Lululemon Will Soon Have a New Location Near Rittenhouse Square

The company signed a lease on the 1700 block of Walnut Street.

The former Cosi at 1720 Walnut Street | Photo: James Jennings

The former Cosi at 1720 Walnut Street | Photo: James Jennings

It’s fitting that Lululemon, a store specializing in yoga gear and athletic apparel, has exhibited some serious flexibility when it comes to their recent brick-and-mortar troubles. Debris from an adjacent building crashed through the store’s roof at 1527 Walnut Street in late January, causing the company with a near cult-like following to move to a temporary spot down the street at 1422 Walnut. Now, it looks as though the company is headin’ on up to the ritzy part of town.

Jacob Cooper, partner at MSC Retail, tells Property that Lululemon will take over the storefront at 1720 Walnut Street, a former Cosi just steps from Rittenhouse Square. Brittany Goldberg from MSC Retail and Ken Bleznak from Atlantic Real Estate Group handled the transaction. A representative from Lululemon was unavailable for comment at the time of publication, so it’s unclear when the store will be open for business.

The former Lululemon storefront at 1527 Walnut Street | Photo: James Jennings

The former Lululemon storefront at 1527 Walnut Street | Photo: James Jennings

Pearl Properties reportedly purchased the former storefront at 1527 Walnut Street for $10.5 million.

There’s speculation that Pearl Properties will utilize the added space to build something substantial on the site, possibly by utilizing the air rights of the building at 1529 Walnut Street, which is also owned by Pearl Properties. The former Lululemon store is currently being demolished, as permits were pulled in early June to raze the one-story building.

Pearl has been busy recently, especially on the demolition side of development. The Boyd, and the accompanying retail for the project on Chestnut Street, is taking forever to come down and a plumbing permit shows that the parking garage at one of the newly-purchased properties is being prepped for demo as well.