History
The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton stands on the former site of the 38-story One Meridian Plaza. In February 1991 One Meridian Plaza was badly damaged by a fire that destroyed eight floors and killed three firefighters. Because of litigation over what to do with the burned skyscraper, it sat vacant for eight years until it was demolished in 1999.
In 2000 the Arden Group settled with One Meridian Plaza's owners E/R Partners to pay more than US$13 million for the site. In 1999 Arden sued E/R Partners for backing out of a deal Arden said it had made with the site owners. E/R Partners had wanted to sell the site to Liberty Property Trust for a higher amount. Arden had already bought the adjacent Two Mellon Plaza in 1993. Damaged and vacant since the One Meridian Plaza fire, Two Mellon Plaza was converted into a Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2000. Also adjacent to the south side of the One Meridian Plaza site is 1441 Chestnut Street. Mariner Commercial Properties bought the property which contained the site of several three-story shops and the eighteen-story Morris Building, all damaged and vacant due to the One Meridian Plaza fire. The buildings were demolished in 2000. The north side of the One Meridian plaza site faces Philadelphia City Hall across the street. While the One Meridian Plaza site waited for development Arden converted it into an underground parking garage.
Read more about this topic: The Residences At The Ritz-Carlton (Philadelphia)
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