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PHILAPHILIA Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week: Parkway Plaza
Parkway Plaza was to be built at the northwest corner of 15th and Arch, on a corner had been a shitty surface lot for over a decade.
PHILAPHILIA Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week: Parkway Plaza
A weekly series of foul-mouthed investigations into empty lots, dead-ass proposals and other design phenomena in Philadelphia. Find more stories like this at Philaphilia.blogspot.com.
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| This piece of shit scan from a copy of the Inquirer is the only surviving image of this proposal. |
As anyone who reads my little blog knows, I hate surface parking lots with a passion. What REALLY irks me, however, is when a surface lot stays barren for years on end because of a Dead-Ass Proposal. This is one of those proposals, one that contributed to the emptiness of a high-visibility lot for at least seven years.
Back in early 2004, Philadelphians were feeling the coming mid- to late-00's building boom. The office leases of several of the city's largest companies were coming to a close at pretty much the same time. Developers jumped on the chance to capitalize on the movement of these huge companies and started proposing new office skyscrapers for the first time in 15 years. On top of that, Keystone Opportunity Zones had just come to be, satiating developers with the thought of massive tax breaks on new developments.
Three large office projects were proposed in regard to this culmination of events. Brandywine Realty's Cira Centre, Liberty Property Trust's One Pennsylvania Plaza (Comcast Center) and this, Parkway Plaza, by Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. Parkway Plaza was to be built at the northwest corner of 15th and Arch, just across the street from LOVE Park. This particular corner had been a shitty surface lot for over a decade at that point, ever since 15th Street was widened as part of the Vine Street Expressway project.
This proposal generated excitement from Day One. Not only was Philly in line to get new office buildings, but a long-term empty lot would finally be abolished. The building's design was described as a "European-style" glass-walled skyscraper and was created by the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Beastchitects behind the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) and John Hancock Center. The developer tried to get the space to be designated a KOZ, but failed.
The first major tenant to show interest in the new building was Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson). They were sick of their offices in the Butt-Fugly Centre Square and were ready to move into newer, more modern digs. Towers Perrin narrowed their moving options down to a few contenders, but later just said "fuck it" and stayed in their old offices. Rumor had it that they weren't going to move if they couldn't get some money from the public teat to do it. That didn't hurt Parkway Plaza's chances, however, because another large company showed interest in the building: Viacom.
Viacom's Philly presence, which consists of TV channels 3 and 57 and radio stations 1060 AM and 94.1 FM, was crammed into a small ugly office building on Independence Mall and was itching to get out. They wanted to upgrade their shit with brand new technology and determined that it was cheaper to do that in a new space instead of attempting to alter the brutalist pile of fuck in which they were trapped. For their new headquarters at Parkway Plaza, they wanted create a high-profile, street-level studio similar to the company's NYC counterpart. They hoped for a move-in date of March 2007.
All the while, no consistent information was coming out about how tall this new building would be. Heights of 26 stories, 17 stories, 16 stories, and even a short as eight stories were reported in the press. For a Viacom move, the permitting and construction process would be much more complicated since the building would have to include broadcast/transmission towers and satellite dishes, some of which would have to be mounted on other buildings. Eventually, Viacom decided to split their shit up and move into pre-existing spaces: the TV stations went to the newly renovated 1500 Spring Garden, while the radio stations went to 400 Market.
That loss of a potential tenant didn't kill the Parkway Plaza project either. Wachovia Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) also showed interest in the proposed building. Wachovia was looking to consolidate its Philadelphia offices, which were spread out through four separate buildings in Center City. Parkway Plaza was on its "short list" of contenders for a new space. In the end, like Towers Perrin, Wachovia chose to stay in their original space.
That's pretty much it. As the years passed, the site became a shittier and shittier surface parking lot, and Parkway Plaza just didn't happen. Eventually, the spot got chosen as the new location for Philadelphia's Family Court. The same developer that proposed Parkway Plaza was to be the developer for the new court building, but got their asses kicked off the project over a huge controversy and conflict of interest. I considered the Family Court to be Son of Parkway Plaza until that time.
The new building is under construction right now, FINALLY putting that old surface lot out of its misery. The boring-ass design is from EwingCole, a far cry from the work of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Construction started in late 2011 but the underground work took so goddamn long that the building is just now emerging above street level.
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| It's actually going to be one story taller than in this picture: they got approved for a 15th floor at the last minute. |
What a disappointment. Parkway Plaza had the potential to become a landmark building in one of the highest-traffic areas of the city. Oh well, another opportunity lost.
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