The Jewelers' Row Hole Still Remains

A 35-story tower awaits construction after years of false starts

Jewelers’ Row is one of Philadelphia’s gems, serving as the oldest diamond district in the country (of course). Yet despite this history, the area is not historically protected, despite having been on the docket to be heard for years. Thankfully, this spruced-up stretch is looking mostly the same as it ever has - save for a noticeable exception toward the corridor’s far eastern end.

A look at Jewelers’ Row from wayyyy back in 1870

Looking west from 7th & Sansom today, with planter boxes, signage, and a notable vacancy on the left

That giant break in the action you see above is 708 Sansom St., formerly a series of handsome rowhouses that was knocked down in early 2020 to make way for what was supposed to be a condo tower. After developer Toll Brothers sold the site to Pearl Properties in 2022, we expected things to finally move forward, with a new 99-unit, mixed-use tower to rise on the site. Today, however, the property is still noticeably empty, save for the signage proudly announcing Pearl’s intent.

A look at the strip from late 2019, already fenced off in prep for demolition

The same stretch today, still fenced off, but with no buildings

The most recently proposed future for the site

These plans from Pearl and DAS Architects seemed to be moving full steam ahead earlier this year, after a trip through the Civic Design Review process was followed by a trip to the Historical Commission. The argument here was that because this property is now an empty lot, the Commission only has review and advisory say, not the ability to approve or deny the plans. It was unclear, however, what the status was for this project after the aforementioned trip to the Commission in April.

Looking SE towards 708 Sansom, rising well above most of its neighbors

A look from S. 7th St. shows access to the 50-space lot and the proximity to the remaining neighbor

Another aerial shot shows off proximity to Washington Square

Retail will line entirety of Sansom St. frontage, with a lobby accessible from 7th St.

When we went to check for any recent permits, we could not find any, nor did we see any results of recent trips to the Zoning Board of Adjustments. A perusal of the upcoming list of ZBA hearings also saw nothing listed. It’s possible, however, we missed a permit here or there, as sometimes vestige addresses can take a while to sync up with the city’s public land record system.

But if we assume we can access everything available for this CMX-5 zoned property, we’re a bit stumped as to what’s happening. It’s entirely possible that Pearl paused proceeding with this due to the financial environment. Or it could be possible that there’s some behind-the-scenes action with the neighborhood groups, as there were some concerns about parking access and other related aspects during earlier public meetings. No matter what the reason is, we hope that we see this go up sooner than later, as Jewelers’ Row deserves much better than the gaping hole that welcomes visitors today.