Chestnut Street has seen a serious retail revival in recent years, marking a major recovery from the damage caused by the Chestnut Street Transitway (and Philly's general malaise through the early 1990s). Stores like Uniqlo and Nordstrom Rack have opened their first downtown locations on Chestnut. Joan Shepp, seeking more space and lower rent, fled Walnut Street to move just a block to the north. And just a few weeks ago, Five Below opened a flagship store on the 1500 block, in the building that was once home to the Arcadia Theater.
Today we bring 1722-24 Chestnut St. to your attention, despite the fact that it's currently vacant. For many years, a Hallmark made its home on the first floor, but that store closed sometime last year. It was built for Winkleman & Brothers in 1929, according to the PHMC Cultural Resources Database. Now, the entire building is available for lease, with about 4,000 sqft of space on each of the three floors. Metro Commercial has the listing.
Ordinarily, we wouldn't go out of our way to write about a random building that's for lease, even on an active and exciting corridor like Chestnut Street. However, we've always had a thing for Deco, and we've passed by a few times in recent weeks and it's as if the building has repeatedly called out to us, begging to be shared with the world. Also, some jerk thought it would be a fabulous idea to deface the facade of this wonderful building, scribbling an epithet front and center. So, uh, surely this has caught the attention of the owners of the property. Perhaps they could scrub it out sometime soon? It's been there for weeks.
Have you ever noticed this building when walking down Chestnut Street? What would you like to see here?