This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
This week, Bisnow launches the Philadelphia Deal Sheet, a weekly compilation of the area’s biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email matt.rothstein@bisnow.com.
A 14K SF building at 230 Arch St. in Old City has sold to Atrium Design Group principal Shimi Zakin for $3.85M.
The building is commonly known as the Painted Bride, the same name as the organization that sold the property. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the deal took years to close due to multiple legal battles over the 7K SF mosaic from locally renowned artist Isaiah Zagar, which was granted protected status by the Philadelphia Orphan's Court.
Atrium's initial plan for the site called for 16 for-sale townhomes, which was permitted by the city's zoning code for the Old City lot. To defray the cost of preserving the mural and integrating it into new construction, Zakin plans to undertake a seven-story overbuild including 64 rental apartments and 10 short-term rental units.
Zakin already received a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the multifamily redevelopment plan, but a neighbor has appealed that decision, which Zakin warned could cause a reversion to the less popular townhome plan.
LEASES
German grocery chain Aldi has signed a lease for a pad site within the Quartermaster, a redevelopment of a former military-industrial property in Southwest Philadelphia. Construction of a 22K SF store will launch immediately, with an aggressive timeline projecting the store to be open before the end of the year. A Colliers team of Ina Sargen and Elizabeth Morrow represented owner/developer SkyREM in the transaction, while Jason Bock and Scott Weiss of MSC Retail represented Aldi.
***
Insurance giant Cigna has signed a lease for a 3.7K SF office at 161 Washington St., formerly known as Eight Tower Bridge, in Conshohocken, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. American Real Estate Partners, which bought the building from Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. in 2018 before rebranding it, was represented by Ina Sargen of Colliers in lease negotiations, while Cigna was represented by a CBRE team of James Kelley, Scott Miller, Katie Wenger and Jordan Adams.
SALES
Prudential Insurance Co. has agreed to sell its 90-acre corporate campus in Upper Dublin to BET Investments, which owns multiple adjacent mixed-use properties, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. The parcel contains three interconnected office buildings totaling 861K SF, still occupied by Prudential, as well as a Tier 3 data center. Prudential has yet to formalize plans to vacate the offices once the transaction closes.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
The University of Pennsylvania has partnered with Greystar to redevelop the student residence hall at 3600 Chestnut St., originally built in 1970 to house graduate students. Scheduled for completion in time for the 2023-24 academic year, the project will contain 573 beds across 488 units and a new 12K SF amenity space. The commercial portion, which includes the Philadelphia Institute for Contemporary Art, will remain open during construction.
***
NYCE, a digital platform that uses crowdfunding to build community ownership of commercial real estate, broke ground on the second phase of a tech-focused co-living development in North Philadelphia it has dubbed Philicon Valley. When all three phases are complete, the project will contain 105 units that offer tech entrepreneur-oriented perks to its tenants. The project is jointly owned by 5,000 people of color who invested in CRE for the first time.
