Return From Near-Death Experience

Developers rescue two historic buildings in Center City Philadelphia from dereliction

1 minute read

August 12, 2004, 2:00 PM PDT

A hot real estate market in downtown Philadelphia has inspired the restoration of two long-empty buildings. The Victory, built in 1873 for the New York Life Insurance Co., has recovered from a 15-year vacancy with a $20 million refurbishment -- while the Western Union Telegraph, no longer suspended in a decade-long limbo, will enjoy a $45 million renovation. The Western Union building, recently approved to turn the 1922 four-story masonry structure into a high-rise by adding seven modernist stories above, will house condos and ground-floor retail.

Thanks to Deborah Myerson

FULL STORY: Transformations from nasty to nice

Friday, August 6, 2004 in The Philadelphia Inquirer

Architecture Pennsylvania

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