Historic Broad Street Diner Faces Demolition to Make Way for Hyatt Hotel
The historic Broad Street Diner, at 1135-1143 on South Broad Street in South Philadelphia, is slated for demolition to make way for a proposed 110-key Hyatt Studios hotel, pending approval. The new hotel would rise five stories tall and would require the demolition of the diner and an adjacent six-unit apartment building.
Previous plans for the site included a residential building. Those plans were altered to accommodate the current proposal for the hotel, which would require a zoning variance to move the plan forward.
Residents of the South Philadelphia neighborhood have expressed concerns about the hotel. They’ve voiced concerns over the “low-end” status of the proposed hotel and its potential impact on the neighborhood.
City council member Mark Squilla’s district includes the Broad Street Diner location. He sees the hotel’s construction at the location, next to the Ellsworth stop on the Broad Street Line, would positively impact the activity and safety of the neighborhood.
Local leaders, such as Peter Zutter from the South Broad Street Neighborhood Association, acknowledged that while the area lacks hotel space, “I don’t know that this is the kind of hotel space that we really would need or want,” he said in comments to WHYY Public Radio.
The Broad Street Diner first opened at the corner of Ellsworth and South Broad Streets in 1964. The diner closed in 2007 and underwent renovations before it reopened in 2011 under the establishment’s current owners, MR Realty Associates. Hyatt Studios, which launched in 2023, offers king and queen studio suites with amenities such as a fitness studio, kitchens, and a grab-and-go breakfast bar.
The Broad Street Diner will not be replaced by a new diner after the building is demolished. Demolition would occur in 2025 once the new Melrose Diner, which was leveled in September 2023, opens at the site of The Melrose, a 65-unit apartment building featuring two commercial spaces in South Philadelphia.