On this gloriously sunny, blustery day, we decided to take a slight detour to revisit a recent trip we made, which included a very Opening Day-appropriate mural from artist David McShane. Before we get to our fun for today, we just wanted to throw out a big “GO PHILS!” as our boys in red kick off their long season, though it won’t be quite as long as it has been in the past.

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"The Phillies Mural" by David McShane, a wonderful sight on Opening Day

Want even more excitement? Shuffle a couple blocks to the north to 2300 Market St., where a glassy addition is joining the west side of Market St. in Center City. In May of last year, we got word of a redesigned addition for two buildings after a previous residential proposal would have kept three existing buildings in place. In this instance, the beautiful, LEED gold design sure softens the blow of losing a building that has stood along this thoroughfare for ages.

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The south side of the 2300 block of Market St. in the recent past
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The original residential proposal designed by Tantillo Architecture would have kept all three buildings
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View looking SE towards the site, with the western building now gone

When we stopped by the site, it was all systems go, with the western-most building of the trio completely gone. Work appeared to be about to start for the removal of the remaining building’s facade, as infrastructure was in place for access. International developers Tishman Speyer have joined with Bellco Capital to form Breakthrough Properties, who are building boatloads of life science projects across the world. KieranTimberlake has designed a lovely structure, with the shimmering, angular volume appearing to almost hover above the existing buildings.

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Looking at what will be the base of the addition
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A closer look at the buildings which will remain, with the building on the right getting its facade removed and then reinstalled
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View from 23rd St., with the newish Aramark building next door
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Another look at the ultra-modern addition
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2222 Market St., looking close to wrapped

This stretch continues its march from drab to fab, with modern architecture now lining several consecutive blocks of what used to be a dreary, tired stretch. One of those neighbors is just to the east at 2222 Market St., which we had the pleasure of visiting this past summer as it was under construction, after new renderings were released back in 2020. This project from Parkway and designed by Gensler as the home to law firm Morgan Lewis, and things look pretty darn close to finished here. The exterior looks nearly complete, with the dramatic entryway looking impressive with its combination of trees and slate pavers.

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A closer look at the entry plaza, which will only look better as things warm up
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Could we see 21M join the fold a block to the east?

So, soon enough we will have three modern, activated blocks along a street where there wasn’t much of anything happening just a few years back. And if Brandywine Realty‘s 21M proposal gets off the ground, make that four blocks in a row that expand Center City closer and closer to University City to the west. If that doesn’t give you another reason to yell “Play Ball!”, we don’t know what will.