Last spring, we told you about Midwood Development‘s plans to demolish the three buildings on the southeastern corner of 15th & Walnut and replace them with a contemporary building. We’d heard rumblings that tenants would include the gross but extremely popular Cheesecake Factory, a Sovereign Bank branch, and Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo. Within a few months, we’d learned that Uniqlo was out, and now it seems that the bank is out of the picture as well. According to Inga Saffron, suburban tourists can breathe a sigh of relief, as it appears that the Cheesecake Factory will be a go.

Current view of the corner

Rendering of the future

Last week, Saffron reviewed the new building coming to this corner, effusively praising the design by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Not only does this firm have a name that’s extremely challenging to spell, but it’s also gained tremendous notoriety as the firm that’s behind the designs of all Apple stores built in the last several years. Looking at the rendering, it would seem much more natural to purchase an iPad here than avocado eggrolls or a glamburger, but that’s what we’ll be getting. At least on the second floor.

As for the first and third floors, we have heard positively nothing about potential tenants. A bank would certainly make sense for a portion of the first floor, though a restaurant could also find considerable success at this prime location. As for the third floor, we could wrap our minds around a high-end retailer or perhaps a furniture store. Is there anything in particular that you’d like to see here?

An older rendering

Generally, we agree with Ms. Saffron that the look of the building will be a wonderful breath of fresh air for Walnut Street. And we welcome the combined retail space over three parcels, which will clearly attract more desirable tenants. Our only complaint is with the height of the building. We don’t necessarily crave a twenty-story residential tower, as the relatively small footprint might make that a cumbersome undertaking at this location. However, a couple more stories for additional retail would have made the building a little more satisfying for us, and would have been completely appropriate for this prominent intersection.

Or are we crazy, and should be just be happy with the handsome contemporary building we’re getting?