Penn, developer in tower project
The University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Realty Trust announced plans for a dramatic residential, commercial and hotel project on 30th Street. The 14-acre Cira Centre South project, which includes a 40- to 50-story office tower at Walnut Street and a 25- to 30-story residential tower at Chestnut, will be developed by a partnership of the university and Brandywine, of Radnor. The towers are designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, the architectural firm that created the prismatic Cira Centre, completed last year just north of Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Cira Centre South will also include the previously announced conversion of the 862,000-square-foot U.S. Postal Service building at 30th and Market Streets into offices for 5,000 IRS employees. See:
The University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Realty Trust announced plans for a dramatic residential, commercial and hotel project on 30th Street. The 14-acre Cira Centre South project, which includes a 40- to 50-story office tower at Walnut Street and a 25- to 30-story residential tower at Chestnut, will be developed by a partnership of the university and Brandywine, of Radnor. The towers are designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, the architectural firm that created the prismatic Cira Centre, completed last year just north of Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Cira Centre South will also include the previously announced conversion of the 862,000-square-foot U.S. Postal Service building at 30th and Market Streets into offices for 5,000 IRS employees. See:
Census: Growing number of uninsured Americans
In a move sure to intensify the debate on health care, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that the number of people without health insurance is continuing to rise. Forty-seven million people - 15.8 percent of the population - are now uninsured, up from 44.8 million, or 15.3 percent, in 2005. Health-care advocates were especially concerned about an increase in the number of uninsured children. One in nine children - 11.7 percent - lacks insurance. In 2005, 8.0 million, or 10.9 percent, had no health-care coverage. The number of uninsured has been rising since the Census Bureau began studying the issue in 1987. See:
In Macao, world's biggest gambling palace opens
Macao, the former Portuguese enclave on the southeastern tip of China, took a giant step toward becoming the Las Vegas of Asia with the opening of the world's biggest casino. The $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel is the centerpiece of a $12 billion "integrated resort" development - the first Las Vegas-style megacasino on a sliver of reclaimed land called the Cotai Strip. The 546,000-square-foot gambling floor - three times the size of Las Vegas' biggest gaming palace, the MGM Grand - officially opened at 7:18 p.m. Tuesday Macao time, which was picked by a "feng shui master" as the "perfect time" to begin gambling at the world's biggest casino. See:
Philadelphia boosts its cruise-ship traffic
Philadelphia boosted its traffic in cruise-ship passengers last year, while rivals Boston and Baltimore lost ground, a study showed. But all three were overshadowed by the two New York-area cruise ports. The study, sponsored by the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade group, showed that 52,000 passengers embarked on cruises from Philadelphia's Navy Yard terminal in 2006, a 4 percent increase from 50,000 in 2005. See:
Coming tomorrow
A small Malvern biopharma company, Ception Therapeutics, has raised $77 million this year, the largest private-equity investment in the region in three years.