Symphony Alley

Welcome to Philadelphia, where the new buildings are more of an eyesore than the adjacent rotting core.

BASE Jump at 17th & JFK

Looks like these guys jumped off the Comcast Center!

Resurrect Dead Planet Jupiter

One of the Toynbee tiles in a crosswalk on Broad Street. This one carries a particularly paranoid message. As if the Feds really give a shit about your tiles.

Comcast Center

The 11th tallest building in the United States is currently under construction in Center City. The Comcast Center perpetuates the curse of Billy Penn, surpassing Liberty One by nine meters. My fellow Philadelphians, we will all bask in the shadow of 297 meters of monolithic, mirrored post-modern glory.

Tria's New Location

The owners of Tria (18th and Sansom) are opening a new location on the northeast corner of 12th and Spruce. Maybe the tranny prostitutes will come in for a glass of wine...

Symphony House

Construction on these condos at Broad and Pine is in full swing. The building is quickly becoming visible from the surrounding neighborhoods.


From the southwest.


The view from Camac and Pine.


Also under construction is the Suzanne Roberts theatre on Broad and Lombard.



Judging from the artist's concept, this project has a way to go before it reaches maximum height.

Ambush

RIP Savoy

Hard to miss all of the condos going up in and around center city. This corner at 11th and Locust was the Savoy Restaurant (pictured here in May 2005). Behind the restaurant was the vacant Western Union Telegraph Building. Work is underway to renovate the larger space, but the building that once housed the diner at 232 S 11th has been razed.

The antics of the Savoy's clientele after hours is what made the place memorable. The food was decent and the price was right for dinner and a show...

These condos start at $368,000 for a 700 square foot one-bedroom. Although there's a 10-year property tax abatement, the monthly condo fee is $0.48 per square foot. Here are some more recent photos.