Way back in August, we told you about plans for a new building on the southeastern corner of 15th and Walnut Streets. As you’ve probably noticed, not much has changed at this corner in the months since, with the exception of the recent closing of the Rite Aid that had previously been located two doors off the corner. Now, we’re hearing that we could be seeing action here sooner rather than later.

Change is comin'

More specifically, we’re hearing that the project will be moving forward at some point this year, with the corner building and the two buildings next door replaced by a four story, new construction, all commercial structure. And we’ve heard rumblings about a couple of tenants, too.

Least excitingly, one tenant on the first floor will likely be Sovereign Bank, which will have the corner retail space. There will be additional retail space available on the first floor, though we’re not sure whether those spaces have been rented just yet.

Looking down 15th St., we don't know what's filling the other first floor retail spaces at the new building

The second floor tenant will likely be the first downtown location for the extremely popular Cheesecake Factory. Our mom is really happy about this development, though we would perhaps rather see a local business taking over this space. Nevertheless, this is a big get for this location and should see plenty of business from folks who love restaurants that serve giant portions of food from numerous ethnic cuisines.

We don’t have confirmation yet, but we’re hearing that the third and fourth floors will have a single tenant, which currently has no other location in Philadelphia. It’s interesting that a retail tenant would be willing to take a space that’s so far off of street level, but we’re guessing they’d be banking on the prestige afforded by a new construction building on this block. Any thoughts on who this tenant could be?

We’re hearing that Lush, the tenant in the building one off the corner, is moving out at the end of the summer, and we assume the other businesses currently operating out of the existing buildings will be out by then as well. At the moment, it seems likely that demolition/construction should be getting started before the end of the year. Hopefully, they’ll build an awesome, contemporary new building at this highly trafficked location. This is a safe bet, of course, if Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is still involved.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled here for more info…

Update: The third and fourth floors will apparently be the future home of Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo. Currently, this company, which sells casual wear at reasonable prices, only has three US locations, all in New York City. It’s interesting that they would be willing to take a space that’s so far off of street level, but we’re guessing they’d be banking on the prestige afforded by the new construction.