PHILADELPHIA-Recognized as one of Philadelphia’s most iconic and celebrated buildings, The Wanamaker Building just keeps getting better with age. The historic Center City office tower, which is owned and operated by Philly-based investment company Amerimar Enterprises, Inc. and Behringer Harvard, is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this month. A ceremony will be held here on Nov. 29 to commemorate the building’s longstanding role in the business and real estate community.
“We feel The Wanamaker is the best of the old and the best of the new,” Stephen J. Gleason, executive vice president of Amerimar, tells GlobeSt.com. The building, located at 100 Penn Square East, is home to Philadelphia's famous Crystal Tea Room. “It’s efficient office space contained in an architectural gem. It is unique in Philadelphia and anywhere else in the world.”
The building, originally developed by John Wanamaker as a “Grand Depot” style store with nine floors devoted to retail, which became the first modern department store in Philadelphia and one of the first in the country, according to Amerimar. President William Taft dedicated the building in December 1911, and in 1978, Wanamaker was designated a national historic landmark.
After Amerimar acquired the building in 1997, the firm reduced the retail space to three floors and converted 219,000 square feet of retail space into office space. Currently, the building is anchored by a three-level, 435,000 square-foot Macy’s. Above the retail, Gleason says the building is 100% leased to office tenants like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Army Corp. of Engineers, the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
And while the building has contributed to the economic development of the city, the Wanamaker’s other features have attracted tourists and history buffs alike. A pipe organ and a large bronze eagle statue from the 1909 St. Louis World’s Fair are still standing tall inside the building.
At the ceremony, local leaders such as Mayor Michael Nutter, as well as Paul Levy, president and CEO of the Center City District, who will be honored with a Wanamaker Building Award for civic leadership.
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