A Philadelphia developer is proposing to construct a 1,500 foot, $800 million building on 18th and Arch streets that will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest building in the world.

Standing 63 stories tall, the American Commerce Center will dominate the Philadelphia skyline, towering 500 feet taller than the Comcast Center. In an $800 million proposal, the building is slated to be a mix of retail stores, hotel space, movie theatre and office space.

Walnut Street Capital, a Philadelphia development company headed by Garrett Miller, proposed the project. The company purchased the 1.5 acre lot on 18th and Arch streets from Verizon Communications of New York in October.

Miller told the Philadelphia Business Journal that there is a lack of newer office stock in Center City and that this building would fill and help attract corporate headquarters.

“It would be an iconic structure,” Miller said. “This is something Philadelphia has not seen before.”

The Philadelphia Business Journal also reported that the proposed building will have 1.3 million square feet of office space, a 300-room, high-end hotel and 315,000 square feet of retail space above and below street level. In addition, an underground garage would supply 383 parking spaces for visitors.

The American Commerce Center was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects in New York. The firm has designed other Philadelphia buildings, including One and Two Logan Square, Huntsman Hall at the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and the expansion of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

If approved, crews will break ground next summer and complete the project by 2012.

American Commerce Center, Design Philadelphia Blog, phillyist Blog

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