A look at the residential tower planned for the Sheraton site in Society Hill that neighbors oppose

Plans for a 31-story residential tower on the grounds of Center City’s Sheraton Society Hill Hotel on Dock Street are moving forward, despite neighborhood opposition to the proposal.

The neighborhood groups are challenging last summer’s zoning approval for the roughly 270-dwelling-unit “addition” to the existing building. A hearing to appeal the approval before the Zoning Board of Adjustment this week was continued with no decision, a city spokesman said.

The condo-owners' association of the nearby Society Hill Towers, which is among the groups against the new tower plan, wrote in a newsletter that the project’s opponents aim to “maintain the quality of neighborhoods and see them grow in a rational way.”

Developer LCOR, with offices in New York, Berwyn and Bethesda, Md., acquired development rights to the property from the hotel’s owner, Wilmington, Del.-based Buccini/Pollin, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

LCOR is scheduled to present its plans Thursday evening to the Society Hill Civic Association for non-binding feedback as part of the city’s building-approval process.

The plans would also have to be presented to the Philadelphia Civic Design Review board for suggestions. But since both of those bodies play only an advisory role, Buccini/Pollin would be permitted to complete its project if the neighborhood opponents' zoning challenge is unsuccessful.

The tower would be at the southern part of the 2.5-acre property, which is currently open space with some landscaping.