Dranoff soaked the moment in all the drama a residential development could generate, preceding the groundbreaking with an event across the street at the Kimmel Center, which offered a view of the cleared site, empty since fire destroyed Gamble and Huff's studio in 2010.
Dranoff has toyed with different ideas for the site but has landed on a terraced glass tower with 108 units, a rooftop greenhouse, an indoor pool and ground floor shops.
"It works. It works and it's worked and that's why people are living in Center City," Kenney said.
He walked it back almost immediately, saying it will likely have to be tweaked to make it more acceptable to those who don't benefit.