| Hotel Pennsylvania | |||||||||
| Coordinates: | 39.955°N -75.2006°W | ||||||||
| Location: | 3900 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19104 | ||||||||
| Built: | 1922 | ||||||||
| Architect: | Clarence Edmond Wunder | ||||||||
| Architecture: | Renaissance Revival | ||||||||
| Governing Body: | AIMCO
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Chestnut Hall, formerly known as Hotel Pennsylvania, was designed by Clarence E. Wunder, and built in 1922.[2] Wunder is also responsible for designing Bonwit Teller at 1700 Walnut St (in 1927) and the Neuweiler Brewery (in 1913).[3] The 10-story building's architectural style is Renaissance revival. The building consists of a steel structure, a cement and brick facade, and an entablature with accompanying cornice along the top. Once built, the building served as the Hotel Pennsylvania. In the 1940s it became known as the Hotel Philadelphian.[4] It was sold to Sheraton Hotels in December 1946,[5] and was renamed the Penn-Sheraton Hotel. Sheraton sold the hotel to Hertfield Hotels in October 1953,[6] and they renamed the Penn-Sheraton very slightly,[7] changing it to the Penn Sherwood Hotel.[2] In 1962, the hotel rejoined Sheraton as a franchise, operating as the Sheraton Motor Inn until 1966. In June 2006 Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco) bought a majority stake of the property.
Today, Chestnut Hall is located in University City in the heart of Philadelphia – next to the Wharton School of Business and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Nearly 90% of Chestnut Hall's 315 apartment homes are occupied by students (who attend the nearby Drexel University or University of Pennsylvania). Young professionals and school administrators occupy the remaining 10%.
In addition to the residential apartment homes at Chestnut Hall, there are also five commercial spaces, totaling 38385square feet of retail space - three of which are currently occupied by the University of Pennsylvania Treatment Research Center, the University of Pennsylvania Federal Credit Union, and Drinkers West .