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Philad
P R O F I L E
The Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, on the left with the lantern, will be the tallest building in Philadelphia when it’s finished next year. / Foster + Partners
Philadelphia, again Historic East Coast city, blessed with robust infrastructure and a dense urban core, undergoes epic renewal as population inches upward.
By RICHARD MASSEY Managing Editor
On the other side of the Ben Franklin Bridge, a similar, if less glamorous, transformation is tak- ing place in Camden, New Jersey. The city endured decades of decline and wound up being known as one of the most dangerous cities in the country. But with the aid of an aggressive tax incentive pro- gram, renewal is underway. Engineering firms have, and continue to, jostle for market share as the reclamation unfolds. Mega firms have acquired local firms, and out-of-town firms have gotten ahold of such big contracts that they have opened offices in the city. Emblematic of what’s going on in Philadelphia took place last year, when T&M Associates , a firm based in Mid- dletown, New Jersey, acquired the project manage- ment and construction management division of Philadelphia-based O’Donnell & Naccarato . The deal had been in the works for about a year, and once completed, T&M was able to consolidate as many as 20 people into a Philadelphia office, a must if the firm was to compete at the highest level. “We have an existing book of business and exist- ing clients, but we don’t want to be everything to everybody,” says Mike Roeder, T&M’s COO. “We
A nchored by an upturn in the downtown popula- tion, Philadelphia, with the help of an army of engineers, is modernizing, re-urbanizing, and out- fitting itself for the future. Green infrastructure, new office and residential towers, and the buildout of the reclaimed Navy Yard on the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, are hallmarks of the renaissance. “We have an existing book of business and existing clients, but we don’t want to be everything to everybody. We don’t want to be the low-cost provider.” While Philadelphia remains saddled with profound problems – an underperforming school system and areas of blight outside the glittering Center City – the recent decade of growth, after 60 years of popu- lation decline, is seen by engineers as an important reset in the city’s 300-plus years of history.
Mark Celoni, VP and Philadelphia
Director, Pennoni
Mike Roeder, COO, T&M Associates
THE ZWEIG LETTER May 16
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