|
|
|
PHILAPHILIA: Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week - Bridgeman's View Tower
Another broken dream, and a good-looking one at that. This awesome tower was set to be the impetus for a second downtown along the Northern Liberties Delaware Riverfront. Instead, we got dicked.
PHILAPHILIA: Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week — Bridgeman's View Tower
A weekly series of foulmouthed investigations into empty lots, dead-ass proposals and other development and design phenomena in Philadelphia. Find more stories like this at philaphilia.blogspot.com.
Bridgeman's View Tower, 900 N. Delaware Ave.: Dead from every angle.
Here it is ... another broken dream, and a good-looking one at that. This awesome tower was set to be the impetus for a second downtown along the Northern Liberties Delaware Riverfront. Instead, we got dicked.
This Crystal Tower of Crotch-kicks was first proposed in 2006 by developers Marc F. Stein and Ryan Roberts under the name 2945 LLC. Even the NIMBYs in the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association thought it was cool. Zoning for the parcel was changed in late 2006 and it got whole-heartedly approved in January of 2007.
Are those palm trees?
Excitement filled the air in the Philadelphia forum/blogosphere as people went nuts over this thing.... it was seen as an unstoppable development that could give rise to many more. At the time, the Northern Liberties Delaware Riverfront was swimming in a shitload of tall building proposals. 
Updated version of the graphic that was swirling all over the interwebs in 2007-2008.
Of all the [now dead-ass] proposals that were being talked about for this location, Bridgeman's View Tower was the tallest and most intense: 915 feet tall, 66 stories, 352 condo units, 177 hotel rooms, 97,000 square feet of office space, 94,000 square feet of retail, and of course, a 1,200-car parking garage. The architect was the Agoos Lovera firm. This thing was going to be a behemoth, a beacon to this new downtown (that never happened). It was named Bridgeman's View Tower to honor the iron workers that built the Ben Franklin Bridge.
The model, posing with other Dead-Ass Proposals.
Since the American Commerce Center was not yet proposed and the Comcast Center was still under construction, Bridgeman's View was the talk of the town for the whole summer of 2007. Once a November groundbreaking was announced, the excitement went full steam. And then ... nothing.
November 2007 came and went with no groundbreaking. It wasn't until April 2008 that the Bridgeman's View got mentioned again. With rumors going around that the proposal was dead, developer Ryan Roberts stated to the press: “It’s still moving ahead. It’s not a dead deal" ... “It’s going to be a great project for Philadelphia and Northern Liberties.”
After that, the project was never heard from again. Bummer. This would have been a major city landmark if it was built. Instead, we have to settle for the shitbird empty lot that still exists in its place. Motherfucker.
A rendering by Agard Martin.
- ActiVman
- adventures
- Arts
- Ask A Man-About-Town
- Award Tour
- Awards
- Bad Idea Factory
- Beer
- Below the Curve
- Bikes
- Booze
- Brian Hickey
- BRT
- Budget
- Budget Fuss
- Business
- Casinos
- City Council
- City Hall
- CouncilMANIC
- CP Abroad
- CP in the Community
- Criminal Justice System
- Day Tripper
- Death and Taxes
- Delaware River
- Design
- DROP
- Drugs
- Dubious Distinction
- Elections
- End of Days
- Environment
- Fashion
- Film Fest
- Financial Meltdown
- FrackTrack
- Free Library
- Gambling
- Gay Stuff
- Get Lit
- Greenstorming
- guns
- Hall Monitor
- Health
- Health Care
- Hello, Kitty
- Holidays
- Ice Cubes
- Iggles
- Immigration
- In Memoriam
- Labor
- Lawsuits
- Letters
- LGBTQ
- Maps
- Marcellus Shale
- Media
- MMA
- Mummers
- Music
- MUST READ
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Nation
- News
- Non Sequitur
- Opinion
- PA politics 2010
- Parking Wars
- Parks and Recreation
- People Send Us This Stuff
- Philadelphia Police
- Philadelphia Union
- Philaphemera
- Philly From Scratch
- philly madness
- Photos
- Poverty
- PPA
- President Obama
- Print Edition
- Prisons
- Protest
- Readers Write
- Real Estate
- Rock Bottom
- Schools
- Science
- Screwing Philly
- SEPTA
- snow
- So Lush
- Soccer
- Sporting Life
- Sports Complex
- State Politicians
- State Politics
- Street Art
- Strike
- Stuff We Like
- Taxes
- Taxi Drivers
- Tech Fetish
- television
- The Budget Crisis
- The City Paper
- The CLOG
- The Human Condition
- The Mayor
- The Phightin Phils
- The World
- Things that make you go hm
- Tinfoil Hats Off
- Under the Table
- Under the Tables
- Urban Development
- Urban Planning
- urban wildlife
- Video Poker
- We Call Shenanigans
- Weather
- Web Junk
- Weekend Omnibus
- White House
- What We've Found
- Women's Issues
- Flyered Up!
- How 'Bout That Weather?
- it's always sunny in philadelphia
- Stu!
- Shopping
- get out
- 10-track mind
- ArtsFlash
- Bloggity
- Bruce Being Bruce
- Colleges
- Comedy
- Gigantic Surprises
- Hello Canary
- Hello Puppy
- errata
- get lost
- Inside The Fishbowl
- Library Closings
- Local Support
- Movies
- Murder
- Night Moves
- Recycling
- radio
- Scientology
- Sex
- Sixers
- Skeeze Police
- State Politicians Screwing Philly
- That's a cool stencil!
- Theater
- Things We See
- This Week
- This Week in Oates
- University City
- WIN
- What we don't heart
- trailer!
- what we heart
- Feeling Guilty
- Askadelphia.
- Broke in Philly
- Contest
- Dance
- Dear Paper Doll
- Do A Good Thing
- Education
- Film Fest Schism
- G20-20 Vision
- Goodbye
- Gossip
- Great American Heroes
- PATCO
- Pearl Jam Week
- Puppy
- Stars of the Photostream
- sustainability
- Lower Merion Webcam-Gate
- The Cycle
- Equality Forum
- Bureaucrat of the Week
- Animals
- ElectionEar
- Photostream
