A conceptual design recently leaked online for the fifth-tallest building on Philly YIMBY’s December 2020 Development Countdown, an approximately 550-foot-tall building at 1826 Chestnut Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City. The details of the project are entirely lacking, aside from the screenshots that depict a 42-story skyscraper along with the logo of Goodman Properties, the current owner, and possible developer. The tower will likely be residential, and appears to rise from the preserved exterior of the former Aldine Theatre, now occupied by a pharmacy. As expected, Philly YIMBY’s recent site visit has revealed no signs of construction.
1826 Chestnut Street. Credit: 1826 Chestnut Street via FairmountFellow at SkyscraperPage
The Aldine Theatre a 1826 Chestnut Street. December 8, 1921. Looking southeast. Credit: PhillyHistory.org
The neoclassical styled building, which is occupied by a CVS Pharmacy, was originally completed in November 11, 1921 as the Aldine Theatre, and was once described as one of the city’s most beautiful movie theaters. The exterior remains well preserved.
The theater closed in late 1978, and was purchased two years later by Sameric Co. to make room for the Sam’s Place, another theater that opened on March 21, 1980 and ultimately shuttered in August 1994.
1826 Chestnut Street. Photo by Thomas Koloski
The building will be one of the tallest in the Rittenhouse Square area and will rise next to another recently revealed skyscraper at 113-121 South 19th Street, a 567-foot-tall structure that will incorporate several prewar buildings at its base. Another tower, The Laurel at 1911 Walnut Street, is currently under construction nearby to the southwest. The Laurel will stand 599 feet tall.
As many details for the development are lacking, no completion date for the project has been announced.
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Is this an official proposal or a visionary idea?
I’ve been to an an actual proposal and there is a difference!
It would be amazing if they built the tower in the same architectural style as the original building.
What we need is for this to be restored as a theater for live entertainment, and possibly films. Can someone convince Goodman of that? We do NOT need it to remain a CVS.