Most of us still think of the northwest corner of 4th & South as Lickety Split, even after the folks from Bar Rescue stepped in a couple years ago to create Alleged Pizza on the first floor at 2nd State Lounge upstairs. None of that matters anymore, with both businesses closed and the building under construction for the last few months. Michael Klein shared the news last December that Milkboy would be opening a new location here which could bring some renewed constancy to this corner. And some live music too, we hope.
Just a few doors away, we discovered that there's some work being done to 417 South St., the former Pearl Arts building. We last visited this property at the end of last year, wondering about rumors of new ownership. Remember, a few years back, there were plans here for a South Street Arts Center with 85 artist studios. But that fell through. A couple years ago, a dance company took over the building but they were out by last summer. Now, workers are at the site actively expanding the window openings on the upper floors.
Looking at the sign in the first floor window, we see that MSC Retail is actively listing the first floor space for rent. The listing for the 7,000 sqft retail space indicates that a coworking space will be opening upstairs at some point this summer. A company called Joynture will operate the coworking space, and their website indicates that they already have a location in New York. Additionally, they're planning a third location in Pakistan, which is exactly where you'd look to expand after locations in NY and Philadelphia. Or something like that. Unusual expansion strategy aside, this does seem like a reasonable location for a coworking space and will join several others that have popped up around town in the last few years. As for what will eventually fill the vacant first floor space, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Perhaps a national chain? Or maybe a giant-sized Lorenzo's location? Probably neither.