Imagine this: A few months ago, you shelled out several hundred grand to buy a condo unit in a new building at 13th & South. And you were thrilled to do it. The building looks cooler than just about anything else getting built nearby. The location is outstanding, with Broad Street a block away, South Street West in one direction, the less glamorous but still fun South Street/Headhouse area in the other direction, and Center City at your fingertips. Ooh, and the oddly named but very delicious Sansom Kabob House is right across the street. Everything is wonderful.
Considering the fantastic nature of the location, you've been excitedly wondering what's coming to the two retail spaces on the first floor of your building. Perhaps a byob? Maybe a boutique of some kind? A gallery? A vape shop?
Wait, scratch that, a vape shop sounds like a lousy idea for this location. Eight blocks to the east, sure. But not here, not on the first floor of a shiny new building, not directly behind an under-construction residential project where the home prices are starting at $1.45M, not across from Sansom Kabob House. Ah, forget it. Crazy thought. Never gonna happen.
Just kidding! That's totally what's happening! Signs went up a few weeks ago, and national chain Vaporfi will be opening their first Philadelphia location on the first floor of the Twelve40 project in the near future. We certainly would have predicted a classier business for such a nice looking building and if we lived here we'd probably be pretty annoyed. We wonder, will this retail tenant detract from the high-end Bedford Place project that's moving right along on Kater Street?
Or is this just considered par for the course for living on or close to South Street?