46-Story Apartment Proposed Above CVS at 19th and Chestnut in Center City

The well-known CVS at 19th and Chestnut will soon look a little different once an apartment complex is built above it.

Goodman Properties, who has owned the property since 1994, is planning to build a 46-story apartment building that will have about 213 rental units. a penthouse, a courtyard and a garage. 

The building will have a mix of units in the building from studios to two-bedrooms with a den to a penthouse at the top that will be multi-level with a rooftop.

The entrance to the apartment complex will be on 19th Street and the existing CVS entrance will remain the same.

The apartment complex will have 64 parking spots in an underground parking garage that will also be a loading area equipped with a turnstile that can turn vehicles around, so they don’t have to back-in or back-out of the garage.

There is no timeline for when Goodman will break ground on the 46-story building but when designing it developers wanted to make sure it would work for the neighborhood.

“With that long-term ownership of property, we have to value being good neighbors and we value maintaining the character and quality of any neighbor we move into,” Goodman Properties' in-house counsel Andrew Duckworth said.

When designing the building architects took into consideration 19th street’s congestion problem, a huge concern for neighbors of the area who often complain about trucks loading and unloading at CVS taking up a traffic lane multiple times a day, Vice President of Major Development for Center City Residents Association David Rose said.

With the new design of the building and the agreement that CVS will only be using 12-foot trucks, all loading and unloading will be handled internally.

There will be less noise, less congestion and there will be no large trucks backing-out onto Chestnut Street, Rose said.

The developers will also be expanding how much greenery is in the area by planting trees along 19th, Sansom and Chestnut streets, which will have a direct impact on traffic and livability he added.

They also plan to install planters to the front of the CVS entrances to reduce panhandlers from standing in front of the building.

During construction of the tower CVS will not be taken down and rebuilt, it will remain intact during the construction of the tower.

There was a nomination pending to make the CVS a historical destination. The developers worked with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to maintain the character and history of the landmark that is currently a CVS and used to be the Aldine Theater in 1921.

While under construction, the CVS pharmacy will have a satellite location nearby in a storefront to continue to provide their services for people who get their prescriptions filled at that location.

Along with Goodman's 46-story tower, Pearle Properties is planning to build a tower that will be built adjacent to Goodman’s.

Richard Gross, CCRA, said both of the buildings will be built simultaneously and due to that there will be several years of construction congestion on 19th Street. Both property groups have agreed to work to reduce congestion as much as possible.

Construction has to follow community benefits agreement guidelines and any changes will be posted on their website for neighbors.