New 1911 Walnut plans reveal shorter tower, low-income housing

Plans for the last vacant lot in Rittenhouse Square have gone through a number of iterations over the past few years, but it seems like the developer and residents have finally come to an agreement: A shorter residential tower with two historic buildings that will offer low-income housing.

1911 Walnut, developed by Southern Land Company and designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architecture, will be 47 stories tall with no more than 335 units, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week.

A summer groundbreaking may be possible, but nothing has been set in stone, a representative for Southern Land Company told Curbed Philly.

The revised plans come after more than a year of tweaks and community input. At one point, the tower was proposed to be as tall as 599 feet, and Southern Land Company attempted to declare financial hardship on Rittenhouse Square Coffee Shop and the Warwick.

Now, these two historic properties will be incorporated into the project and provide low-income housing, according to the Inquirer. In addition, the facade of the Oliver Bair Funeral Home will be preserved.

Also still in the works is the shorter structure on Sansom Street, which calls for a fitness center on the upper levels and ground-floor retail.

The most recent renderings are strikingly similar to those that were accidentally posted to 1911 Walnut’s website in August, then quickly removed. We’re not sure what, if anything, has changed from that design. But here’s how the proposal has changed from January 2016 to today.

• Shorter tower now envisioned for last major Rittenhouse Square-area development site [Inquirer]
• New 1911 Walnut renderings vanish from website [Curbed Philly]
• 1911 Walnut seeks high-end gym for retail [Curbed Philly]
• 1911 Walnut: New renderings released, but aren't final [Curbed Philly]
• Rittenhouse Coffee Shop won't be demolished [Curbed Philly]