Monday, May 5, 2014

Toll Brothers walking away from Rittenhouse Square development


Toll Brothers Inc. is no longer looking to buy a high-profile undeveloped parcel on Rittenhouse Square for what was supposed to be a mixed-use project.

Last year, Toll was eyeing 1911 Walnut St. in that upscale Philadelphia neighborhood for a building that would have reportedly had condominiums, a hotel and retail space. That has since fallen by the wayside, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Why Toll decided to walk away couldn’t be determined though some say the builder was unable to make the components work while also making those plans financially feasible. A representative from Toll Brothers declined to comment.

The owner of the land, Castleway Properties of Ireland, is now supposedly looking to tidy up any potential zoning issues with the site and either move forward with a project or put it back up for sale.

Though the L-shaped site, which is at 1907-1914 Walnut St. and 1906-1920 Sansom St., sits in a prime neighborhood, it has remained undeveloped since the early 1990s. This seems to be yet another unsuccessful chapter in its history.

One of the main issues dragging it down is the steep price Castleway paid for it in 2007, at the peak. It paid $36.7 million, or $1,011 a square foot. More information on its history can be found here.

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