Even though few notable things have happened development-wise on east Market Street in recent years, it still somehow feels like the area is picking up momentum. This is probably due to the collection of different, possibly game-changing plans on the table. But if one of them were to come to fruition, we believe the dominoes could start to tumble on this still rough stretch of Center City blocks. Will the Gallery finally undergo the renovation it so badly needs to reorient the mall to look outward to Market Street? Will the old Strawbridge's find a destination retail tenant? Will Market8 be selected as Philadelphia's second casino, leading to the construction of a huge new building on the corner of 8th & Market? Will the Girard Square building get demolished and replaced with something new and shiny? Or how about the newest addition to the fray, a proposed residential tower for the Lit Brothers Building?
The Lit Brothers Building is one of the more iconic structures (non-American history division) on Market Street. The building, which stretches over the entire 700 block of Market Street, is currently home to a Ross on the first floor, and offices above. For the tale of the history of this building, might we recommend checking out this story from Hidden City. In the same story, we learn about the aforementioned proposed residential tower, dubbed the Mellon Independence Center Tower (MIC for short).
The building, designed by Stantec Architecture, will rise 29 stories over the existing building. The first floor will have retail, the next five floors will include office space, and then plans call for a whole lot of apartments.As you can see in the image above, the new tower will be set back significantly from Market Street, which will ensure that it doesn't interfere with the views of the existing historic buildings.
The project is still in the planning stages and there are many hurdles yet to come. It has to go before the Historical Commission, and will likely require zoning variances as well. And with financing always tricky for large-scale projects like this, there's no guarantee that this thing is actually going to happen. But let's just close our eyes for a second and imagine it does. Could this be the catalyst for real change for Market East? If successful, could it inspire the construction of the towers originally planned for the Gallery? If Market8 doesn't happen, could this project lead to even more residential at 8th & Market? Just think, if all of this comes to pass, the area would see over a thousand new apartments in the coming years. You would have to think that this would go a very long way to turning around Market East for good.
Isn't it fun to imagine?