What was once a Children's Place is now a vacant commercial property in Chestnut Hill. The property was given a tour on YouTube and features photos from its former retail glory. For more on the vacancy, see our Fill the Hill feature on the property from a few months back here: Fill the Hill: Vacancy at 8512 Germantown Ave.

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8042 Germantown Avenue Description: Sitting at the corner of Germantown and Abington avenues, the former restaurant has big windows and a rounded balcony above the entrance. Size: 4300 square feet Zoning: C2 (restaurant or retail) History: For 21 years, the space was home to Under the Blue Moon, which sold in 1997, and has been vacant since. (See an article in The Inquirer on the restaurant's closing here.) The Challenge: Eileen Reilly, former retail recruiter for Chestnut Hill, said that the space "looks finished …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8135 Germantown Avenue Description: A small storefront, close to the corner of Hartwell Lane. Size: 600 square feet Zoning: C1 (Retail or office space) History: The space is formerly the home of As Good As It Gets, which recently moved down the hill. The Challenge: The space is very small at 600 square feet, and Eileen Reilly, Retail Recruiter for Chestnut Hill, said it could be "freshened up", but she sees it as a perfect retail space along the Avenue. Interest: There has been some interest in the space, as Reilly …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8232 Germantown Avenue Description: A small storefront, which could also be used as an office space, that is nearly finished with construction. Size: 600 square feet Zoning: C1 (Retail or office space) History: The space, next to Hipster Home, has been under construction for a while, but the vacancy has been showing to interested tenants. The Challenge: The space is very small at 600 square feet, but Eileen Reilly, retail recruiter for Chestnut Hill, said that it would be a great space for an office for some sort of …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 6 E. Hartwell Lane Description: A hidden space, formerly a tea bar, with an outdoor area included. Size: 1,636 square feet Zoning: C2 (Retail or restaurant) History: The space once served tea and small eats like sandwiches. There is no kitchen inside the main space, but there is a small kitchen behind the main shop. The Challenge: This vacancy is one of the few in Chestnut Hill that is not directly on Germantown Avenue. Even though it is only a few steps away from the avenue, its location does not give it an …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8229 Germantown Avenue (at the corner of Southampton Avenue) Description: This building is a two-story corner location next to the Chestnut Hill Hotel. Size: 4,700 square feet total/ 1,700 downstairs and 3,000 upstairs Zoning: C2 (Retail or restaurant) History: According to Eileen Reilly, Chestnut Hill's retail reruiter, the building has been vacant for about four years, since The Melting Pot closed up shop. The Challenge: This property has a very unique obstacle: Although the space is designed as a restaurant, since…

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8400 Germantown Avenue (Subsection 1) Description: Part of the four-part building, this vacancy is located on the corner of Gravers Lane, next to Iron Hill Brewery. Size: 3600 square feet Zoning: C2 (Retail or restaurant) History: The space used to be Talbots, and has been vacant for five or six months, according to Eilleen Reilly, retail recruiter for Chestnut Hill. The Challenge: At 3,600 square feet, the vacancy is smaller than the Express vacancy two doors down, but because it is a corner storefront, the rent is …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8400 Germantown Avenue (Subsection 2B) Description: Part of the four-part building, this vacancy is located between Iron Hill Brewery and Jos. A. Bank. Size: 5000 square feet Zoning: C2 (Retail or restaurant) History: Express left this space about three years ago, and the storefront has been vacant since. Before that, Express leased the section for 10 years. The Challenge: The space is 5,000 square feet, which is too big for most independent businesses. Although it is zoned to allow food, there is no kitchen, and the…

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8506 Germantown Avenue Description: A well-maintained space, with a dark green exterior and wooden and glass doors, next to the former Childrens' Place that was featured last week on Fill the Hill. Size: 4500 square feet Zoning: C1 (commercial, mostly retail) History: Mellon Bank once filled the space, but has been gone for two years. Since then, the space has been vacant. The bank has been paying the lease, which is up this spring. Mellon has been trying to find a sublet for the space, but it is not officially …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8512 Germantown Avenue Description: The former Children's Place spot, the green awnings from the store still mark the windows of a vacant storefront. Size: 5000 square feet Zoning: C1 (commercial, most likely retail) History: The space is owned by an out-of-town owner. After The Children's Place left in 2011, the storefront has been vacant for a little over a year. The owner has a broker working to fill the space on top of Reilly's efforts. The Challenge: At 5,000 square feet, and a prime location in the business …

Tell us in comments what you would like to see go into this vacancy. Vacant: 8515 Germantown Avenue, below the Starbucks Description: A green door next to the left of Starbucks leads downstairs to what Eileen Reilly, Chestnut Hill's Retail Recruiter, calls 'the speakeasy space'. Size: 2275 square feet Zoning: C2 (commercial, with option for restaurant) History: When the restaurant Depot vacated the space that is currently Starbucks, it also left behind a unique basement space. While the coffee shop quickly filled the storefront vacancy, for nearly 20 years, the basement space has been vacant…

The lower end of Chestnut Hill is a challenge for Retail Recruiter Eileen Reilly. While storefronts along Germantown Avenue above Southampton Avenue are coveted among independent retailers, the lower Hill is not as popular. Part of the problem, Reilly said, is that there is not as much of an attraction to walk around there. “The Lower Hill is destination shopping. When people go down there, it is for the purpose of visiting a particular store. We want to get them to neighboring stores, what will keep someone there, meandering a couple of blocks further,” Reilly said. The pedestrian nature of …

‘Vacant’ is almost a dirty word in Chestnut Hill. New restaurants like Iron Hill Brewery and retail shops like Indigo Schuy have come to Germantown Avenue in the last six months, but what goes into placing businesses in these open storefronts? Eileen Reilly, retail recruiter for the Chestnut Hill Business Association, puts in the hours to get new businesses on the Hill. “More often, the ideal candidate already has a store and they are ready to open a second store. If they are opening a second store, they are healthy,” Reilly said. “That’s a hard thing to do—find those independents who have an…