47-story apartment building is planned above CVS store at 19th and Chestnut

A 47-story residential skyscraper is planned for 19th and Chestnut Streets, the site of the neoclassical Aldine Theatre building. Casual passersby may be more familiar with it as the CVS pharmacy near Rittenhouse Square at 1826 Chestnut St.

The building would contain 213 rental units and 68 underground parking spaces. On the ground floor, where the 102-year-old Aldine Theatre’s facade will be preserved, there will be two floors of amenity space and retail. CVS is expected to return.

Jenkintown-based Goodman Properties has owned the property for over 30 years, and with the CVS’s lease ending soon, they have been working on plans for this tower for at least three years. Although they started planning during a very different moment in Philadelphia’s history, they are still confident in the project.

“It’s arguably the best neighborhood in the city and one of the highest pedestrian traffic intersections,” said Adam Goodman, president of Goodman Properties. “There’s a lot that our [market] study didn’t account for, with interest rates and the turnover in mayors. But we’re very confident in this neighborhood long term being a desirable location.”

Goodman Properties approached the Center City Residents Association to discuss the design and planning of the building even though the company doesn’t need the neighborhood’s support to proceed.

The agreement with CCRA included tweaks to the design, planting of mature street trees, and promises of planters around the new CVS entryway.

CCRA also asked Goodman Properties to attempt to improve traffic flow. Currently, 19th Street is often congested by trucks delivering bulk goods to CVS. The developer has agreed to limit the size of trucks allowed to make deliveries on 19th and to provide a space in the underground parking garage for those deliveries.

“They could have built this without ever talking to us,” said Richard Gross, president of CCRA. “But they came to the community and said we would like to build something you actually like.”

CBP Architects, formerly Cecil Bakers + Partners, is designing the project. Due to the uncertainty of the economy, a date for groundbreaking has not been set.

“It’s not the easiest time to do development projects right now, but that’ll hopefully change quickly,” Goodman said. “We’re going to put ourselves in a position to hit the go button when it makes sense to do it. It’ll be a temporary blip, but we’ll get back on track.”

Before Goodman’s interest in the property, the Aldine Theatre did not have historic protections. But after hearing that it was being considered for development, the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia nominated it for historic designation by the city’s Historical Commission.

Goodman approached the alliance and offered to create an easement on the property, which would ban demolition or substantial exterior changes, if the alliance would drop the nomination.

“Easements are a choice the property owners can make between being regulated by a government agency or a private not-for-profit,” said Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance. Goodman said he decided to take this route because he knows Steinke and thought he’d be easier to negotiate with.

The oldest easements negotiated by the Preservation Alliance date to 1979. They are often stricter than the city’s historic regulations. Property owners can seek to evade municipal protections by making an economic hardship case for demolition or alteration, but the Preservation Alliance has no such provisions in its easements.

“We love the building,” said Goodman. “There wasn’t a scenario where this thing was coming down.”

Constructed in 1921, the Aldine Theatre had 1,300 seats and enjoyed a prominent place on a row of movie palaces built in Center City in the 1920s and early 1930s. Another from that time, the Boyd Theater at 1908-1918 Chestnut St., controversially saw its interior demolished and, this year, transformed into a luxury sports bar called Bankroll.

If built as planned, Goodman’s tower would be among the tallest in the Rittenhouse neighborhood. Only the recently constructed Laurel at 1911 Walnut St. would top it.

The project is just one of what CCRA estimates is 1,000 units proposed for the Rittenhouse area in the coming years, including Pearl Properties’ slender 183-unit tower proposed next door at 1822-24 Chestnut.

“These guys are putting a lot of money into the expectation that there will be a robust apartment market in Center City West in two or three years,” Gross said. “Having a robust market means there’s more young people around the neighborhood. More restaurants, more culture. It’s a vote of confidence in the future.”