Pearl Properties is taking a concrete step toward reviving its long-delayed high-rise on Jewelers’ Row, filing with the city to reshape two protected one-story storefronts on South 7th Street. The plan would carve out the rear portions of 124 and 126 S. 7th while preserving and restoring their facades, turning them into pedestrian entrances for a motor court and parking garage tied to the proposed tower. For a site that has sat vacant for years at Sansom and Seventh, it is the clearest signal yet that Pearl intends to push the project forward.
As first reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal, Pearl has submitted an application asking the Philadelphia Historical Commission to allow the alterations at 124 and 126 South 7th Street. The Business Journal reports that the changes are meant to accommodate access and circulation for a large residential tower on the adjacent lot, pulling fresh attention back to a block that has been a flashpoint in Philadelphia’s preservation and development debates for years.
Project numbers and city filings
City materials filed with the Historical Commission describe a roughly 34 to 35 story mixed-use tower at 708 Sansom Street, with about 99 residential units, 50 parking spaces and roughly 1,495 square feet of retail. The submission, which includes design renderings and staff commentary, notes that the developer revised the podium and ground-floor materials to better fit with the character of Jewelers’ Row. Philadelphia Historical Commission records show the application was first submitted in March 2024 and include staff guidance on how the proposal lines up with a pending historic-district nomination.
How Pearl plans to treat the Seventh Street storefronts
Project documents say the narrow one-story buildings on Seventh Street have suffered long neglect, and the design team argues their rear walls must be removed to make room for an interior motor court. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that DAS Architects’ Morris Clarke wrote that the company intends "to restore both storefronts to their original form," while staff notes that the small buildings would serve as entrances to the high-rise’s motor court. Neither Pearl nor the project architect responded to requests for comment, the Inquirer adds.
The site’s modern chapter has been shaped by the fallout from Toll Brothers’ earlier plans and the demolition of several low-rise buildings on Jewelers’ Row in late 2019, which left a conspicuous gap in the historic streetscape and fueled preservation efforts and public scrutiny. Local coverage has tracked successive design iterations and community meetings as developers tried to reconcile a tall tower with the district’s low-rise fabric. 6abc and other outlets reported on those debates as Pearl unveiled its renderings.
What happens next
The Historical Commission’s Architectural Committee is scheduled to review the proposed Seventh Street alterations on July 28, with the full commission able to take up the design as soon as August, according to recent reporting and public filings. City staff files also flag a procedural wrinkle: because the Sansom parcel sits within a pending Jewelers’ Row historic-district nomination, the commission’s scope of review and a 90 day review clock under the preservation ordinance could affect the timing of any building permit. Philadelphia Historical Commission documents explain how that review standard would apply.
Pearl acquired the vacant Sansom lot from Toll Brothers in 2023, paying roughly $7.5 million, public reporting shows. The developer is also advancing a large Rittenhouse Square project and has said little publicly about timing for Jewelers’ Row, so neighbors and preservation groups will be watching the commission’s upcoming meetings for any sign of final approvals. If the commission signs off on the Seventh Street alterations, the move would clear a technical hurdle for the tower’s motor-court design but would not, on its own, start construction.
