3601 Market

3601 Market, part of the University Center Science Center and a mixed use apartment and commercial tower, will now be a little taller and a little bit more interesting.

A little.

Perhaps riding Drexel's new style guide, BLT Architects will be staggering many of the windows and some of the balconies on the 300 foot high rise. While it's not quite as exciting as Campus Crest's Grove or Drexel's most recent additions, BLT has angled the 28 story tower towards Center City to offer residents a view of the skyline.

Of course with seemingly no cap on University City's rising skyline, Center City developers might soon be offering their potential tenants a view of a new Philadelphia, one west of the Schuylkill River.

Evo on the River

The Grove at 30th and Chestnut will be opening in the fall of 2014, and if you haven't gotten your skyscraper fix from the tallest student housing in the United States, Brandywine Realty Trust and Campus Crest aren't done.

When you think student housing, Campus Crest wants you to think vertically, which is why their Cira Centre South project isn't complete. With 33 floors already under construction, Campus Crest is aiming even higher on Walnut Street.

Remaining cryptic and making no official statements, Campus Crest does have the capital to build. With no neighborly resistance to development on the west bank on the Schuylkill River, University City and Campus Crest have been free to dabble in experimental design, tall design, free of community intervention.

One Riverside

What happens when a city produces a wildly successful riverfront park? Well turns out people want to live there. Take note, DRWC.

In what skyscraper nerds are hoping is the second of many high rise apartment buildings to line the Schuylkill Banks, Dranoff Properties hopes to join The Grove by adding 21 stories to Center City's side of the river. Architecture nerds are hoping that it looks good.

The new high rise would replace a surface parking lot at 25th and Locust near Fitler Square. The high density dwelling proposed at an already impressive location will undoubtedly raise the eyebrows of its posh brownstone dwelling neighbors. 

However, ironic as it is, Center City West residents are often less resistant to new developments than their residential counterparts in more transitional neighborhoods just outside Center City, especially when those projects erase scarring surface lots.

Until a rendering is released, most of the leeriness will probably stem from Dranoff's reputation for hokey neo-classical design and cheap materials.

The Grove will soon be the Schuylkill River's newest high rise addition.