Seeking a salve for our wounds after a disappointing Eagles loss, we found ourselves in Chinatown yesterday, on a quest for some hand-drawn noodle deliciousness. We certainly don’t regret our choice of culinary destination, but we do question what made us think that driving there would be a good idea. As anyone who’s visited the area around dinnertime can attest, parking can be quite a task.

On the plus side, the seemingly endless circling allowed us to stumble upon a new building that’s under construction on one of the neighborhood’s narrower streets. For years, 1020-26 Cherry St. was a surface parking lot. Now, it’s a fully framed out five-story building.

In the past

Current view

Our original suspicion was that this building was for residential purposes. After all, it certainly looks like an apartment building, no?

Closer look. It's cinderblock on the first floor because of the height of the building.

Looking up

According to the L&I Map, the original building permits pulled for this address were for a five-story office building. This was back in February. In April, a use permit was issued for visitor accommodations. Looking at the code, this would seem to indicate that some or all of the new building will be used as a hotel, or perhaps a motel, though probably not a Holiday Inn.

Assuming that’s the case, a small boutique hotel would certainly be a welcome addition to Chinatown. At this location, guests would not only be close to Chinatown’s touristy goodness, but they would also be fairly close to Philly’s historic attractions and the Convention Center.

In the meantime, Chinatown parking just got a little more challenging. But for us, it’s lesson learned. Next time, we’ll do the right thing and just get on the bike.