Could something new be coming to the former Pearl Art and Crafts space on South Street?

Most recently the Pearl Art & Craft building at 417 South St. was transformed into a huge dance and fitness facility from Millenium Dance Company.

Since the dance company left the facility after less than a year there, the site has been left vacant yet again. So what does the future hold for this massive, 27,269 sq. ft. building on South Street?

More from Naked Philly:

So what gives with this building? Of late, we’ve seen this stretch of South Street experience a resurgence of sorts, as many vacant storefronts have filled in (with some still empty, we’ll admit). One would think that a large space like this would have an inside track on drawing a credit tenant, but it’s been a bit of a slog to date. But there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. A Loopnet posting from a few months ago shows the building was listed for sale for just under $5M. That same posting shows that the property is under agreement. Also, we seem to remember seeing signs in the windows about a month ago advertising the space but we saw no such thing when we passed by yesterday.

So maybe this building is changing hands and the new owners have a sweet new plan for the place. We’re largely indifferent about what store that fills the space, we’re just hoping that whatever happens the existing Pearl sign is preserved in some way. It’s an amazing throwback and a relevant piece of the retail past of this commercial corridor. Has anyone out there heard anything about the new owners for this property? Is there a concept that would be especially exciting for neighbors?