This past Friday the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Walnut Street Capital, a Philadelphia development company headed by Garrett Miller, is proposing to build an $800 million, 2.2-million-square-foot, 1500 feet skyscraper on what is now a parking lot. The building’s height would be second only to Taipei 101, a building located in Taiwan, at 1,670 feet. The project is named the “American Commerce Center”and it would be constructed with a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold Certification in mind. That means a high degree of energy and water efficiency, which should save millions of dollars in operating expenses over the years, as well as result in a much reduced ecological footprint.
The Commerce Center would include a 26-story, 473-foot hotel with a garden on top. There would be three to six stories of retail space along Arch Street with a public garden facing the dome of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church. There would be another garden on the sixth floor, between Arch and Cuthbert streets, overlooking the one below.
Garrett Miller of Walnut Street Capital, said some potential tenants of the retail portion of the project include a high-end home store, restaurants, a gourmet food store, a health club and a movie theater with eight screens. Miller said financing is in place for the Philadelphia project but obstacles ahead include the need for zoning adjustments and attracting prospective tenants to occupy the office part of the building. The proposed building will need zoning adjustments, but it apparently has the backing of Mayor Nutter.
Although there is apparently much excitement around this project, I question the need for such gigantic structure. The developer hopes that it would attract a major corporation to locate its headquarters in the new green super skyscraper. This is another case of “Build it and they will come”.
The time for super skyscrapers is long gone, even for a Gold LEED certified Green SuperSkyScraper. This is the wrong direction for Philadelphia. We do not need to create another ultra-complex building housing thousands of people. We need to move toward more simplicity, less complexity, less risk, less capital intensive projects. We need to move toward an economy where people find their livelihood in their own neighborhood, or within a reasonable commuting time using public transportation, or work remotely using digital collaboration tools. The Green SuperSkyScraper is just a continuation of all the essential development mistakes that we have done in the past 50 years, but with a Gold LEED certification.
Is that what we want ?
What do you think about the Green SuperSkyScraper project?
Source: The Daily Green
Tim Ramsey
March 19, 2008
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Tim Ramsey
Mary Hunt
March 19, 2008
To me, it’s like replacing the old frig for an energy efficient one; not only does it save money, but promotes the manufacturing of more of them.
This kind of structure proves that efficiency can be obtained. They are doing the same thing in Syracuse, NY with Destiny USA, an 800 acre mall/golf course/research center that will be 100% fossile fuel free. Do we need more malls in the world? No. Do we need to prove that we can live without oil? Yes. In that proof, lies hope.
If both structures are successes, then the other older structures can be replaced. I’m looking at it purely from an energy saving and market moving point of view.
Jason
March 19, 2008
This is quite the dilemma. I can see both sides of the issue and there many different ways to look at it. The City of Philly probably wants this because it adds to the skyline (in their eyes) and could possibly help tourism, thus money being spent in the city. LEED certification is a selling point that could entice people to live downtown and thus not driving into the city.
To your question, does the city need to build yet another monstrosity? Probably not. Fact of the matter is that they probably want to build one LEED or not.
The project is not for me and I don’t really condone it, but I can see both sides of it…
-Jason
http://www.screamtobegreen.com
nadine sellers
March 19, 2008
my urban/rural dichotomy is at peace with this project as it respects the green space value in the proposal for a sky gardens.
as newer buildings encourage ecological renovation and construction, the movement to greener pastures will slowly
take effect.
although i do not advocate building more and bigger, i do appreciate the debate over newer more efficient technologies in the construction trade.
i also believe it to be healthy to recenter the urban hub. less traffic, more socio-economic opportunity. a much lighter footprint.
Jacque
March 27, 2008
i agree with all of your comments. while building a huge building such as this is probably not necessary, it will also accomplish other things-
We want Philadelphia to become the most sustainable city in the U.S. We need to show every one that this is possible in our city by building LEED gold buildings, planting green roofs, etc…all while keeping our city’s economy and tourist value afloat and perhaps heightened. This Building, being so huge, will attract the attention we need (even though not in the most efficient manner) and will make people jump on the bandwagon, not only in our city but nationally. It may just be what we need to jumpstart the green business and green job movement in Philly. It sucks that this is what it takes but if so, let it be. It will be a green building at least and hopefully a huge step.
jayma19
March 27, 2008
What is the point of demonstrating that we can build a Gold “LEED” Certified giant building ?
Sustainability is about lots of small distributed projects that are supported by and that are supporting local communities.
Building a giant “green” building is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. This is an example of old thinking disguised in new clothes. A super skyscraper gold LEED certified or not is not going to create green jobs but more of the jobs we already have, if any.
If we want to really show the way, we need to create jobs by supporting the creation of more urban farms, by launching a large scale bicycle sharing program, by expanding recycling to the whole city of Philadelphia instead of the few neighborhoods presently serviced, etc…
The very idea of building the 2nd tallest building in the world in Philadelphia shows that neither the developer nor the city has really absorbed what the next 20 years are going to look like and what type of projects are needed to build a sustainable regional economy.