by KYW's Steve Tawa
Developers and architects who want to put up a more than 60-story skyscraper at 18th and Arch Streets have received the rezoning approval they need from the city Planning Commission.
The architect of the proposed 1,500-foot American Commerce Center, Eugene Kohn, says it would be an iconic building and a statement for Philadelphia:
"It would be the tallest building in America, until the Freedom Tower in New York is complete. It would end up as the third tallest in the US."
But many who live nearby say the proposed building between Logan and Rittenhouse Squares is out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood. Philadelphia zoning lawyer Joseph Beller represents nearby residents:
"It's the antithesis of what these folks voted Mayor Nutter in."
City Planning Commission chairman Andy Altman says the rezoning acknowledges that the central business district's trajectory of growth is the space between Market Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway toward 30th Street. He says it's natural for development to flow to where transit is:
"You have all of the basic rail and subway networks coming in. That's a huge attraction to this site, and all of the buildings in that corridor."
The zoning legislation now goes to city council's Rules Committee for an early December hearing.
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