{"id":4072,"date":"2026-08-18T19:41:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072"},"modified":"2026-08-18T19:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:41:47","slug":"site-of-the-walnut-street-beer-garden-will-become-a-two-story-retail-building-not-an-apartment-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072","title":{"rendered":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>A two-story, 33,000-square-foot retail building is being proposed for 1706-10 Walnut St., the current site of a beer garden and formerly where three historic buildings were demolished after being damaged by fires during unrest in 2020. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4070\">The Patriot League denied Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide\u2019s eligibility for 2026. What\u2019s next?<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The property is owned by the Gridmark Group, which was founded by Ari Weber, a Brooklyn-based real estate investor. The building is being designed by Philadelphia-based JKRP Architects. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>After Weber acquired the property in late 2022 for over $12 million, he said he eventually planned to build a 30-story apartment building on the site. Now he has decided that conditions are not favorable for such a large-scale project. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou see around Philly that there are sites that are on hold right now, that are sitting there waiting,\u201d Weber said. \u201cWe were talking about a 30-story building, and I have made a decision that the time is not right for building such a high tower.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Weber didn\u2019t let the Walnut Street property sit empty for long after he acquired it. The Walnut Gardens opened in June 2023 and became a popular outdoor food-and-drinks attraction. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But Weber says that he\u2019s been fielding a lot of calls from high-end nationalretail companies searching for space on this in-demand stretch of Walnut Street. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cCurrently, [a tower] is not what it calls for. What it calls for is beautiful retail commercial space that will change the block,\u201d Weber said. \u201cIt\u2019s the number one retail block in the whole of Philly.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The project will receive oversight from the Philadelphia Historical Commission because the property is in the Rittenhouse-Fitler Historic District. It will be considered by the commission\u2019s Architectural Review committee on Tuesday. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Materials submitted to the commission show a limestone-clad building that will feature a roof deck \u201cwith a restaurant enclosure\u201d and outdoor seating. The commission\u2019s staff recommended approval of the project\u2019s design. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s meant to be like any other new construction in the historic district,\u201d said Jerry Roller, the principal with JKRP Architects. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to be in keeping with and in harmony with the remainder of the streetscape on Walnut Street.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4068\">New technology policy at Lower Merion will scale back, keeping iPads out of kindergarteners\u2019 hands<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Before demolition, the site held three 19th century townhomes, one designed by Frank Furness\u2019s architecture firm, which had been converted to retail and restaurant uses, including a McDonald\u2019s. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>During unrest following protests over the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the buildings were damaged by arson in May 2020. Philadelphia\u2019s Department of Licenses &amp; Inspections found them too damaged to be saved, and they were then demolished in early 2021. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising, given the state of the development market today, we all know that there are very few projects coming out of the ground,\u201d said Paul Steinke, head of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m glad that they\u2019re not waiting around in hope for a better day, but that they\u2019re going ahead and knitting back the urban fabric once again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>After Weber acquired the properties, he partnered with Philadelphia restaurateur Avram Hornik, of FCM Hospitality, to open the Walnut Gardens outdoor bar and restaurant. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But now he says the time is right for construction of a modest scale. Weber says he does not intend to have his retail structure be built in such a way that it would allow it to be used as a podium for a future tower. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to put in something that\u2019s really going to change the whole block and fill in that gap,\u201d he said. \u201cThere cannot be any new developments like this on this block. You can\u2019t tear down anything. We\u2019re the only one \u2014 it\u2019s unique \u2014 so I decided to start making moves and bring tenants in.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>When Weber first came to Center City, he was known in New York for the apartment brokerage group Brookliv, but he says he sold that company last year. Now, he wants to pursue more projects in Philadelphia, which he says is more conducive to real estate development. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI feel like New York is a little bit of a shaky situation, but I like Philadelphia because \u2026 everybody wants to see Philly build,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are looking at other [sites] in Philadelphia right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4066\">South Philly\u2019s Tex-Mex mecca Taco Heart is expanding to Ardmore<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The site where three historic buildings were destroyed by arson in 2020 will become two-story retail building, with a roof deck. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The site where three historic buildings were destroyed by arson in 2020 will become two-story retail building, with a roof deck.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\"},\"headline\":\"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072\"},\"wordCount\":761,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Commercial\",\"Real Estate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072\",\"name\":\"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif\",\"width\":760,\"height\":507},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=4072#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Corporate Movers USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA","og_description":"The site where three historic buildings were destroyed by arson in 2020 will become two-story retail building, with a roof deck.","og_url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072","og_site_name":"Corporate Movers USA","article_published_time":"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626"},"headline":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower","datePublished":"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072"},"wordCount":761,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif","articleSection":["Commercial","Real Estate"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072","name":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower - Corporate Movers USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif","datePublished":"2026-08-18T19:41:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2022f676b96eb5d23496824cddddc27b.avif","width":760,"height":507},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=4072#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Site of the Walnut Street Beer Garden will become a two-story retail building, not an apartment tower"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/","name":"Corporate Movers USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}