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Wed
May 30
2012

New Building at 15th and Walnut Street Apparently Moving Forward

Way back in August, we told you about plans for a new building on the southeastern corner of 15th and Walnut Streets. As you’ve probably noticed, not much has changed at this corner in the months since, with the exception of the recent closing of the Rite Aid that had previously been located two doors off the corner. Now, we’re hearing that we could be seeing action here sooner rather than later.

Change is comin'

More specifically, we’re hearing that the project will be moving forward at some point this year, with the corner building and the two buildings next door replaced by a four story, new construction, all commercial structure. And we’ve heard rumblings about a couple of tenants, too.

Least excitingly, one tenant on the first floor will likely be Sovereign Bank, which will have the corner retail space. There will be additional retail space available on the first floor, though we’re not sure whether those spaces have been rented just yet.

Looking down 15th St., we don't know what's filling the other first floor retail spaces at the new building

The second floor tenant will likely be the first downtown location for the extremely popular Cheesecake Factory. Our mom is really happy about this development, though we would perhaps rather see a local business taking over this space. Nevertheless, this is a big get for this location and should see plenty of business from folks who love restaurants that serve giant portions of food from numerous ethnic cuisines.

We don’t have confirmation yet, but we’re hearing that the third and fourth floors will have a single tenant, which currently has no other location in Philadelphia. It’s interesting that a retail tenant would be willing to take a space that’s so far off of street level, but we’re guessing they’d be banking on the prestige afforded by a new construction building on this block. Any thoughts on who this tenant could be?

We’re hearing that Lush, the tenant in the building one off the corner, is moving out at the end of the summer, and we assume the other businesses currently operating out of the existing buildings will be out by then as well. At the moment, it seems likely that demolition/construction should be getting started before the end of the year. Hopefully, they’ll build an awesome, contemporary new building at this highly trafficked location. This is a safe bet, of course, if Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is still involved.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled here for more info…

Update: The third and fourth floors will apparently be the future home of Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo. Currently, this company, which sells casual wear at reasonable prices, only has three US locations, all in New York City. It’s interesting that they would be willing to take a space that’s so far off of street level, but we’re guessing they’d be banking on the prestige afforded by the new construction.

27
COMMENTS
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Posted in Rittenhouse | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments
  • veggie

    cheesecake factory… :/

    hopefully lush finds another spot downtown. 

    it would be really cool if BHLDN (urbn’s wedding line) opened their flagship store over here. there’s currently no east coast store! an above street level space would give it even more of an upscale boutique/atelier feel.

  • Cinquecento

    Torn about this one. While i love more density on that space, I don’t like the idea of three tenants in one building. I’d rather see all three in separate first floor locations to bring down vacancy and enhance the streets cape. East Chestnut might finally be in a turnaround, but if the rich areas get richer it won’t help. Cheesecake factory might be smart to do a market or chestnut east location anyway, because it can grab a lot of tourists and conventioneers

  • Anonymous

    this would be a GREAT spot for Room & Board or DWR. I haven’t heard anything about R&B since they emailed me asking me to vote on where they should go. It could also be a CB2, which i keep hearing about. 

  • locustst

    i have a feeling it’s going to be a furniture store.  not DWR, but room and board makes sense.   maybe CB2.  although this would undoubtedly be awesome, it would work against my mystery master plan of turning chestnut east into furniture row.  the (many, huge) vacant spaces would be perfect for furniture showrooms. 

  • veggie

    room & board or cb2 would be nice… don’t think dwr is coming back to the city any time soon, alas.

  • http://philadelphia.foobooz.com/2012/05/30/good-dogs-packed-lets-go-to-cheesecake-factory/ » Good Dog’s Packed, Let’s Go to Cheesecake Factory??? Foobooz Philadelphia

    [...] block that houses an Applebees and Max Brenner be getting a Cheesecake Factory? That’s what NakedPhilly is reporting this morning. The real estate site says that the two story building stretching from Walnut Street to Moravian [...]

  • http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/forum/center-city/24270-why-national-retailers-reluctant-locate-center-city-32.html#post499651 Why are national retailers reluctant to locate in Center City? – Page 32

    [...] Walnut (old Fleet, Rite-Aid, current Lush) is apparently proceeding with four floors of retail: New Building at 15th and Walnut Street Apparently Moving Forward | NakedPhilly Naked Philly says Sovereign bank on the first floor, Cheesecake Factory on the Second Floor, and a [...]

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001415182229 Lewis Fernrock

    Muji, please 

  • tosenheejk

    I would love to see a giant niketown come to the city. 

  • PhillE

     vacancy on what street-scape? Walnut? Find me some vacancy on walnut west of broad to the park… I can think of MAYBE 2 spaces. King of Prussia has more vacancy than walnut st.

  • EricClayWarner

    I have to agree 100%. Given the abundance of vacant retail space within center city, I rather see these retailers on the street level, than above. And to be honest, four stories is quite short sighted. The space could support at least 12 – 15 stories of residential property above it. 

  • Guest

    Moving down Walnut a block or so…

  • Anonymous
  • Cinquecento

    Three glaring ones that come to mind are the former location of Roy’s sushi at 15th and Sansom and the one right on walnut there with the Art Deco-y eagle. then there is the spot that was renovated and is being advertised as a “flagship store” location

  • http://thisoldcity.com This Old City

    Though 4 stories isn’t high enough considering this is the highest rent district in Center City, at least it is better than the 2 mentioned in the prior post.

    If one is going to tear down and build new, wouldn’t you build higher?

  • Phillyguy11

    So much to suggest and criticize, so little time.. I agree with some of the earlier comments.  A Niketown would be awesome, but more importantly, this is Walnut St- our premiere shopping destination for those we recommend to outside of our city, visiting or whatever.  Start placing better shopping on this street!  There is plenty to name that we do not have.

  • brianbrews

    I heard that as well. I think you need a variance for a bank on Walnut?

  • http://twitter.com/acmestyled jen oliver

    DWR already tried Walnut Street, and failed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ken-Nemeth/641953126 Ken Nemeth

    If DWR couldn’t make it and Resto went out in Manayunk, you can rest assured that we will not be getting a CB2 or Room and Board.  CB2′s does not have the right demographic here and Room and Board’s store is way too big and the company is unbelievably conservative.  And for those jonesing for NikeTown, they’re closing them down left and right – the only ones left are the truly big city locations (NY/LA), so don’t expect one.

  • http://twitter.com/c_illustrates Chris Fernandez

    What is CB2′s demo? Not being snarky, just really wondering.

    I would have thought the demographic here is perfect, but I can’t back that up by anything more than my own beliefs (and the fact that I enjoy their merch). It isn’t like their stuff is incredibly expensive, it isn’t super cheap, but it isn’t Resto or R&B expensive… certainly not DWR expensive… more like West Elm.

  • barryg

    Old Roy’s is taken and will be another high end chain.
    “Flagship” is planned to be Ulta, assuming their zoning variance goes through.
    1518 Walnut (eagle, old Sharper Image) has no plans I know of.

    The only “problem” here is that national retailers are demanding a Walnut St address. Chestnut St is slowly improving though.. Kembrel and the new sunglasses store next to Boyds, Knit Wit is moving there. New proposed boutique hotel, plus the W that is supposedly coming. If the big national retailers insist on Walnut, the smaller and local ones will move to Chestnut… like Knit Wit. 

  • barryg

     The bank might front 15th St.

  • http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/06/06/center-city-chain-restaurants/ Guide to Center City Philadelphia Chain Restaurants | The Philly Post

    [...] new building meant to house a Cheesecake Factory is “apparently moving forward”. Just south, “luxe steak-and-seafood brand Ocean Prime” is moving into the building at [...]

  • A.

    YES YES YES UNIQLO!!!

  • http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.com/sos-looking-to-turn-rittenhouse-row-question-marks-into-periods/ SOS: Looking to turn Rittenhouse Row question marks into periods | Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

    [...] Street goes on and on.  What’s going on in the former Newman Galleries space, or what about the new 4-story mixed-use development at 15th and Walnut – when is that slated to begin demolition and construction?  And is there [...]

  • http://philadelphia.foobooz.com/2012/07/13/miga-closes-on-15th-street/ » Miga Closes on 15th Street Foobooz Philadelphia

    [...] building that will replace the existing two story structure stretching from Walnut to Chancellor will reportedly have Center City’s first Cheesecake Factory and an Uniqlo on the third and fourth [...]

  • http://nakedphilly.com/rittenhouse/new-building-coming-to-15th-and-walnut-looks-great-but-could-be-taller/ New Building Coming to 15th and Walnut Looks Great But Could Be Taller | NakedPhilly

    [...] spring, we told you about Midwood Development‘s plans to demolish the three buildings on the southeastern corner of 15th & Walnut and replace them with a contemporary building. We’d heard rumblings that tenants would [...]

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