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Cira Center II: Pelli’s revenge

I’ve got something shameful to admit. I’m jealous of New York’s skyline. Chicago too. It’s an immature jealousy, but it’s there. Next to their crops of big, strong, spires thrusting boldly from the earth, Philly looks like a wee-little toy city.

It’s no consolation that if you drive I-95 from Miami to Boston, Philly boasts far and away the second largest skyline on the eastern seaboard. In my extremely biased opinion it also ranks right up there with Seattle and San Francisco for that number 3 spot. (Excluding Canada/Toronto)

On Friday, Cira Center South was announced. With a commercial tower punching over 600 and possibly even 700’, and with a residential tower big enough to make it’s own mark on the skyline, CCS will help alleviate the festering wound that is I-76 and the Walnut Street bridge. According to Brandywine Realty Trust’s finest renderers, here’s what it will look like:

It’s amazing what’s happened in this latest boom. According to dovate.com, Center City has officially expanded from Spring Garden to Girard in the north, South Street to Washington Ave. in the south and from 23-27th to 33/34th street to the west.

By 2012, center city will flow seamlessly into Penn Campus. Who knows where it will be in another 20 years. Aside from CCS, here’s what could/should happen now:

Mandeville place: Helping to fill that gap between 24th and 30th streets, Mandeville place will go a long way in assisting the Peco building and the diminutive 2400 building with consistency and class. At 21st and Market, the Murano helps pick up the rear. Here’s Mandeville:

Also crucial is Bridgeman’s View Tower. Far away at Delaware Ave. and Poplar and rising over 900′, BVT would stand as an impressive monument to the Philly skyline. Also, behind Comcast and Liberty I, it would be the 3rd tallest building in the city. In 5 years we could see the skyline stretch boldly from the Delaware to 32nd street. Take that San Francisco!