1706 Rittenhouse Square St. Condominiums…
…where I will be living, when I hit the PA Lottery
On the corner of Fabulous and Unbelievable, is a new piece of Center City real estate which arguably will be the ‘Belle of the Ball” amongst Philadelphia’s luxurious condo buildings. Known as 1706, this new 31 story tower at 17th and Rittenhouse Streets houses one unit per floor…with a jaw dropping two story penthouse unit. A majority of the units are flats- one story units with two balconies each, and have 4300 square feet with ten foot ceilings and eight foot windows. From renderings I have seen, this is the kind of building one might see in Miami, Chicago, or New York City. The type of building that may have, say ten years ago, quietly passed on allowing itself to be planted in good old Philly.
When other Center City condominium buildings boast of amenities such as pool, sauna, and conference areas, it seems to me that a many of them are simply paying lip service to such goodies. 1706 Rittenhouse appears to be putting some serious effort into the common area freebies. It doesn’t appear that they will turn a maid’s closet into a room with no windows, a treadmill or two, and a Stair-master knock off. From what I can gather, this building will not be selling itself short in terms of location, view, amenities, quality of finishes, and overall desirability.
Developed by Scannapieco Corp., and ParkWay Corp., 1706 is targeting a market that appreciates, and will pay for quality. I have always said two things about Philadelphia condo buyers- they will spend for quality when they see it (and can sniff out faux quality like an English fox hound). And secondly, that there are more people in Philadelphia with money, than there are condominiums in Philadelphia to serve the needs of those buyers. I think 1706 is going to be a huge success, and rightfully so. It seems to be taking on that segment of the market that has been somewhat neglected in the past.
Mark Wade
www.CenterCityCondos.com
Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS®
530 Walnut St., Suite 260 Philadelphia, PA 19106
I, too, would want to live there if I hit the lottery, except for one thing — it looks like the windows won’t open. I work in a hermetically-sealed glass box office tower all day. Why would I want to live in one? There’s nothing better on the occasional non-humid pleasant spring or fall day than opening your windows and letting a breeze in.
Comment by Ann Marie — July 21, 2008 @ 1:31 pm