Try to think back just a few months, to the beginning of this year, when we shared the fabulous news that 2222 Market St. would soon get redeveloped from a surface parking lot into a 19-story office building. That was five months ago, but in 2020 time that feels like it was roughly 75 years ago. Since it feels like it’s been so long, please allow us to provide a refresher:

Parkway has operated a parking lot at this location since the mid-1990s. Though Parkway is primarily in the parking lot business, they’re also developers, having built several large projects at attractive locations (go figure). Because they operate parking lots, Parkway is uniquely positioned to hold onto vacant land long term while they wait for the right opportunity to materialize, and that’s exactly what has happened on the 2200 block of Market. Slowly, they’ve increased the size of their holdings on the block, including their subsuming of the famous Forum Theatre back in 2012. Finally, after years of waiting, the right opportunity has come along, in the form of a new headquarters for law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Other than office space, the building will have a pair of retail spaces on the first floor and a small underground parking lot. Architecturally, it will be one of the most unique buildings in town, thanks to a mix of industrial and contemporary design as well as the offets as the building goes up. As we told you before, Gensler has done the design work for this project. And now, thanks to the magic of Civic Design Review, we can share a bunch of fresh renderings for the project. Check ’em out:

We confess, we were a little concerned about whether this project would be moving forward in the face of the global pandemic we’re all dealing with. If you’ve been working over the last few months, you’ve probably been working from home, so we’ve speculated that office space demand could shrink in the future, as companies recognize that people can be (mostly) productive even if they’re not coming into an office. The fact that it’s going to CDR is a great sign that it will indeed move forward, with a hopeful gaze toward the future when a vaccine is widely available and we can start regaining a sense of normalcy in the world. Here’s to hoping though, that before this building is finished getting built.