Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Fill This Front: Aramark Tower

1101 Market Street Suite 125


               Though sometimes its hard to tell, One Reading Center aka the Aramark Tower has lots of leasable street level spaces besides the big one at the corner held down by that Santander Bank. They're kind of hard to see because all the ones that aren't Santander are accessed by a tiny little door with minimal frontage on the street. Most of them change hands quite frequently and have found themselves though all kinds of different uses. However, there is one of them that has been empty for 7.5 years.
          This little 1,099 square foot retail space is the only Aramark Tower retail spot besides the Santander one that faces Market Street at street level. It stands at the bottom of one of the building's rounded corners. What's unique about this space is that it also has a 1,220 square foot basement space attached that is not accessible to the public via the transit concourse. Its hard to tell all the uses this little space has had since the building opened in 1984 but its last use was as a cafe, and from what I can tell, is still configured as such.
The configuration of both the street level and underground spaces.

                 The street level space also has an entrance from the Aramark lobby that includes some large display windows. Due to the angle the outdoor entrance faces, this little front is visible all the way down the block (from the west). This would be a great spot for a small coffee place that's trying to be way more badass than the shitty Dunkin' Donuts in the Reading Terminal Lobby down the block. This would be a great spot for one of our home-grown coffee companies to set up. La Colombe? Passero's? Green Street? There's like a million others. They all have small spaces like this found in office building lobbies or corners where you wouldn't expect them. How about a Federal Donuts? They'll open everywhere the fuck else but are afraid of Market East. If they were as badass as they say they are, this is the kind of place they would open.

Lobby entrance with display windows
              This location has a lot going for it,in case you're a dumbass and you didn't know. Not only is it right next to Jefferson Station and the Convention Center, you've got two gigantic hotels and a few smaller ones in a two block radius. You have countless bus lines on the same street and a subway spot directly underneath. On top of all that shit, there's a giant mixed-use development in progress across the street.
               What the fuck are you waiting for? Bring this little corner of the Aramark Tower back to life for the first time in the teens. Bring your badass coffee shop here and tell the others how much they can fuck off. Take advantage of all the new shit that's about to take place across the street. The space is managed by Precision Realty Group, here's the listing, which offers other spaces in the Aramark Tower as well. FILL THIS FUCKING FRONT!!

Across the street in a few years.

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