We’ve passed the corner of 21st & Walnut repeatedly in the last few months, wondering when some new tenant would take over the vacant space on the northeast corner, next to Pure Fare. This space was home to Nature’s Gallery Florist for years, until their move down the street back in November.

The space

The handsome new space for the former tenant

The high-trafficked corner space has gotten considerable interest, according to Jackie Balin, the listing broker from Fameco, but nobody has signed on as of yet for this roughly 900 sqft space. No doubt, whoever ultimately takes the space will not want for foot traffic, with Rittenhouse Square just a couple of blocks away and several popular businesses like Vernick, Irish Pub, and Capogiro in the immediate area. And with a handful of new residential projects going up on surrounding blocks, it seems like the customer base will only grow for businesses on Walnut Street in the coming years.

So what is it that people would like to see in this space? It seems that a full service bar or restaurant is probably out of the question, given the space limitations. And a cafe would seem like a risky proposition, with plenty of coffee in every direction. Could a little wine spot, a la Jet Wine Bar, make it work in this space? Could some other retail concept other than food be a good fit? What do you think?