McDonald’s advanced one step closer to opening a new Center City location yesterday, nearly five years after a fire resulted in the demolition of a longtime space near Rittenhouse Square. The store will be located at 1604 Chestnut St., just around the corner from the former location on the 1700 block of Walnut.
Like the building at 18th & Chestnut that will soon host the new Catbird jewelry store (and many other buildings along the Chestnut Street commercial corridor), this short structure has gone through many uses over the decades. Originally constructed as a residence, it was converted to commercial use in 1893.
More recently, the building has housed a menswear shop and a shoe store, but it’s also been home to a pharmacy, a writing supply shop, and offices. Back in the day, the building was home to a millinery shop, also known as a store for hats for ladies. The building was also used as a dance studio, a dress shops for tall girls, and a retail shop intriguingly but non-descriptively named “Heaven”.
Unsurprisingly this won’t be the first time a restaurant was located at this location. And even though there might be some deals in the McDonald’s app, it’s tough to beat all the food you could get for a buck at Cheri. Sure, that was a hundred years ago, but still.
Hysterically, even though the building is located in downtown Philadelphia and has extremely permissive zoning, a takeout restaurant still required a special exception from the ZBA. This was granted yesterday. While applicants for a special exemption have a lower threshold to prove their case compared to folks seeking a variance, the process is largely the same, requiring public meetings and an extended timeline. This is a minor inconvenience for a company like McDonald’s, but it’s financially crippling for small businesses trying to open up in Center City. Even though the City rewrote the Zoning Code a little over a decade ago, it feels like it’s more broken than ever these days, and this is just a small example.
While McDonald’s might be returning soon to Center City, the future of its former location at 1706 Walnut St. is less clear. The Philadelphia Business Journal reported back in 2023 that new owners were considering a residential tower, but we don’t see any permits at this time. Perhaps they’re biding their time and waiting for a more favorable climate for construction?
A beer garden, operating here since 2023, is a terrific way to activate the space temporarily. But let’s agree, this isn’t the highest or best use for a property on one of the most desirable blocks in Philadelphia, and a project that includes retail space and residential density would be much more appropriate. Here’s to hoping that plans have started to coalesce for this address by the time the new McDonald’s location opens on Chestnut Street.