Once dubbed the “monstrosity” of Chestnut Street, the Hale building is really shining these days. For nearly a year, the quirky, ornate building at Chestnut and Juniper Streets in Center City has been undergoing a major restoration with plans to turn it into a co-working space with a ground-floor restaurant.

The restoration process has been on full display for passersby, with the building looking different day by day. Perhaps most impressive is the reveal of the front’s facade, which had long been covered up by a non-original storefront for Valu-Plus. Now, the original facade has resurfaced, complete with a new, glassy entrance.

The Hale was designed and built in 1887 by Willis G. Hale, the same architect who would go on to design the Divine Lorraine on North Broad. It was originally used as office space, then spent some time as a theater and a Turkish bath house. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, though, it fell into decay with first-floor retail and the rest of the floors left vacant.

Developer Brickstone Realty then purchased the building and began redeveloping the property in early 2017.  In collaboration with JKRP Architects, ASL Stone supplied limestone and granite veneer for this historic building.