PHILADELPHIA | The Arbour House @ 708 Sansom | 414 FT | 35 FLOORS

[SEFTA]

other tower proposals in the area -red
under construction -blue
proposals and under consruction 1-23-24 by jackftl, on Flickr

proposals and under consruction 1-23-24 b by jackftl, on Flickr

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

and still no view of park side

Yes there is. Look at the rendering Jawn posted. It’s the park facing side of the building. It also shows it in the CDR submission.

[SEFTA]

missed that

[Nanyika]

I like the tower very much — color, massing, etc. The parking podium, however, is very poor, in my opinion. It does not seem that there was much thought to making it compatible with the house on the corner, an original artifact from when the street was opened by William Sansom in the year 1800. A minimal improvement to help the new building blend with the rest of the street would be to use solid masonry construction for the base. I hope that is addressed in the CDR hearing.

[summersm343]

Minor Changes Only for Updated Jewelers’ Row Tower Prior to CDR











Read/view more here:
https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phil...-prior-to-cdr/

[summersm343]

Updated Renderings Revealed For 708 Sansom Street





Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2024/01/upda...st-center.html

[colemonkee]

This is a rather handsome building if the end product matches the renderings.

[Redddog]

The TOTAL lack of street level continuity in an historic district is baffling to me.

Just give me the first 5 floors to tie into the fabric of the street. You can do anything you want above that.

[gjrip]

I honestly think the architectural juxtaposition is awesome.

It only works if the materials are all world class. This appears to check my boxes, but I will wait to see the final product.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by gjrip

I honestly think the architectural juxtaposition is awesome.

It only works if the materials are all world class. This appears to check my boxes, but I will wait to see the final product.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Redddog

The TOTAL lack of street level continuity in an historic district is baffling to me.

Just give me the first 5 floors to tie into the fabric of the street. You can do anything you want above that.

Ideally a facadectomy would have happened but Toll killed that dream. With that being the case, I really like what they did. Creating some faux 5-story base often looks terrible; prime example:

[McBane]

Originally Posted by gjrip

I honestly think the architectural juxtaposition is awesome.

It only works if the materials are all world class. This appears to check my boxes, but I will wait to see the final product.

100% agreed. This looks awesome, top to bottom.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by PHL10

Agreed.




Ideally a facadectomy would have happened but Toll killed that dream. With that being the case, I really like what they did. Creating some faux 5-story base often looks terrible; prime example:

The facadectomy would have cost them money. Since the city didn't hold them to any restrictions (deciding to leave these properties as non-historical sites), Toll had every right to tell them to pound sand.

Toll is garbage, for sure but the real shame was the city's inability/unwillingness to do anything.

Whatever. I'm not gonna bit anymore about this building. I'm sure it'll be great when it's done.

[BroadandMarket]

The new black panels are a strange choice. I wonder why they went with that? This is from the presentation to the historical commission. It's still beautiful and I hope it gets going ASAP.



https://www.phila.gov/media/20240319...-Sansom-St.pdf

[TempleGuy1000]

yeah, don't like that versus the other renderings.

[Justin7]

By the time this thing is built the entire garage will be blank panels or a terrible facsimile of the previous design. Happens every time.

[Urbanthusiat]

Yeah this is just simple value engineering. That floor is just for cars. People won't spend much time in there, they won't care what it looks like from the inside.

[Arch+Eng]

This is probably my 2nd favorite project right now (behind 2301 JFK).
Wish they could split the retail space into two. I hate when new buildings have huge monolithic retail spaces that dont fit with the surrounding retail spaces. Lets just hope the anchor tenant is not Wendy's.

[skyhigh07]

Not the end of the world. This is still better than 99% of other projects in the city

[mcgrath618]

Has everyone forgotten 1620 Sansom? If this thing looks anything like what the renderings promised I'll eat my shoe.

[Inquizative]

Originally Posted by Redddog

The TOTAL lack of street level continuity in an historic district is baffling to me.

Just give me the first 5 floors to tie into the fabric of the street. You can do anything you want above that.

You mean like the Laurel on 19th & Walnut? If so, I believe it's a mistake. Why be suspended by the architectural character of the neighborhood? For aesthetic uniformity? The Laurel could have been so much more with the previous offered designs but now it appears to be a spin off of the Rittenhouse Hotel across the street, using similar materials. Why can't Philadelphia enjoy the modernization of new materials and design, something that exudes 2024? That's the beauty and character of an old city, a mix of the old and new. I like what's being offered, wish it was about 700 feet so we can see it from a distance.