Building
The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton is a 48-story 518 feet (158 m)-tall residential skyscraper owned by the Arden Group and its partners Gencom Group and Colgate Development. Financed through Lehman Brothers and designed by Handel Architects the rectangular skyscraper is the tenth tallest building in Philadelphia and is the tallest residential tower in the city. The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton has a blue glass curtain wall and the east side of the building is pointed allowing views of Philadelphia City Hall. The building features 270 one - three bedroom condominiums and penthouses that range between 890 square feet (83 m2) to 2,045 square feet (190 m2). The condominiums and penthouses range in price from US$550,00 to US$12 million.
The building's amenities include hotel services, a fitness club, and a 60 feet (18 m) lap pool. The lobby features a restaurant named 10 Arts owned by chef Eric Ripert, who also owns a condo in the building. Between The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is Girard Park. Girard Park is split into a gated garden for residents and a public space facing the street. A memorial for the three firefighters who died during the One Meridian Plaza fire was unveiled on October 21, 2009. Designed by the Philadelphia Fire Department, the memorial is located by the building's entrance and contains the firefighters' names on plaques.
The Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron says the glass skyscraper is a "shocking" contrast next to the white marble of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Saffron said she liked the blue glass and that the "angled aluminum cap over the first floor is an especially sleek finish, and ties nicely into the aluminum bands that organize the facade into horizontals and verticals." Her negative opinions of the building included the public space of Girard Park which she describe as a "barren, virtually unusable piece of concrete".
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