List of tallest buildings in Philadelphia

Philadelphia skyline as seen from the old South Street Bridge in November 2007

Philadelphia, the largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, is home to 381 completed high-rises,^[1] 29 of which stand taller than 400 feet (122 m). The tallest building in the city is currently the 57-story Comcast Center, which rises 974 feet (297 m) in Center City.^[2] Comcast Center is also the tallest building in Pennsylvania and the 19th-tallest building in the United States. The second-tallest building is One Liberty Place, which rises 61 floors and 945 feet (288 m).^[3] One Liberty Place stood as the tallest building in Pennsylvania for over 20 years until the completion of Comcast Center in 2008. Overall, six of the ten tallest buildings in Pennsylvania are in Philadelphia, with the remainder being in Pittsburgh.^[4] Philadelphia is one of only five American cities with two or more completed buildings over 900 feet (270 m) tall.^[5]

Philadelphia's history of tall buildings is generally thought to have begun with the 1754 addition of the steeple to Christ Church, which was one of America's first high-rise structures.^[6] Through most of the 20th century, a "gentlemen's agreement" prevented buildings from rising higher than the 548-ft (167-m) Philadelphia City Hall.^[7] Despite this, Philadelphia amassed a large collection of high-rise buildings. The completion of One Liberty Place in 1987 broke the agreement,^[7] and Philadelphia has since seen the construction of eight skyscrapers that eclipse City Hall in height.

Philadelphia has twice held the tallest habitable building in North America, first with Christ Church, then with City Hall. The latter reigned as the world's tallest building from 1894 to 1908,^[8] and is currently the world's second-tallest masonry building, only 1.6 feet (0.49 m) shorter^[9] than Mole Antonelliana in Turin.^[10] Like other large American cities, Philadelphia went through a massive building boom in the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in the completion of over 20 high-rise buildings.

As of August 2014, there are several major high-rise construction projects underway in Philadelphia. The largest of these projects is the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, which began construction in 2014 and will rise 1,121 feet (342 m) upon completion. The Comcast Innovation and Technology Center will surpass Comcast Center by over 100 feet (30 m) to become the tallest skyscraper in Pennsylvania and the tallest building in the country outside of New York and Chicago.^[11]

Tallest buildings

This list ranks completed and topped out skyscrapers in Philadelphia that stand at least 400 feet (120 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed. The only demolished building that would have ranked on this list was the 492-foot (150 m) One Meridian Plaza, razed in 1999.^[12]

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year	Address	Notes
1	Comcast Center		974 (297)	58	2008	1701 John F. Kennedy Blvd	Tallest building in Pennsylvania; 15th-tallest building in the United States, 98th-tallest in the world; tallest building completed in Philadelphia in the 2000s[2][13][14] Tallest building between New York and Chicago and between New York and Atlanta. Tallest building in the Mid-Atlantic region. The new Comcast Innovation and Technology Center will surpass the current Comcast center by 146 feet. This super tall tower will be standing at 1,121 feet. It will be the 8th tallest building in the country and the tallest building outside of New York and Chicago.
2	One Liberty Place		945 (288)	61	1987	1650 Market Street	Second-tallest skyscraper in the city and state; 20th-tallest building in the country, 112th-tallest in the world; tallest building completed in Philadelphia in the 1980s[3][15][16]
3	Two Liberty Place		848 (258)	58	1990	1601 Chestnut Street	35th-tallest building in the country, 156th-tallest in the world; tallest building completed in Philadelphia in the 1990s[17][18][19]
4	BNY Mellon Center		792 (241)	54	1990	1735 Market Street	47th-tallest building in the country, 279th tallest building in the world; also known as Nine Penn Center[20][21][22]
5	Three Logan Square		739 (225)	55	1991	1717 Arch Street	89th-tallest building in the United States; formerly known as Bell Atlantic Tower and Verizon Tower[23][24][25][26]
6	G. Fred DiBona Jr. Building		625 (191)	45	1990	1901 Market Street	Formerly known as the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Tower and the IBX Tower[27][28][29]
7=	One Commerce Square		565 (172)	41	1992	2005 West Market Street	[30][31]
7=	Two Commerce Square		565 (172)	41	1987	2001 West Market Street	[31][32]
9	Philadelphia City Hall		548 (167)	9	1901	1 Penn Square	Tallest building in the United States and the world from 1901 until the completion of the Singer Building in 1908[33][34]
10	The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton		518 (158)	48	2009	1414 South Penn Square	Tallest residential building in the city.[35][36][37]
11	1818 Market Street		500 (152)	40	1974	1818 Market Street	Tallest building completed in Philadelphia in the 1970s[38][39]
12	The St. James		498 (152)	45	2004	700 Walnut Street	Tallest building located east of Broad Street[40][41]
13	Loews Philadelphia Hotel		492 (150)	36	1932	1200 Market Street	Formerly known as the PSFS Building[42] Tallest hotel in the city. With its antenna, the building reaches a height of 750 feet (229 m), making it the 5th-tallest building in the city.[43][44][45]
14	PNC Bank Building		491 (150)	40	1983	1600 Market Street	[46][47]
15=	Centre Square II		490 (149)	40	1973	Market and 15th Streets	[48][49]
15=	Five Penn Center		490 (149)	36	1970	1601 Market Street	[50][51]
17	Murano		475 (145)	43	2008	2101 Market Street	[52][53][54]
18	One South Broad		472 (144)	28	1932	1 South Broad Street	Formerly known as the Lincoln-Liberty Building and the PNB (Philadelphia National Bank) Building[55][56]
19=	2000 Market Street		435 (133)	29	1973	2000 Market Street	[57][58]
19=	Two Logan Square		435 (133)	35	1987	100 North 18th Street	[59][60]
21	Cira Centre		434 (133)	28	2005	30th and Arch Streets	Tallest building in Philadelphia outside Center City although, once completed, the FMC tower will surpass the current Cira Centre.[61][62]
22=	1700 Market		430 (131)	32	1968	1700 Market Street	Tallest building completed in the 1960s[63][64]
22=	Evo at Cira Centre South	00 !—	430 (131)	33	2014	2930 Chestnut Street	[65][66][67]
24	1835 Market Street		425 (130)	29	1986	1835 Market Street	Name was changed from Eleven Penn Center in 2003[68][69]
25	Centre Square I		417 (127)	32	1973	Market and 15th Streets	[70][71]
26	Aramark Tower		412 (126)	32	1984	1101 Market Street	Formerly known as One Reading Center[72][73]
27	Wells Fargo Building		405 (123)	29	1927	123 South Broad Street	[74][75]
28	One Logan Square	00 !—	400 (122)	31	1983	130 North 18th Street	[76][77]
29	1706 Rittenhouse	00 !—	400 (122)	31	2010	1706 Rittenhouse Square	[78]

Tallest under construction or proposed

This lists buildings that are under construction or proposed for construction in Philadelphia and are planned to rise at least 400 feet (120 m), but are not yet completed structures. A floor count of 40 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet been released by their developers.

* Table entries with dashes (—) indicate that information regarding building heights or dates of completion has not yet been released.

Timeline of tallest buildings

A 1898 poster of skyscrapers in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has seen few city record-holders compared to other cities with comparable skylines. Although churches, cathedrals, and the like are not technically considered to be skyscrapers, Christ Church, after being surmounted with its lofty spire in 1754, stood as its tallest building for 102 years before being surpassed by the (no longer extant) spire of Tenth Presbyterian Church, which was only surpassed by the North American Building in 1900. Then, due to the "gentlemen's agreement" not to build higher than the top of the statue of William Penn atop City Hall,^[7] that building stood as the city's tallest structure for 86 years; it also held the world record for tallest habitable building from 1901 until the 1908 completion of the Singer Building in New York City.

Name	Image	Street address	Years as tallest	Height ft (m)	Floors	Architect	Reference
Independence Hall		520 Chestnut Street	1748–1754	134 (41)	00 !—	Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton
Christ Church		20 North American Street	1754–1856	196 (60)	00 !—	Robert Smith	[6][89]
Tenth Presbyterian Church		17th & Spruce Streets	1856–1900	250 (76)	00 !—	John McArthur, Jr.	[90]
North American Building	00 !—	121 South Broad Street	1900–1901	267 (81)	21	James H. Windrim	[91]
Philadelphia City Hall		Broad & Market Streets	1901–1987	548 (167)	9	John McArthur, Jr.	[33][92]
One Liberty Place		1650 Market Street	1987–2008	945 (288)	61	Helmut Jahn	[3][93]
Comcast Center		1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard	2008–present	974 (297)	57	Robert A. M. Stern Architects	[2][13]

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh
• List of tallest buildings in Pennsylvania
• List of tallest buildings in the United States
• Buildings and architecture of Philadelphia
• List of tallest structures in the world by type of use

References

General

• Emporis.com - Philadelphia

Specific

External links

• Diagram of Philadelphia skyscrapers on SkyscraperPage
• Philadelphia Center for Architecture
• Philadelphia Skyline Photo on Picture Philly

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