In August 2020, Philadelphia YIMBY reported that permits were filed for the demolition of a historically designated four-story building at 107 Chestnut Street in the Old City Historic District in Center City, half a block away from Penn’s Landing. The structure was built in 1840, at a time when the neighborhood bustled with maritime commercial activity, and was one of the last remaining buildings on the street’s old mercantile row. The Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the demolition after engineering experts declared the structure unsafe yet required that the owner rebuild the historic edifice in its original form within a year. However, YIMBY’s recent site visit shows that the structure’s former site still sits cleared and paved over with no signs of new construction, perched next to its lone prewar neighbor that stands surrounded by a parking lot.
I-95 Park, with 107 Chestnut Street. Looking northwest. Credit: Google
107 Chestnut Street (center left). Looking northwest. Credit: Google
107 Chestnut Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2024
At the time he property owner, Harvey Spear, was also the proprietor of the expansive parking lot that surrounds the site. Spear has a long record of demolishing historic buildings, both historically designated and otherwise, in the immediate vicinity. Two historic buildings opposite 107 Chestnut Street, both owned by Spear, were demolished in 2007, after the Department of Licenses and Inspections declared them imminently dangerous. Both of their sites were used to expand Spear’s parking lot. Spear also demolished a Victorian structure at Passyunk Avenue and Bainbridge Street.
107 Chestnut Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
107 Chestnut Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
The condition of the building at 107 Chestnut Street had deteriorated severely by the mid-2010s. Over the years, the property racked up several safety violations, and at one point bricks were allegedly falling off the structure onto the sidewalk. The Historical Commission performed an exhaustive review of the building’s precarious structural condition, available in an illustrated 151-page report, and concluded that the structure must come down for safety reasons.
The Commission approved demolition by a vote of 7 to 5 in 2020. At the time, Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, scorned the development as a “clear case of demolition by neglect” by the owner, calling such neglect a deliberate action by Spear.
As part of the conditions for demolition, the Commission required Spear to preserve historic materials to reuse them in future construction at the site and reconstruct the structure within a year or otherwise ask the Commission for an extension. However, in 2020, a lawyer for Spear stated that the owner has no plans to rebuild the structure within a year. In addition, he denied that the whole process was “some end-around to create a bigger parking lot.”
The structure was demolished by late 2020 and its site was paved over. Since that time, no new construction permits have been filed for the property. Instead, the property appears to have been visibly integrated into the lot. Our site visit revealed an “E-Z Park” sign anchored at the location. At the sidewalk, a “Welcome Drive-In” sign points directly toward the exact location of the former historic building. Cars were seen parked directly at the former building site.
107 Chestnut Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2024
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Isn’t there some entity that can enforce or fine??
That thin building next to the demolished building is the thinnest I’ve ever seen!
Perhaps “tarring and feathering” should be brought back along with public flogging.
The Spear brothers are making insane money on just this one parking lot. That two story building next to the demolished building is their offices. It makes sense for the business but unfortunately the sacrifice is our city’s history. You can make more money but can’t rebuild a historic building, as it wouldn’t be called historic any longer.
Parking lot could yield to more housing on site filled with tenants. Plenty of parking available.
@ Aaron
Come Fairmount Ave between 3rd and 4th west of the rec Center and see a really narrow building!
How is it that he gets away with this??
Tourists must love looking at parking lots
Good reporting YIMBY. Let’s see more of this
Parking is big business, I imagine for the amount of overhead of not having more than a parking lot and sidewalk to maintain, he probably makes more per square foot than the typical hotel because he does not have to pay out nearly as much in utilities, supplies, housekeepers and all the other things that come with maintaining a hotel. And with the amount of cars that get turned over in that lot all day and throughout the weekend, he probably makes more in a month than any apartment building with the same square footage since they only get rent once a month. I imagine he is biding his time, once the cap over 95 is done, the property value will go up big time, he will be able to sell the parking lot to a big luxury condo developer for a huge profit than retire to Boca because the bulk of the demo is done, they just have to get their building permits, put up a safety fence and start digging.