With the warmer days of early fall quickly disappearing, we decided to get out for a stroll a couple days back to take advantage of the last mild days of 2023. While walking through the always lovely Washington Square, we literally stopped in our tracks when we saw something on the east side of the square that we were not expecting.

That tower you see hiding behind the trees is the new addition to the Dilworth House, which is bringing ten luxury condos to 223 S. 6th St., behind the historic property. After a long slog in the past to get this project moving forward, Astoban Investments purchased the property and have since gotten this thing out of the ground. We visited this spring when things were still at street level, so we were taken aback by the quick progress on this contemporary addition.

While it appears to be mostly a narrow sliver when viewed from the square, a loop around the site shows off the project’s heft. Moving to the north, the new addition is rather imposing next to its neighbor, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Shifting around to the back of the site, we got a glimpse of the future car access point, leading to 20 underground parking spaces. All of this action both now and in the future have dramatically altered this tiny street just off the square.

These are major changes yes, but we are still happy to see something happening on this site. While the built environment on one tiny street will be much different, we understand that progress often involves trade-offs of some sort. Change rarely comes without pushback, but as this rising tower can attest, sometimes the wait is well worth it.