Mandeville Place

2401 Walnut Street

 

                       This one's a real pisser. The only reason this building doesn't exist is because of the stupid housing bubble. One could argue that the only reason this was ever proposed was the bubble, but fuck that. It's a shame to see a building that's fully approved just fall by the wayside because of market shit.
                       During the mid-00's building boom in Philly (and America), 500 nonillion condo highrise proposals appeared out of nowhere. There started to be so many of them that they all started to look alike. Out of the 34 vigintillion condo projects that all seemed to be on the way, Mandeville Place stood out as the most risky and badass.
                       This was going to be a 43-storey building with only 45 condos in it. Do the fucking math. That meant that most of the units inside were going to be entire floors of the skyscraper. That's fucking nuts. Even the mega-expensive 1706 Rittenhouse only has a handful of such units. This was going to be crazy. On top of that, it was going be a cool-looking-ass building!
                     The plan called for a 607-foot super-thin wall of glass that would rise from 24th and Sansom. The Rosenbluth Building at 2401 Walnut would be incorporated into the design with added retail and a garden/roofdeck/restaurant.

                      The developer, Bedrock Group, LLC, could have renamed themselves Badassery Associates, LLC if they finished this thing. Richard Meier and Partners Architects executed this kickass design. I'm not sure if I've EVER complimented a living architect before.
                      The saddest part about this project is that I can't even blame anyone or anything specific for its non-existence. No NIMBYs or Civic Associations fucked this one over. It was fully approved... construction was supposed to begin in March 2008. Contractors for every part of the building were engaged. Rumors of site prep swirled around the internet. Then.. the housing crash. Fuck. Needless to say, this is as dead as a dead dog's dick. What a shame.

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