Center City West Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Why it's listed
Four commercial buildings at the southern edge of Center City West in Philadelphia make up this boundary increase to the Center City West Commercial Historic District. The group includes two small late-19th-century buildings on South 15th Street, one of them a Victorian brick building dating to about 1895 with a bay window and denticulated cornice, and two Locust Street buildings. The most prominent is 1501-1503 Locust Street, an eight-story Classical Revival commercial building designed in 1922 by Philadelphia architect LeRoy Rothschild for the Heymann Brothers, local real estate brokers. It has a steel frame clad in red-brown brick, with terra cotta cornices and Ionic capitals. The nomination lists the group for its role in the commercial development of the area and for the range of styles it shows, from late Victorian to Classical Revival. Building 222 S. 15th Street was altered after the period of significance and is classed as non-contributing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the four buildings are in keeping with the commercial and architectural significance of the existing district, and that they fill a gap left when the original 1988 boundaries excluded them on the assumption they would join the Rittenhouse Historic District. It identifies 1501-1503 Locust Street as the building distinct enough to qualify under Criterion C, and the area as a whole as an example of the district's commercial development under Criterion A.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 09000388, listed June 1, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by the Center City West Historic District, S. 15th St., Locust St. and S. Sydenham St., Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | June 1, 2009 |
| Reference number | 09000388 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1830-1941 |
| Architect / builder | Rothschild, LeRoy Berman (architect of 1501-1503 Locust Street) |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Center City West Commercial Historic District |
| Coordinates | 39.95067, -75.16597 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 09000388.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.