They Want HOW MUCH for That?: The Old Vesper Club

Dramatic price reduction on elegant Center City dining facility just off prestigious Rittenhouse Row. Development potential, including roof deck. Originally $5 million-plus now reduced to $3.9 million.

For this?

Maybe there’s a restaurateur or would-be nightclub owner (or Allan Domb) who would be willing to shell out this much for the former Vesper Club on Sydenham Street, but we suspect there’s a good reason the club went out of business to begin with.

Take the frontage: a mere 20 feet on Sydenham Street–hardly a high-traffic thoroughfare. And only two of the building’s advertised three stories are visible. It gets lost amidst its bigger neighbors on either side–and most of the building can’t be seen at all, tucked away as it is behind the expanding Misconduct Tavern on Locust Street. This place makes a great speakeasy–but who’d pay $3.9 million for a speakeasy?

The listing touts the building’s development potential, citing air rights and a possible roof deck. An agent of our acquaintance wondered out loud, “Do you really think the building next door would let them build up like that?”

According to the listing, there’s a lease option available too. Maybe the owner should try doing that first and see if anyone bites.