Okay, so technically these things don't exist yet, but with a number of development projects planned and underway, Chestnut Street is bound to undergo a major transformation. Backpage shows you what you can expect to pop up in the coming years.
HUB 3939 3939 Chestnut Street
Like The Hub next door, the postmodern Hub 3939 will bring a mix of retail and one and two–bedroom apartments to 40th Street (and maybe some new digs for Thai Singha?). Construction was slated to begin in the spring of 2009, but that obviously never happened. It looks pretty cool though — a lot cooler than the crappy building that stands there now — so we hope this project gets off the ground, stat.
CHESTNUT SQUARE 3200 block of Chestnut Street
We don't know if you've walked around Drexel's "campus" lately, but they're really stepping it up, enlisting the firm of famed architect Robert A.M. Stern to bring some much–needed aesthetic improvements to the area. An 18–story cast stone tower and cantilevered metal and glass–sheathed blocks will serve as student housing, and the ground floor will have space for 10 new storefronts — great news for hungry late–night Van Pelters sick of having to eat from the food court's Taco Bell every night.
CIRA CENTRE SOUTH 30th Street between Chestnut and Walnut
You know that shiny glass building next to 30th Street Station? The one with all the LEDs? Yeah, they want to build two more of those to the south! These towers will provide housing, retail and office space to the area around Penn Park, acting as a sort of gateway to University City. While the architecture is nothing groundbreaking, it's still not ugly, and it's certainly better than the unsightly railyards that used to occupy the space.
HILL FIELD COLLEGE HOUSE 3300 block of Chestnut Street
Drexel isn't the only one that gets to have nice things. Across the street from Chestnut Square, plans are underway to build a new college house for Penn. The new dorm will have a central courtyard, seminar rooms, a dining hall and a two–story, multi–functional space that will be used mostly for awkward freshman Class Board events. Across Woodland Walk, Hill residents will still only have "a really great community.
EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL TOWER at 38th & Chestnut streets
This 25–story apartment tower has been stirring up quite some controversy since its proposal, as it will require the demolition of two historic brownstones that currently sit on the site. But the Episcopal Dioscese of Philadelphia says that it needs to build the tower to generate funds to be used for the upkeep of the cathedral next door. We just wish the plan involved knocking down the fugly, Brutalist–style International House next door instead.
