Weekend Quickie: 10 New Units for the Swartz Building at 1108 Chestnut St.

The building from 1841 will see residential units after nearly two centuries of commercial uses, from furniture to cowboy hats

The Swartz Building at 1108 Chestnut St. has a deep and rich history that belies its current modern exterior. Originally home to the G. Vollmer furniture store, the building has since been an engraving company, a hat retail space (more on that in a bit), a jeweler, and Swartz Furniture over its first century and change.

The Swartz Building back in 1946 just after the company moved in (Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Architects and Buildings)

More recently, the building was saved from its rather derelict condition almost a decade ago by developer Brickstone. The building was modernized and converted to ground-level retail over offices in 2019, and thank goodness for that: despite its history, the building wasn’t (and still isn’t) listed on the local historic register. Most recently, the building, along with its companion next door at 1110 Chestnut St., was marketed as commercial space on its upper floors.

A look at the building back in 2017 (Photo courtesy of Naked Philly)

The same view from May, with some obvious updates

An aerial view of the properties, along with the sizable new roof deck (Photo courtesy of RothbergDubrow)

And then, lo and behold, a look through the daily zoning report provided us with an unexpected update: floors two through five will be renovated and turned into ten residential units. The details are still unclear as the permit itself is not yet available, but a look at the current interiors shows a space that indeed has plenty of size and potential.

A completely blank slate, with large windows bringing in plenty of light

Another floor includes exposed brick and beams, giving industrial loft vibes

Another floor awaiting its future

As we have alluded to in previous articles, we are all for getting as many residents as possible in this area that’s not fully Market East, nor fully part of the Gayborhood. This space sits directly across from the glossy Honickman Center, so we could easily envision apartments marketed to healthcare workers here. Though we’d want a spot on the back of the building, so we didn’t have to gaze at our place of work from our living room.

One last quick note: that hat retailer was actually an early home to Stetson, the famous cowboy hat and apparel company that was founded right here in Philly (Editor’s Note: Go Birds). The company then built a massive complex near Germantown & W. Montgomery Ave. in 1874, which featured some incredibly stunning architecture for an industrial center. Sadly, only the vestiges of the layout remain, with the rest of the site long since cleared.

A look at the massive manufacturing complex, which was pumping out three million hats per year at its peak

The absolutely glorious clock tower, which stuck around until approximately 1980 (Photo courtesy of Historic Structures)

Then and now, with only the street layout offering hints at what was once there

So now that we’ve donned some Western-inspired headwear, we hope that some buckaroos mosey up to those ten new units sometime soon. While the city has changed to an unimaginable degree in some cases, let’s take a moment to celebrate what will hopefully be an exciting future; don’t forget your hat, partner.