Wells Fargo Building (Philadelphia)

Last updated

Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building
(Wells Fargo Building)
Wells Fargo Building Broad Street Philadelphia.jpg
(2014)
Street map of Philadelphia and surrounding area.png
Red pog.svg
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location137 S. Broad St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°56′58″N75°9′52″W / 39.94944°N 75.16444°W / 39.94944; -75.16444
Built1927–28
ArchitectSimon & Simon
Architectural style Beaux-Arts
Part of Broad Street Historic District (ID84003529)
NRHP reference No. 78002447 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 27, 1978

The Wells Fargo Building, originally the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architectural firm Simon & Simon, the building was erected for the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. in 1928. The 30-story high-rise is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

The building was long regarded as premier office space, but by the 1980s, tenants were leaving for newer buildings in the West Market Street neighborhood. Extensive rehab work has since drawn new tenants. Its largest tenant has always been the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company or its successor companies — today, Wells Fargo.

The 405-foot (123 m) limestone and granite skyscraper features recesses that give the building an H-shape above the fifth floor. Decorations include sculpture by Piccirilli Brothers and 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of marble. Seven medallions, mainly depicting early American coins, decorate the street-level facade. Bas-relief figures decorate the spandrels above the building's bronze doors, which are themselves decorated by high-relief panels depicting the history of commerce and civilization.

History

In the late 1920s, numerous high-rises were constructed in Center City Philadelphia. [2] Among the businesses commissioning new high-rises was the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company, the result of the 1926 merger between Fidelity Trust Company and the Philadelphia Trust Company. Before the merger, in 1925, architects Edward P. Simon and Grant M. Simon of the firm Simon and Simon were approached to design a new building. The designs were complete by the end of 1926 and in January 1927 general contractor Irwin & Leighton was engaged to build the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building. [3] [4] The site of the building along Broad Street was previously the location of the Forrest Theater and the "Yellow Mansion" (also known as the Dundas Lippincott House). [5] [6]

Construction began in 1927 and the building was opened on June 1, 1928. [3] The building became premier office space in the center of the city, serving as the home of major law firms among other tenants. [7] In 1953, steel and concrete penthouses were built at the back of the building to house air conditioning equipment. [3]

In July 1982, the parent company of Fidelity Bank, Fidelcor, put up for sale Fidelity Building Corp., a subsidiary which owns The Fidelity Building and the neighboring Witherspoon Building. In December of that year, Fidelcor announced that the Al-Tajir Foundation, a real estate investment company owned by Mahdi Al Tajir, had agreed to buy Fidelity Building Corp. for US$63.5 million. [5]

During the late-1980s office building boom in the West Market Street area of Center City, businesses left the Fidelity Building for newer office space. As a result, the building's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992. [7] [8] That same year, the Fidelity Building Corporation was purchased by First Fidelity Bankcorp, a company formed in the 1988 merger of the building's original owners and First Fidelity Corporation of Newark, New Jersey. [9]

First Union Corporation took control of the building in 1995 when it bought Fidelity Bankcorp. [10] Shortly after taking over, First Union spent millions of dollars renovating the facade and interiors and modernizing the mechanical systems. [4] In 2000, First Fidelity Building Corporation, a company controlled by First Union, put the Fidelity Building up for sale. [4] Later that year, Nicholas Schorsch, of the American Financial Resource Group, and a group of investors bought the building for about US$110 million. [11] In 2006, a 256,000-square-foot (23,800 m2) portion of the lower floors of the building was sold to Resnick Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Jack Resnick & Sons Incorporated. In April 2008, American Financial Realty Trust sold the remainder of the building to SSH Real Estate and Young Capital for US$57.7 million. [12]

South entrance to the building (2014) Wells Fargo Building Broad Street Philadelphia detail.jpg
South entrance to the building (2014)

During the early 2000s, the building became known as the Wachovia Building. Wachovia became the building's largest tenant after merging with First Union Corporation early in the decade. In 2006, Wachovia re-negotiated its lease, which was set to expire in 2010. After exploring other potential new office space in Center City, Wachovia made a deal to stay in the Wachovia Building along with the neighboring Witherspoon Building, the nearby One South Broad, and the Widener Building until the 2020s. [13] The building became known as the Wells Fargo Building after Wells Fargo, which bought Wachovia in 2008, re-branded Wachovia area banks in April 2011. Wells Fargo marketed the change by having a stagecoach carrying Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and others ride from Philadelphia City Hall to the Wells Fargo Building. [14] [15]

Architecture

The 30-story, 405-foot-tall (123 m) Wells Fargo Building is located on the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. The building faces Broad Street on the west, Walnut Street on the south, and Sansom Street on the north. [3] [4] [16] To the east of the building is the 11-story Witherspoon Building, built in 1896. Owned by the same owners, the two buildings are linked together. [4] [5] [12] Containing 892,000 square feet (83,000 m2), the Wells Fargo Building's footprint measures 220 feet 6.5 inches (67.22 m) by 175 feet 5.5 inches (53.48 m). Built in the Beaux-Arts style the building's brick curtain wall is made of limestone ashlar on the upper and lower floors and rusticated granite on the 2nd and 3rd floors. [3]

Horizontally the building is divided into three parts. The first two stories and a mezzanine level make up the building's base. The next eighteen floors make up the building's shaft and center. The distinctive features of the center are two 55 feet (17 m) recesses on the east and west sides of the building. Starting above the fourth floor, the recesses give the building an H-shape. The skyscraper's top section is distinguished from the lower floors by three small setbacks. [3] [4]

The building during the 2011 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts Wellsfargobldg2011.jpg
The building during the 2011 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts

At street level, three arched entranceways line Broad Street. The central arch is slightly larger than the others to indicate the entrance to the main banking hall. Carved into the facade above the center arch is the building's name. Inside the arches and above the doorways are windows designed by d'Ascenzo Studios. Leaded panes of glass of various shades of amber are surrounded by a Renaissance-style border. Below the windows are bronze doors, each with 24 high-relief panels depicting the history of commerce and civilization. Bas-relief figures decorate each of the arches' spandrels. A male figure with a hammer representing industry and a female figure with a beehive representing thrift decorate the center arch. The arch closest to Sansom Street is decorated by two figures with cornucopias to represent abundance. The arch nearer to Walnut Street is decorated by a painter and a sculptor to represent art. [3]

Next to the two smaller archways are carved medallions, one flanking each spandrel. The medallions closest to Sansom Street represent early American coins, a Pine Tree coin from Massachusetts and Grandi Copper coin from Connecticut. The medallions closest to the Walnut Street side represent the first American coin issued by Congress and the Eye Coin from Vermont. Two medallions on the Walnut Street side depict both sides of the Lafayette Medal. Only one medallion decorates the Samson Street side, depicting another early coin from Vermont. [3]

The Wells Fargo Building's interiors include a 2½-story banking hall featuring six 58-ton steel girders that support the skyscraper's structure. The girders were the largest in the Eastern United States at the time of construction. Among the 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of marble inside the Wells Fargo Building is the cream-colored terrazzo marble used throughout the banking hall. At the rear of the hall is a marble sculpture by the Piccirilli Brothers. The statue depicts semi-nude male and female representations of day and night clasping hands under a clock to symbolize eternity. [3] [17]

Above the statue and framed by marble pilasters is a window that depicts scenes from Philadelphia history. In the window's tympanum is a depiction of Independence Hall. Below that are pictures showing William Penn's treaty with the Indians, George Washington's Farewell Address to Congress, the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, the Philadelphia Convention, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin's printing office, Betsy Ross exhibiting the United States flag, and Caesar Rodney's ride from Delaware. The border of the window contains portrait busts of notable American Revolution-era Philadelphians: John Bartram, George Clymer, Robert Morris, David Rittenhouse, Benjamin Rush, and James Wilson. [3]

The Wells Fargo Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 27, 1978. [1] The skyscraper was listed because it was an excellent example of commercial Beaux-Arts architecture and because it stands "as a glossary of modern skyscraper design, synthesizing the primary features of three phases of skyscraper development reaching back to the 1880s". The building's characteristics are its tripartite system of a base, shaft, and capital, the treatment of the skyscraper as a tower, and the use of setbacks. [3]

Tenants

Leasing 30 percent of the building, Wells Fargo is the skyscraper's largest tenant. [12] The second largest tenant was law firm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, which occupies about 108,000 square feet (10,000 m2) on the top five and a half floors; the firm signed a 15-year lease in 1995. [17] Other tenants include Domus Inc., which occupies 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2). [18] Domus Inc. moved into the Wells Fargo Building in 2000 after outgrowing its space in the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. [19]

Past tenants include the law firms Morgan Lewis & Bockius and Pepper Hamilton & Sheetz and offices for the Westmoreland Coal Company. [8] A private eating club used to operate at the top of the building. Called the Midday Club, it was intended "to provide in the heart of the financial district, removed from the noise and activity of the street, a place where businessmen can dine in a restful atmosphere with their business associates". [20] The Midday Club opened in 1929 and closed in 1978. [20]

Museum

The lobby held a branch of the Wells Fargo History Museum; its exhibits include a stagecoach, telegraph equipment, historic clothing and currency. [21] Wells Fargo shuttered all of their museums in 2020 except one in San Francisco. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Logan Square</span> 55-story high-rise office building located in Philadelphia

Three Logan Square, formerly known as the Bell Atlantic Tower, is a 55-story skyscraper located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Standing 739 ft tall to its structural top, the building encloses 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of office space. The building, designed by the Philadelphia-based architecture firm Kling Lindquist, was completed in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comcast Center</span> Skyscraper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper at 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City Philadelphia. The 58-story, 297-meter (974 ft) tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia and in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and the 31st-tallest building in the United States. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when plans for the building were announced in 2001, the Comcast Center went through two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Comcast Center was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects for Liberty Property Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cira Centre</span> Office high-rise in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Cira Centre is a 29-story, 437-foot (133 m) office high-rise in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a platform over rail tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20 Exchange Place</span> Residential skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

20 Exchange Place, formerly the City Bank–Farmers Trust Building, is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1931, it was designed by Cross & Cross in the Art Deco style as the headquarters of the City Bank–Farmers Trust Company, predecessor of Citigroup. The building, standing at approximately 741 feet (226 m) with 57 usable stories, was one of the city's tallest buildings and the world's tallest stone-clad building at the time of its completion. While 20 Exchange Place was intended to be the world's tallest building at the time of its construction, the Great Depression resulted in the current scaled-back plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Place</span> Skyscraper complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The complex is composed of a 61-story, 945-foot (288 m) skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, 848-foot (258 m) skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, and the 14-story Westin Philadelphia Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSFS Building</span> Skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Loews Philadelphia Hotel, previously known as the PSFS Building, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A National Historic Landmark, the building was the first International style skyscraper constructed in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commerce Square</span> High-rise office building complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Commerce Square is a Class-A, high-rise office building complex in Center City Pennsylvania. Commerce Square consists of One and Two Commerce Square, two identical 41-story office towers 565 feet (172 m) high that surround a paved courtyard of 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The St. James</span> Luxury residential skyscraper

The St. James is a luxury residential skyscraper in Washington Square West, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The 498 feet (152 m), 45-story high-rise stands along Walnut Street and Washington Square and is the 15th tallest building in Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">100 North Main Street</span> Office in North Carolina, U.S.

100 North Main Street, also known as Wells Fargo Center, is a postmodern, 460-foot (140 m), 34-floor office skyscraper in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Originally named Wachovia Center, the building served as the corporate headquarters of Wachovia bank from 1995, the year of the tower's erection, to 2001, the year the corporation merged with First Union and moved its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the tallest building in the Piedmont Triad region and was the tallest in the Carolinas outside Charlotte until 2008, when RBC Plaza was completed in Raleigh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre Square (building)</span> Office complex in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Centre Square is an office complex in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The complex consists of two concrete high-rise towers: the 417 feet (127 m) Centre Square I, also known as Centre Square East, and the 490 feet (150 m) Centre Square II represent the 24th and 15th-tallest buildings in Philadelphia, respectively. Designed by Vincent Kling & Associates in the 1960s, Centre Square opened in 1973. The complex is credited with shifting Philadelphia's downtown office district from South Broad Street to West Market Street. A tenant since 1975, management consulting firm Willis Towers Watson is Centre Square's largest tenant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1818 Market Street</span> 40-story skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

1818 Market Street is a 40-story skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was designed by the firm Ewing Cole Cherry Brott. Construction began on the property in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton (Philadelphia)</span> Luxury residential skyscraper in Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton is a luxury residential skyscraper in Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 518 feet (158 m), the 48-story skyscraper is the 12th-tallest building in Philadelphia, and the tallest residential tower in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One South Broad</span> 28-story 472-foot (144 m) office tower in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

One South Broad, also known as the Lincoln-Liberty Building or PNB Building, is a 28-story 472-foot (144 m) office tower in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The art deco tower, designed by architect John Torrey Windrim as an annex for Wanamaker's department store, was completed in 1932. Wanamaker's Men's Store opened in the first seven floors of the building, which is located a block from Wanamaker's main store, and was intended to rival European department stores with its size and selection. In 1952, the Philadelphia National Bank (PNB) bought the building and converted it into offices and banking space. Until 2014, the building's bell tower was decorated on all four sides with PNB's initials in stainless steel 16 feet (4.9 m) tall. Wells Fargo is the main tenant, occupying almost half the building. The former banking space at street level was converted to retail and restaurant space in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murano (skyscraper)</span> Residential skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia

The Murano is a residential skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia. Part of a condominium boom occurring in the city, the Murano was announced in 2005 and was developed jointly by Thomas Properties Group and P&A Associates. The building, named after Murano, Italy, was completed in 2008 at a cost of US$165 million. The site, previously occupied by a parking lot, was the location of the Erlanger Theatre from 1927 to 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Meridian Plaza</span> High-rise office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

One Meridian Plaza, formerly known as the Fidelity Mutual Life Building, Three Girard Plaza and Three Mellon Bank Center, was a 38-story high-rise office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The 492-foot (150-meter) tower was designed by Vincent Kling & Associates and completed in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Wells Fargo Center</span> Skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina

One Wells Fargo Center is a 588-foot (179 m) skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the headquarters for Wells Fargo's east coast division but will leave the building by the end of 2023. Opening on September 14, 1988, it was the tallest building in North Carolina, until 1992 when it was surpassed by the Bank of America Corporate Center. The building consists of 42 floors, a connected 22-story Hilton Hotel, YMCA, parking garage, plaza, and is connected to Two Wells Fargo Center via skybridge, as part of the Overstreet Mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">550 South Tryon</span> Office skyscraper

550 South Tryon is a 786-foot (240 m) tall, 48-floor skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Fargo Capitol Center</span> Retail/Office in North Carolina, United States of America

Wells Fargo Capitol Center is a 30-story 121.92 m high-rise skyscraper at 150 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, North Carolina with 544,482 square feet (50,584.0 m2) of space. Completed in 1990, it was one of the downtown Raleigh's two tallest buildings for nearly twenty years, and is currently third tallest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidelity Trust Company</span>

Fidelity Trust Company was a bank in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1866 as Fidelity Insurance, Trust, & Safe Deposit Company, the bank was later renamed Fidelity Trust Company, Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company, The Fidelity Bank, and Fidelity Bank, National Association. It was absorbed in 1988 in the biggest U.S. bank merger up to that point, and is today part of Wells Fargo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comcast Technology Center</span> Skyscraper in Philadelphia

The Comcast Technology Center is a supertall skyscraper in Center City Philadelphia. The 60-floor building, with a height of 1,121 feet (342 m), is the tallest building in both Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania and the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ Weigley, Russell F. (1982). Philadelphia: A 300-Year History . W.W. Norton & Company. pp.  602. ISBN   0-393-01610-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Webster, Richard J. (February 22, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kostelni, Natalie (June 23, 2000). "For Sale: Tons of Center City space". Philadelphia Business Journal.
  5. 1 2 3 Stock, Craig (December 10, 1982). "Arab Set to Buy 2 Philadelphia Landmarks". The Philadelphia Inquirer: A01.
  6. ↑ Lippincott, Horace Mather (1917). Early Philadelphia: Its People, Life and Progress. J. B. Lippincott Company. pp.  56.
  7. 1 2 "Fidelity Building's Owners File for Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Protection". The Philadelphia Inquirer: C10. June 18, 1992.
  8. 1 2 "Grand Old Dames Bow to Center City's Skyscrapers". The Philadelphia Inquirer: D01. October 22, 1990.
  9. ↑ "Phila. Becomes a Second Home for First Fidelity Corestates". The Philadelphia Inquirer: C01. April 19, 1995.
  10. ↑ "Big Merger to Create Bank Giant in East". The New York Times: D1. June 20, 1995. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  11. ↑ Kostelni, Natalie (September 29, 2000). "3 office towers are sold in Phila". Philadelphia Business Journal.
  12. 1 2 3 Kostelni, Natalie (April 4, 2008). "123 S. Broad owner shift". Philadelphia Business Journal.
  13. ↑ Holcomb, Henry J. (May 12, 2006). "Wachovia decides to stay on South Broad Street". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  14. ↑ Brubaker, Harold (April 13, 2011). "Pa. Wachovia branches to be rebranded as Wells Fargo". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 19, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  15. ↑ McDonald, Shannon (April 19, 2011). "Pa. Wachovia branches to be rebranded as Wells Fargo". Newsworks. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Wachovia Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  17. 1 2 "First Fidelity to Lease Over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) in First Fidelity Building to Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads". PR Newswire. January 10, 1995. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ Kostelni, Natalie (March 29, 2002). "Partridge Tackett Architects splitting up". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  19. ↑ Bennett, Elizabeth (January 12, 2001). "Partridge Tackett Architects splitting up". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  20. 1 2 "A City Club That's Above it All". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 15, 1993. p. E01.
  21. ↑ "Museums: Philadelphia". Wells Fargo History. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  22. ↑ Hudson, Caroline (September 2, 2020). "Wells Fargo to permanently shutter almost all of its museums, including Philadelphia location". www.bizjournals.com.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.