Happy New Year! Please enjoy this week’s edition of Capstone Law’s Philadelphia Real Estate Trends:
- Bart Blatstein apparently is set to venture beyond his Northern Liberties base by acquiring the very large and long vacant parcel of land on the northeast corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue at the gateway of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. According to several sources, Blatstein intends to purchase this undeveloped land from Hudson Realty Capital LLC and construct a “retail hub”. In recent years, Cirque du Soleil will occasionally host performancesin the space, but more often than not it’s known as a mecca for drug and alcohol users. Here’s hoping that Blatstein can turn this property into productive use in 2014.
- Although Center City’s office market has been gaining steam lately, Sunoco Inc. recently announced plans to move its headquarters from the Mellon Bank Center at 1735 Market Street to a 200,000 square foot suburban location at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square. Sunoco intends to consolidate employees from various offices across the Philadelphia region into this new location, including the 120 employees currently working in Center City.
- A 75-unit townhouse community designed by architect JKR Partners won approval from Philadelphia’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to develop the last remaining large undeveloped parcel in Queens Village into a 75-unit townhouse community. JKR Partners will construct the townhouses on the vacant lot between Columbus Boulevard and Interstate 95. The project will extend the city’s street grid by connecting it directly with I-95. If you are looking for a home with a near-constant hum of motor vehicle traffic from nearby I-95, this is your place!
As always, please check-out Capstone’s website and the “Llenrock Local”, for the latest news from Philadelphia’s busy commercial real estate sector.
Until next time, have a great week!