Melting Pot to close this summer
The fondue specialist is looking for a new location, said a spokeswoman.
The Melting Pot's Center City location will bow out of its 10-year home at 1219 Filbert St., the parent company has confirmed.
It's business as usual now for the fondue specialist. No closing date has been announced, but it is believed to be this summer, per a real estate flyer from MSC Retail making the rounds.
I've heard that the space will be available in July - meaning that any prospective tenant hoping to cash in on the papal visit in late September would have to get cracking on a lease and build-out to capture business from the crowds.
The Melting Pot opened in 2005. The prime location is among a strip of stores (including a Chili's and Maggiano's) beneath a parking garage across the street from the Convention Center Marriott and a half-block from the Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market.
A Melting Pot spokeswoman told me that the restaurant will be relocated and that a search for a new spot was in the early stages. There are other franchised Melting Pots in King of Prussia, Warrington, and Atlantic City.
Landlord is asking for about $42 a square foot, or $16,000 a month, triple net, which suggests that a restaurant would need to gross at least $3.25 million a year to justify the rent.