Philadelphia Growing Up with a Slew of High-Rise Projects

Philadelphia Growing Up with a Slew of High-Rise Projects

Until the 1987 opening of Murphy/Jahn’s 945-foot One Liberty Place, Philadelphians passionately defended an unwritten agreement limiting city building heights to below the hat topping the statue of William Penn atop City Hall. By 1991, four years after One Liberty Place opened, seven other office towers transgressed the agreement, with fairly pedestrian designs, even for conservative Philadelphia. In the 15 years since, not one new building has risen above William Penn. This situation is now ending. Big time.