When we last checked in on the McIlhenny Mansion at 1914-16 Rittenhouse Square St., owner Bart Blatstein had gotten approvals from the Historical Commission to demolish a curved one-story facade at 1916 Rittenhouse Square and replace it with a four-story addition. The project also included the demolition of the actual mansion but the preservation of its historic facade. Looking at the property today, we can see that all of the demolition has indeed occurred. Since there's nothing behind the old facade, the steel supports are still in place.
If you take a closer look at the property in its current state, you can see the foundation work is done. And holy crap, is it ever a deep foundation.
According to one of the guys working at the site, plans call for a tennis court and a basketball court in the basement. We don't quite know how those will fit into the space, but maybe half a basketball court and a raquetball court would be doable. Or perhaps they'll be on different levels, who knows. What we can say for sure at this point is that when the construction is finished, Mr. Blatstein will have one of the sweetest abodes in town. And the location ain't bad either.