No TD tower in Philly future?
If TD Bank ever needs a U.S. headquarters for its far-flung U.S. properties, we know some Center City developers who'd love to get the new Commerce Bank owner into a big tower in town. TD says it's not looking.
PhillyDeals reader David Sinclair suggests a conceivable tenant for American Commerce Center or any of the other speculative towers being floated for Center City: Why not TD Bank Financial Group?
The Canada giant has acquired a string of big U.S. financial institutions, including TD Banknorth of Portland, Maine; TD Ameritrade, based in Jersey City and Omaha; and, most recently, Commerce Bancorp, of Cherry Hill. Maybe they want a signature U.S. building in a not-so-expensive city where they also have a lot customers? Maybe their swollen Canadian dollars can finance a truly North American edifice complex?
TD is no stranger to soaring architecture. Its six-building Toronto headquarters and Toronto Dominion Bank Tower was designed by celebrity architect (Ludwig) Mies van der Rohe.
Problem: U.S. commercial banks are in a fight for survival. None of the big U.S. banks in Philly -- Wachovia, PNC, Citizens, Bank of America, Sovereign -- have chosen to build imperial high-rises. They occupy their predecessors' decades-old digs, mostly.
And TD promises not to, either, though salesmen keep calling. "As we said many times, we'll continue to have both executives and a significant employee base in both Portland and at our extensive (former Commerce) campus in the Mount Laurel-Cherry Hill area," said TD spokesman Neil Parmenter.
American Commerce developer Joseph Grasso isn't fueling rumors. "The climate's really difficult now," he told me when I asked him if he's landed tenants or lenders for his supertall. "We're still moving forward. It'll take time."
UPDATE: William O'Keefe, partner at Cope & Linder Architects in Philadelphia, writes, "I am laughing out loud at your description today of Mies van der Rohe as a "celebrity" architect. Firstly, Mies died in 1969 and I'm not sure the concept of "celebrity" anything existed at that time. Secondly, to my mind at least, a "celebrity" someone is famous for being famous, not necessarily for performing the discipline the person is famous for. Mies was one of the seminal architects of the 20th century, the equal of Wright and Corbusier. He was more than a "celebrity": he was influencing the course of modern architecture."
PhillyDeals: In Van der Rohe's day, he certainly met the dictionary definition of a "celebrity" -- but, given the devaluation of that word, "celebrated" or "influential" would have been a better modifier. Thanks for writing!