Street said he is working with Gov. Ed Rendell, who also backs KOIZ for the Liberty development, to close "loopholes" in the legislation. Owners of existing Downtown office buildings have hotly contested this KOIZ designation. Without providing details, Street said he thought the legislation could be "tightened" to limit a negative impact on those owners.

Street also said his government would base business taxes here solely on sales within the city. His administration will eliminate taxation on the amount of property and payroll businesses have in the city. This is among the recommendations set forth by the tax reform commission.

At the same time, Street announced the establishment of a $500-million economic development fund over the next four years and voiced support for two additional Center City projects. They are a 15-story office building at 15th and Arch streets as new local headquarters for Towers Perrin, the global management and human resources consulting company; and Symphony House, a mixed-use residential/retail/entertainment development at Broad and Pine streets.

West Conshocken, PA-based Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. plans to develop the Arch St. building. Locally based Dranoff Properties is the developer of Symphony House.