We don’t know much about the history of the building of 2207 Chestnut St., but we do know that we walked, biked, or drove past it on dozens of occasions without paying it any mind. In other words, it’s not the kind of building that grabs your attention by any stretch. We imagine there was once active commercial use on the first floor, but somewhere along the line it looks like the retail aspect was eliminated from the building and a new entrance, set back from the street, was created. For some reason, there was a steel fence erected at the front of the property line, making the building rather unapproachable. Security is important though, right?

According to an expired listing from Loopnet, a law firm operated out of this building in recent years. If you visit the building today though, you’ll quickly understand that the lawyers have moved along.

It seems that Loopnet listing was effective, as developers bought the property two summers back, paying $2.75M. These developers quickly decided that an office use wasn’t the most profitable approach here, and are now pursuing a mixed-use approach. The plans call for a three-story addition, and a total of four condos on floors 2-6. According to the offering packet from Astoban Realty, the units will range in size from 3,100 sqft to a nearly 4,000 sqft penthouse with a 2,000+ sqft roof deck. The building will also have six parking spots, accessed via Ranstead Street, and a small commercial space on Chestnut Street.

So what does a 3,000+ sqft condo sell for at this location? Honestly, we have no idea. But we’d have to think that the prices start at $2M at least, and probably higher. Whatever the price, at least one person is clearly taken with the project, as one of the units is already under agreement, pre-construction. Given the size, the location, and what we’ll assume will be sky high prices, these will surely be some of the more impressive units built in Philadelphia during the current development cycle. And when the project is done, a formerly unassuming building will cast a much more interesting figure on Chestnut Street. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find a way to get a tour before all the units get sold.