Luxury Rittenhouse apartment tower, The Laurel, breaks ground

The long-awaited tower is will be the tallest high-rise apartment tower in the city.

By Anna Merriman@Anna_Merriman Sep 14, 2018, 9:06am EDT

Just off Rittenhouse Square, in a vacant lot, the long-anticipated luxury high-rise dubbed “The Laurel” is underway.

The 48-story apartment tower broke ground yesterday, kicking off construction for the project, which has been in the works for nearly three years, and will end up being the tallest apartment building in the city.

Developed by Southern Land Company, the $300 million tower at 1911 Walnut Street will have retail and lobbies to the first two stories. Up through floor 25 will be market-rate rental units, followed by a floor dedicated to amenities on the 26th story—including a pool, fitness area, lounge, deck, sauna, and dog spa. The remaining stories will hold luxury, multi-million-dollar condos.

A pedestrian bridge will run over Moravian Street, connecting the tower to a two-story development that stretches along the street from 1918 Sansom to the end of the block at 20th Street. That development—which will go in place of the parking lot that’s currently there—will contain two floors of underground parking and two floors of retail.

“As the last undeveloped parcel on Rittenhouse Square, we spared no expense to ensure it will surpass everyone’s expectations when it comes to design, amenities and service for our future residents,” Dustin Downey, Senior Vice President of Multifamily Development for Southern Land Company said in a statement following the ground breaking.

The 600-foot tower aims to blend historic elements with their art deco-inspired interior and lobbies, with contemporary styles. In an interview earlier this summer, Brian Emmons, Development Manager at Southern Land Company, called the style “timeless, but warm and inviting.”

And luxury is key. If the amenities offered in the place don’t give that away, then the prices will; The upstairs condos start at 1,700 square feet for $2.4 million, and reach 9,000 square feet for $15 million.

If you want a better idea of what the apartment building will look like, check out the walkthrough of the renderings in a video by Southern Land Company.