Morning Headlines: Redevelopment on Chestnut Street Will Start In a Few Weeks

The block's revitalization will soon commence.

Screenshot of Chestnut from 12th Street via Google Street View.

Screenshot of Chestnut from 12th Street via Google Street View.

Zoning approvals? Check. Permits? Check. Demolition crews? They’re ready! Yep, it appears the $60-$70 million redevelopment project for a chunk of Chestnut Street’s 1100 block (between 11th and 12th) will get started in coming weeks. Planned for the site is a series of three-story retail spaces crowned with loft-style apartments. More from the Inquirer’s Maria Panaritis:

The project is pushing forward just months after Brickstone purchased from separate landlords a slew of mismatched storefronts and a long-decommissioned department store on the two-lane street, a once-thriving commercial stretch orphaned despite Center City’s surrounding redevelopment boom.

Panaritis also says lead development partner Brickstone Co. has not revealed who the possible tenants are just yet, but that rumor has it one of them might be a supermarket. Along with 1116 Chestnut acquired Thursday, the former stretch of buildings will be turned into “96 apartments and 80,000 square feet of retail through new construction as well as restoration of one large, historically arresting building.”

One of the buildings slated for demolition is 1118 Chestnut, which was designed by in 1949 by Louis Kahn and Oskar Stonorov. The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia called it an “important modern storefront in Center City” on a page regarding threatened properties on Chestnut Street. Oh well.

$60-$70 million Chestnut Street residential development set to begin [Inquirer]

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