Southern Land Company Has Something Cookin’ at Long-Vacant Rittenhouse Lot

Cryptic signage posted to the lot provides a long-awaited glimpse of what's to come at 1911 Walnut.

By James Jennings· 9/3/2015, 2:05 p.m.

1911 Walnut | Photos: James Jennings

Southern Land Company looks to have something in the works at the lot at 1911 Walnut Street, their prized property on Rittenhouse Square. Cryptic signage has been hung on the fencing that provides some interesting insight of what’s to come.

“Welcome to 1911 Walnut,” reads the first sign, one of seven hung at the lot. “Soon this will be a community destination for luxury living, shopping and recreation. Until then, we invite you to enjoy a new view on this great site.” It then directs passersby to a website for more details.

The cool thing is that, while we don’t know specifics, the signs do say quite a bit. For starters, we now know it will be some sort of luxury building called 1911 Walnut, which is more than we’ve known about this project thus far.

But wait, there’s so much more!

In perusing the semi-finished website, we learn a even more about what Southern Land Company has planned for the project: “A new luxury destination is coming to Rittenhouse Square. State-of-the-art living, desirable shopping and delicious dining will all be here, in one enviable locale. Details to come.”

To recap the things we’ve just learned:

The name is 1911 Walnut
It will feature luxury residences
Retail, in the form of luxury shopping, is in play
Dining is also planned
A recreation element is involved

City records show that Southern Land Company, under the name 1911 Walnut Street LLC, paid $40 million for 1907-15 Walnut Street in February. The Nashville-based developers recently completed their first project in town called 3601 Market, a 363-unit luxury apartment building next the Science Center. That building features a bunch of fast casual eateries that align perfectly with the surrounding university landscape.

Rittenhouse is a much different animal, and it seems as though the company will be upping its game to a level commensurate with the Square.

CEO Tim Downey spoke with us in February, shortly after the deal became official:

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had the chance to work on such an iconic spot,” said Tim Downey, CEO of Southern Land Company. “I think that Center City, and University City, is such a gem.” Downey reiterated the importance of the deal and getting the future development right, “It will probably be the last building built on The Square for a long time to come.”

So, we don’t know specifics or have renderings just yet, but it looks like things are happening at the site.

As for the “new view” that the sign says to enjoy, a spokesperson with the project recently told us that Southern Land Company was planning some sort of “art project” related to the lot in the near future, so be on the look out for that.