Philadelphia YIMBY’s recent site visit has noted that development still has not begun at Harper Square, a 620-foot-tall, 52-story mixed-use skyscraper proposed at 113-21 South 19th Street in Rittenhouse Square, Center City. Designed by DAS Architecture and Planning and developed by Pearl Properties, the slender, 267,874-square-foot structure will incorporate existing historic buildings into the base and hold around 200 residential units and 30,180 square feet of commercial space.
113-21 South 19th Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. January 2024
113-21 South 19th Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. January 2024
The development will incorporate four prewar four-story buildings at South 19th Street at house numbers 113, 115-117, 119, and 121. All four date to the turn of the twentieth century or earlier. The new tower will replace the interior portion of the three structures while preserving the façades and restoring the brick to its original red color. The ground floor of the 38-foot-wide structure at 115-117 will hold the residential lobby, while the flanking, 19-foot-wide ground-floor spaces at 113 and 119 will include new retail, preserving the existing scale and pedestrian experience on the street.
113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture
113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture
113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture
113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture
113-121 South 19th Street. Credit: Pearl Properties/DAS Architecture
Upon completion, Harper Square will become the tallest predominantly residential building in Philadelphia (discounting mixed-use developments such as Two Liberty Place, where commercial space takes up the majority of the structure). The building will take the title away from The Laurel Rittenhouse, which was recently completed a block to the southwest.
Harper Square is an exciting project as it will situate a large volume of housing stock on a small, centrally-located, transit-accessible site while preserving the aged structures that currently stand at the property. We look forward to further progress on the development.
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They are currently renovating a couple buildings on Chestnut Street that I believe are supposed to be part of the project.