Major Face Lift On The Way For East Chestnut Street Businesses
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Development is happening on East Chestnut Street; and many folks welcome the change from empty storefronts to busy retail stores.
Paul Levy, President and CEO of the Center City District says Brickstone Realty is in the process of turning several Chestnut Street buildings on the east side of Broad Street into retail stores with residences and businesses above:
"It's the south side of the 1100 block of Chestnut Street and it's a street which has got great small scale historic architecture, a lot of 4 and 5 story buildings, some 8 and 10 story buildings but it's been a street that's been down in its luck for a very long time."
Folks say development there would bridge the gap between Old City and Washington Square West:
"I think that they should do that because I think that it would like fill Chestnut out and I would appreciate that myself, I would," says one man.
Rumors have been swirling about a grocery store, but Levy tells me:
"I think there are always rumors when developers get started and until they announce their tenats, they're just rumors."
So what would folks like to see in the ground floor shops?
One woman says, "I welcome any type of business, honestly."