15 October 2007: Murano time



In June 2004, I was this close to moving to Montréal. It ended up falling through and I stayed here, ultimately building and refining the Philly Skyline you know today. Before that happened though, I headed north to that French speaking Canadian city that in a lot of ways reminds me of Philly to visit friends, eat some poutine, drink a pint or ten of Boréale Rousse and take in an Expos game in their last season there. (They beat the Phillies 5-2 on a rainy Tuesday night on which a whole 4,560 people other than myself and my friends were interested in baseball.) I took Amtrak to Montréal in 2000, but for this trip, I wanted to do a little more exploring (Québec City is a short drive away, and both the Adirondacks and Vermont are on the way), so I rented a car from Budget at 21st & Market. It wasn't more than a couple months after I dropped the car that they locked the doors for good and D'Angelo Bros demolition brought in its wrecking ball to clear the way for Murano.

Murano has the distinction of being one of the handful of major condo proposals to actually come to fruition, and of the ones built or being built (Symphony House, Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, 10 Rittenhouse Square, Waterfront Square), it's hard not to think that, at least aesthetically speaking, it is by far the most attractive of the bunch. Murano also had a head start on the other ones in that its builders, P&A Associates, found success in the St James apartment tower, built just ahead of the condo explosion.

Architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz took what was successful at the St James -- big concrete, subtle curves and a functioning decorative crown (housing the HVAC and other mechanical units) -- and made it better at Murano. The thick concrete spandrels are incrementally revealed four floors at a time, breaking up any monotony that might have come from the handsome blue glass curtain wall. The name Murano, not coincidentally, is borrowed from the Italian town famous for its glasswork.

As it's risen over the past eighteen months, Murano has nestled itself up on the skyline against the twin towers of Commerce Square, sharing the western end of the classic views from the south (think stadium complex), southwest (think South Street Bridge) and northwest (think Art Museum steps or the Plateau). On that western end, the 43 story tower looks especially nice at dusk, when the setting sun has 180° worth of building to glint its light off of.

Like any good residential tower in an urban core, it has retail space along its ground level, but in Murano's case, it won't be a gourmet food store and a Starbucks; there's a Trader Joe's next door and half a dozen Starbucks within 60 steps. Murano is instead looking for one tenant to fill the 9000 sq ft of retail space, and the popular rumor has either Mercedes Benz or Audi taking the call. It wouldn't be a car dealership, it would be a car boutique. Plus it would bring the former Budget Rent-a-car space back at least semi-circle, appropriate enough for the semi-circular building.

The latest in the series of Hard Hat Tours finds us on top of Murano, bright and early this past Saturday. A special thanks to my neighbor and friend Bobby for making the arrangements and for my brother-in-law Joe for making the introductions. Yr Philly Skyline Murano Skyline is just below, or you can








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