Planning and controversy (foreground), representing what many Philadelphia sports fans alleged was the
Curse of Billy Penn. The curse finally lifted with the
Philadelphia Phillies victory in the
2008 World Series. In
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a
gentlemen's agreement informally prevented the construction of buildings in
Center City that were higher than the statue of
William Penn atop
Philadelphia City Hall. The tradition lasted until the 1980s when developer
Willard G. Rouse III of
Rouse & Associates announced plans to build an office building complex that included two towers taller than City Hall. Prior to any development plans, Rouse wanted to acquire prime real estate in Philadelphia and he eyed a block in Center City occupied by parking lots and several small buildings. The Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. also eyed the land for development and the company and Rouse both vied for the block of land by buying small lots throughout the site. Neither developer was able to acquire enough contiguous space to build a large office building, so after a lawsuit and failed negotiations, the two developers agreed to an organized bidding war for each other's properties. Under the rules agreed upon, the highest bidder would get the option to buy the other's property. Rouse won the auction in 1983 for an undisclosed amount. Originally, Rouse envisioned a US$150 million 38-
story skyscraper, but on April 5, 1984, Rouse officially announced his plans to build a complex that would include two office towers, one 65 stories the other 55 stories, a hotel, and retail space. Rumors and local lore speculate Rouse spent so much money buying the land that he had to build something that justified the expense. A planning commission meeting was held on May 3 to decide if they would approve skyscrapers that break the height limit. Executive director of the commissioners, Barbara J. Kaplan, said the project had "substantial merit" and "that there is an opportunity here we should not pass up." She cited that the project would create 12,000 jobs and US$15 million in tax revenue. Opponent
Lee Copeland, dean of the
University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Fine Arts, said the height limit was "a kind of Philadelphia golden rule which is part of the spirit and tradition of our past." The meeting ended with the commission deciding to prevent buildings taller than City Hall while it studies the issue for one year. In May, the
Philadelphia City Council announced its support for the project because of the jobs it would create. On June 13,
Philadelphia mayor Wilson Goode came out in favor of the project. He proposed the creation of a special ordinance that would allow buildings taller than City Hall between 16th and 20th Streets and the north side of
Chestnut Street and the south side of
John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Upset at the mayor's support for the project, Edmund Bacon resigned from a commission about Philadelphia's future. Bacon called the complex "a total disaster," adding that, "It absolutely decimates the scale of Center City, and once it's been done, there's no stopping it."
Construction Phase 1 of the complex, called One Liberty Place, broke ground on May 13, 1985. One Liberty Place would be the tallest structure of the complex. The skyscraper became the
tallest structure in Philadelphia on September 10, 1986, when the first steel columns of the skyscraper's 44th floor were installed. One Liberty Place was
topped off on December 12 with a ceremony that included a laser light show and Mayor Goode, who said the tower "breaks the status quo of the city and says we arrived". On March 27, 1987, Robert Heenan, Jr., a 22-year-old
glazier, fell 42 stories to his death after his safety line snapped when it got caught in a hoist mechanism. A month later, on May 27, the tower's
spire was placed at the top of the building. Placing the spire was delayed when it was discovered sections of the spire didn't align with each other and had to be re-welded.
Conrail became the first major tenant to lease space when it signed its lease in December 1985, but by April 1987 only twenty percent of the building was leased. Conrail became the first tenant to move in when the building officially opened on August 17. One Liberty Place was only about one-third full by the end of 1987 when plans for Two Liberty Place were given the green light after
Cigna agreed to relocate its 4,400 employees from 15 different Philadelphia buildings to the skyscraper. Cigna agreed to lease the entire of Two Liberty Place on December 14. Phase 2 of the complex broke ground on February 16, 1988 with a ceremony that included thousands of purple, blue, and white balloons being released. Phase two of the project consisted of the remainder of the Liberty Place complex, the Two Liberty Tower, a
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a two-story shopping mall, and a parking garage. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel opened on November 5, 1990, and the shopping mall, called Shops at Liberty Place, opened a week later on November 13. The mall opened during an economic downturn and a quarter of the mall space was vacant. Fifty stores and fourteen restaurants leased space when the mall opened. Two Liberty Place finished construction by the end of the year.
Completion and later years In 1990, Rouse sold his interest in One Liberty Place to Japanese insurance company Chyoda. Also, in 1995, the owners of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which included Rouse,
defaulted on its US$64 million loan. After a sheriff's auction on December 4 of that year, the creditor,
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, took ownership of the property. The hotel again changed ownership in 1996 when Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association agreed to sell all its hotel properties to
Starwood. In 1999 One Liberty Place, Two Liberty Place, and the Shops of Liberty Place were put up for sale. At the time, One Liberty Place was owned by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and Chyoda. Two Liberty Place was owned by a partnership led by Willard Rouse called 1650 Market Associates, and the Shops of Liberty Place was owned jointly by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and 1650 Market Associates. In January 1999, the Ritz-Carlton announced it would not be renewing its lease at its Liberty Place location and would be relocating to
Two Mellon Center. The
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts hotel took its place later that year. The St. Regis wasn't able to maintain the same room rates as Philadelphia's other luxury hotels and was re-branded as the
Westin in February 2000, now focusing on business travelers. In June 2002, Two Liberty Place was sold to
Shorenstein Properties of San Francisco. The sale was reported to be for $US200 million and included Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association continuing as first-mortgage lender. On April 26, 2004, Cigna announced it would remain in Two Liberty Place after getting millions of dollars in incentives from the city and state, though would be leasing less space. With vacant,
Shorenstein Properties and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association sold their interests in Two Liberty Place to
private equity firm America's Capital Partners and its partner residential developer Falcone Group for US$151 million. Shortly after buying Two Liberty Place, America's Capital Partners announced it would be converting the top floors of the skyscraper into luxury
condominiums. The Residences at Two Liberty officially opened March 7 with the sample units finished. Conversion of the upper floors on the remaining 122 condominiums began that same month. In 2008, newly moved-in condominium owners were outraged at the plan of putting two
Unisys signs with illuminated red letters more than halfway up two sides of Two Liberty Place. Information technology company Unisys was planning to make four floors of the skyscraper its corporate headquarters and the signs were part of its plan to re-brand the company. The Philadelphia Zoning Board eventually rejected the sign idea, and Unisys ended up not moving its headquarters out of
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, noting the economy – and not rejection of the sign – was the basis for the decision. The Westin Philadelphia was sold by
Starwood in November 2005 to
HEI Hotels & Resorts. In 2006, HEI Hospitality spent US$10 million on renovating the hotel which included updating the decor and adding
wireless internet access. On June 18, 2007, a new skyscraper, the
Comcast Center was topped off and officially became the tallest building in the city. The Comcast Center ended One Liberty Place's 19-year place as Philadelphia's tallest building. In October 2016, Coretrust Capital Partners LLC of Los Angeles acquired the office portion of Two Liberty Place by purchasing controlling interests in multiple ownership entities for $219 million. The seller was a partnership advised and led by Parkway Properties, Inc. of Orlando, Florida (NYSE: PKY). ==Architecture==