The 1,121′ Comcast Technology and Innovation Center, designed by Foster + Partners | Image via NBC Philadelphia
Comcast, Philadelphia’s largest corporation and the largest mass media and communications company in the world, announced today through NBC 10, which it owns, that the Comcast Technology and Innovation Center is on its way. As the Hidden City Daily reported in September, the design comes from London’s Foster + Partners.
Comcast Technology and Innovation Center | Image: Foster + Partners
The 59-story, 1,121′ tower will surpass the existing Comcast Center by 151′, and will include 45 stories of offices for the company, and the top 13 floors will house the Four Seasons, which will relocate from a block over on Logan Square. The hotel’s restaurant will be open to the public, providing the highest viewing platform in the city. The building will also include retail in the underground concourse, an extension of the existing Marketplace at Comcast Center, an idea first floated as part of the American Commerce Center project, once proposed for the 18th & Arch site where the new Comcast tower will be built.
NBC 10’s television studios will relocate from the Bala Cynwyd side of City Line Avenue, where they’ve been for 62 years. Noticiero Telemundo 62 will also have studios in the building.
The skyscraper is expected to be complete in 2017 and will house up to 4,000 Comcast employees. The estimated price tag of $1.2B includes $10M in grants from the City and $40M from the Commonwealth. For more details, see NBC 10’s story HERE. For additional renderings, see the Philadelphia Business Journal HERE.
About the author
Bradley Maule is co-editor of the Hidden City Daily and the creator of Philly Skyline. He's a native of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, and he's hung his hat in Shippensburg, Germantown, G-Ho, Fishtown, Portland OR, Brewerytown, and now Mt. Airy. He just can't get into Twitter, but he's way into Instagram @mauleofamerica.
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Oh…Not quite what I was expecting.
Hardly what I had hoped for from Foster. A big disappointment.
Sorry, I’m still hung up on the fact that our City and State donated $50 million to the largest communications company in the world. I guess that is what it takes to lure big fish into our small pond.
The $50 mil is going toward public improvements. The ROI in new tax dollars will be huge for this.
“new tax dollars will be huge for this” actually it will make no difference
Is anyone else looking at the tallest parts and seeing a giant middle finger flipping off the rest of the city?
The interiors look incredible and I actually like the design overall. My biggest complaint is its domination of the skyline from the Art Museum steps. Just seems impolite.
So the roof is going to be at least 100 feet lower than the original Comcast building
No sky bridge to the other Comcast tower ?
Any observation deck for the public ?
I wonder if that middle finger ( buckethead )
could be fitted with a ring tha slides down on
NEW YEARS ? I just hope the surrounding
base has plenty of green and doesn’t resemble
the old Dilworth plaza . 1500 new hires ?
Yes that’s a good thing.