An un-gentlemenly agreement

libertyplace.jpgA bright yet subtle change may be soon coming to the Philadelphia skyline. But as with most additions to Center City, controversy is high.

libertyplace.jpglibertyplace.jpgTwo Liberty Place, what is now the third-tallest building in Philadelphia, dwarfed by its big brother One Liberty Place and the new Comcast Center, may soon be donned with 11-foot high illuminated letters over the 38th and 39th floors advertising a new tenant, Unisys Corps.

However, other tenants – the ones who are in the process of moving into the luxury condos in the same building – are not too thrilled.

The condo owners are afraid the red lighting will reflect into their living rooms and hurt the overall value of their condos. The city, on the other hand, supports the act, saying it will show the world that Philadelphia is the place to be for a corporate home.

Let a tenant in the Empire State Building try to pull off something like this, one homeowner said.

As an AP reporter notes, the Liberty Place towers like to break tradition. When constructed, One Liberty Place broke the unwritten “Gentlemen’s Agreement” when built in 1987, which ‘said’ no building should be built higher than William Penn’s statue atop City Hall.

Oops.

Photo courtesy philly.com.