We moved to South Philly a little less than a decade ago and quickly discovered a new Mexican place at 12th & Passyunk & Morris called Cantina Los Caballitos. As the years have passed, this intersection has seen all kinds of change. El Zarape has come and gone, with the excellent Bing Bing Dim Sum taking its place. Doggie Style has moved to the south to make way for Birra. A double-wide building at the northwest corner of 12th & Morris, previously home to Artisan Boulanger Patissier, has been demolished, and a new building has arrived in its place. Neighborhood stalwart Interior Concepts has closed, and to the south, A Man's Image will soon move to a smaller location.
Now let's look to the future, shall we? The clearest situation can be found at 1709 E. Passyunk Ave., home to A Man's Image for the last sixty years. According to Michael Klein, a Spanish wine and tapas restaurant called Barcelona is slated for the space, and this will be the fourteenth location for this small chain owned by Barteca. With a 4,400 sqft space, Barcelona will be one of the largest restaurants on Passyunk Avenue. Of course, a space across the street could present a challenge to that title.
Interior Concepts sold furniture at 1701 E. Passyunk Ave. for a long time, but the store closed at some point in the last few months. We told you that the building was available for sale for $2.2M a couple years ago but public record doesn't show any sale for the property. The fact that Interior Concepts has closed tells us that either new owners have come forward or the old owners are keeping the property and trying to find a new tenant. Either way, the building has floor plates larger than 6,500 sqft which would make for a huge new addition to Passyunk Avenue.
Looking to the north, a new building has arrived on the northwest corner of 12th & Morris, bringing to fruition a long-planned project. Originally, chef Chris Scarduzio was planning a casual Italian restaurant in a modern looking new building, but Scarduzio walked away from the project and the design of the building got a little less exciting. Still, MSC Retail has the 1,800 sqft restaurant space listed for as available for lease.
We reached out to Jacob Cooper from MSC Retail to find out some more details and he indicated that tenants are looking very close for both the Interior Concepts building and the new building pictured above. He couldn't give us any more info at this time, but indicated that there might be some good news to share in the coming weeks. As soon as we find out any more info, we'll be sure to pass it along.