A story in yesterday's Inquirer gave the sad news that Torre Big & Tall would be closing its doors in the coming weeks. According to the article, owner Mark Rosenfeld has been in the business for over three decades. The business has been around for seventy-seven years, and it's been located at its current spot at 1217 S. Broad St. since 1982. Until very recently, the old armory building stood next door, immediately to the south. That structure came down last year and soon a new apartment building will rise in its place.
The closing of Torre will be sad for many, including the owner and his family, the employees who will need to find new jobs, and folks who have fond memories of the business. We wonder, once the store shuts down for good, what will happen to the space it inhabited? According to the Inquirer article, the building will either be available for rent or for sale. We, for what it's worth, hope somebody steps forward and purchases the property.
The building sits, inefficiently, on a huge lot. With 48' of frontage on both South Broad and Juniper Streets with 200' in between, there's 9,600 sqft of flexible space that can be creatively utilized by a developer. With plans for the adjacent armory building to be six stories high, it would seem reasonable to build a six-story mixed-use building here. We think that twenty-five apartments with a retail space on Broad Street and some parking in the rear could be a home run for this location. With a huge commercial project likely coming soon just a block away at Broad & Washington, this spot could become much more exciting for a new commercial tenant. And with the Broad Street line just steps away, and more luxury apartments just next door, who wouldn't want to live here?
And let's agree that having Boot & Saddle, one of the coolest new bars in town, up the street, doesn't hurt either.