oh, please let it be a crate and barrel. I can’t imagine that any store selling home goods is in a position to build new downtown stores, but it would be nice to be able to buy that sort of thing without getting in the car and driving to cherry hill or KoP. 

How about Room & Board or Design Within Reach? I know R&B is looking to open in the area. 

Its a shame to hear that those two buildings might go. I must have walked by those building at least a thousand times over the course of the years. Philly doesn’t seem to be too innovative about preserving its architecture. I know in Boston, for example, they will often incorporate the existing facade or build high rises on top of historical buildings in order to preserve the character of the neighborhood.

Anyways, this project might not happen for quite sometime, considering that a coffee shop opened up in the building on Walnut and 15th a few months ago.

There’s a DWR at 17th & Walnut

There WAS a DWR on 17th and Walnut. Shut down a year ago or so. Now its going to be a Doc Martens I think.

I’ve heard that R&B was looking too, would be awesome. Also heard Restoration Hardware was poking around for space that was large enough a while back… though’ all glass’ has me thinking (without any insight or insider knowledge whatsoever) about CB2 which would be cool as the closest one I know of is in NYC.

i know for a fact there will not be a CB2 at that location. I’ll leave it at that…

thats long been gone,

Bring back Hotel Flanders! http://www.shorpy.com/node/9331

Also note: That Lush building is old, but it wasn’t there in 1905.

Wow. Thanks for sharing. I never knew there was a building of that height there. I wonder if the first two or three floors still exist under the present facade.

I agree. Bring back Hotel Flanders! It would certainly be better than some two story glass box.

two stories? in one of the densest most desirable areas to live in the city? are these developers brain dead?

does that mean there will be one at another location?  do tell!

Interestingly BCJ also designed the Philly Apple store: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/peter-bohlin-designs-first-apple-store-in-philadelphia/6321. 
Certainly note as sexy as the Apple cube in NYC but still a good use of modern updates to a historical building.

Boston is hardly the only one that does that, and Philly has plenty of examples of that sort of thing.  Just stroll over across Broad St to Washington West and Society Hill areas.  St James apartment tower is one example.  The Penn hospital along Pine St is another example. 

On the other hand, these buildings hardly look worth saving, especially the corner one.

More importantly, here’s another project that is getting rid of planned office space.  That’s the untold story in Center City– we are losing the downtown core’s office spaces and becoming a bedroom community for the suburbs (and NYC?).  How sustainable can that be?  The fact that such a desirable location has enough ratable to only support a 2-story building says a lot about Philly’s ailing economy.  Are people in City Hall listening?  Do they even care?

Some other facade preservations include the old Fire Insurance building at 508 Walnut, Rittenhouse Club at 1811 Walnut and the two buildings that flank the Curtis Institute’s spanking new Lenfest Hall.  All of these involved innovation and no doubt big $$$ in the name of preservation.  Very cool.

In regards to office space along Walnut: I don’t think it is as week as you allude to. For example, 1619 Walnut recently invested millions in a modern facade.  I’d say the building is comparable to this proposed project.  The result is each office floor is occupied, while the retail spaces on the 1st and 2nd floors are yet to be leased.  I think Midwood is being overly conservative if they don’t see office space as a profitable development at this corner.

Yes, there are several examples of where historical facades have been incorporated into modern buildings in and and around the city, but I would still assert that Philadelphia seems to fall behind Boston in terms of its preservation policies. The Church of the Assumption comes to mind as does the 5 or 6 historical structures which were demolished to make way for the convention center expansion. Added on to this I’m sure every day a dilapidated row house falls somewhere in the greater Philadelphia area.

I’ve actually grown rather fond of the building on the corner. There’s something kind of nostalgic and unusual about it. You certainly don’t see too many buildings that are of that particular style in the city. Perhaps, at least, they could incorporate the neo-classical facade of Lush into the new building?

[...] a year ago, we initially told you about the likelihood that the buildings at the corner of 15th & Walnut would be torn down and replaced with a slightly taller new construction building with all new tenants. In the spring, [...]