Report: Residential Tower at 1911 Walnut to Be Designed by Chicago-Based Firm

1911 Walnut

Our bold prediction for 2015 is starting to come closer to reality, as more and more news starts to trickle out about the long-vacant lot at 1911 Walnut Street.

Southern Land Company purchased the property for $40 million in February, and all signs pointed to the fact that they would sit on it and take their time in order to properly develop what could amount to the last building built on Rittenhouse Square for quite some time. Last week, marketing signs were hung on the site that gave us a glimpse as to what we can expect, namely a luxury residential project dubbed 1911 Walnut complete with dining, retail and other high-end options.

This week brings even more news, as The Inquirer’s Jacob Adelman reports that Southern Land has chosen Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) to design a large mixed-use residential tower with “several stories of lower-level retail” and “copious underground parking,” according to Southern’s Dustin Downey.

Locally, SCB has designed the Murano at 21st and Market and the St. James, the luxury apartment tower at 8th and Walnut overlooking Washington Square. That resume gives you an idea of the type of work they’re capable of producing, although you might want to check out a few of their buildings in Chicago–specifically the The Legacy at Millennium Park or Parkview Tower–to get a broader view.

A spokesperson from Southern Land Company told us last week that the development team “is currently meeting with neighborhood organizations and architects to determine what should be on the site.”

Steve Huntington, executive director of the Center City Residents Association, said that the board has appointed a task force to to meet with the developer, but didn’t expect a public meeting to take place in the near future, possibly months.

Representatives from both SCB and Southern Land Company could not be reached for comment.

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