Cira Centre Celebrates 'Topping Out'

PHILADELPHIA-In a revival of the city’s “topping-out” ceremony that celebrated construction of many of Philadelphia’s trophy towers during the late 1980s, Plymouth Meeting-based Brandywine Realty Trust invited city dignitaries to watch a white steel beam glide into place at the top of Cira Centre, the 28-story tower it is constructing next to 30th Street Station. The last such “topping out” of an office tower here occurred at 41-story, Two Commerce Square in 1992.

In accordance with the ritual, Mayor John Street, guests and construction workers signed the beam, which was painted white, before it was lifted 426 feet to the top of the building’s frame. A small tree, symbolizing shelter, was attached to one end of the beam, an American flag to the other.

The ceremony was held on the roof of an adjacent, seven-story parking garage that will be linked to the building and the Amtrak station via a pedestrian bridge over Arch Street. Locally based Berwind Property Group developed the garage.

Gerard Sweeney, Brandywine’s CEO, said that architects’ rendering from 1930 show 30th Street Station surrounded by office and residential buildings.” Cira Centre, he said, represents the fulfillment of those plans.

It is seen as an anchor of the University City section on the west side of the Schuylkill River and a bridge between Center City and University City. The 727,725-sf building is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, which provides generous tax abatements, and contains 694,596 sf of office space and 33,129 sf of retail, conference and support facilities. It is more than two-thirds preleased, and Sweeney says it will be ready for occupancy in late 2005. New Haven, CT-based Cesar Pelli & Associates designed the structure and locally based Bower Lewis Thrower served as executive architect.