Work Nearing Completion On Beer Garden At 1706-10 Walnut Street In Rittenhouse Square, Center City

Work is nearing completion on a new beer garden at 1706-08-10 Walnut Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City. The new space will span 11,500 square feet, including a large amount of outdoor seating and garden space. Various temporary sheds and tents will host vendors and covered seating, while a small play space boasts the future space’s  family-oriented appeal. Avram Hornik is managing the restaurant, the latest addition to his growing portfolio of Philadelphia restaurants. The restaurant will operate from noon to midnight.

Previous look at 1706-10 Walnut Street. Credit: Google.

Previous look at 1706-10 Walnut Street before demolition. Credit: Google.

Frequently, beer gardens occupy under-used space in up-and-coming areas, or in underused spaces in establish neighborhoods to add to the surrounding commercial appeal. It is rather rare of such restaurants to occupy such a large amount of space in such a prime location, but this location’s situation helps provide context to this project. In years past, the three side-by-side properties were occupied by three beautiful Parisian-style structures, with residential space on upper floors and commercial purposes in the ground floor. These buildings featured attractive cornices and dormer windows on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, the structures suffered severe damage following a fire in May of 2020, and were demolished shortly after, dealing a major blow to the corridor.

1706-10 Walnut Street. Credit: Colin LeStourgeon.

After the restaurant was announced last month, work has progressed very rapidly on this fairly simple project. The space looks very welcoming and green, with a wooden boardwalk running from the site’s entrance down the center. To the left off of the entrance is the new play space for children, with its truck-themed playground that matches into the surrounding aesthetic. Following this is a series of sheds and trailers which will presumably be the vendors for the space. To the right is where much if the seating space will be, with an abundance of picnic tables followed by a large tent which will offer covered seating to insure seating space fit for various weather conditions. Throughout the site, a variety of flowers and trees are being planted, creating a pleasant atmosphere for visitors.

1706-10 Walnut Street. Credit: Colin LeStourgeon.

The space meets the street with an attractive wooden fence which introduces the earthy design choices found beyond it. This fence and the following restaurant is certainly far better than the barricaded vacant lot which sat here for years prior to this project. The former vacant lot acted is a major weight bringing down the surrounding commercial corridor and neighborhood, which is one of the leading urban environments on the continent. The new space returns activation to the site and will remove the dead space which was harming surrounding businesses and foot traffic.

However, depending on circumstances, this project may possibly be only a temporary solution on a timeline which will involve larger scale development. With the location off Rittenhouse Square just steps to the east, this location is far too prominent to allow it to remain without a high density structure of some form. The property could easily handle a large scale high-rise development and the additional retail space on the ground floor would be greatly welcomed her.

YIMBY will continue to monitor movements on development at the location moving forward.

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