This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet: Apartment Complex Proposed At Former Archdiocese Property
A development company hopes to bring together old and new with its proposal for a site at 6635-6639 Chester Ave. in deep Southwest Philadelphia.
Haverford Square Properties wants to build 160 units on the property formerly owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is next to the historic Mount Moriah Cemetery.
While most of the units would be new construction, the developer aims to put 35 apartments inside the stone building that used to be the St. Divine Mercy School, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“There haven’t been any new apartment buildings in this area in a very long time,” Haverford Square President German Yakubov told the outlet. “It is a lot of homeowners, so there is not a lot of opportunity for apartment living, and we felt there is a market for that.”
Yakubov said he is excited about the prospect of saving the former school.
“It’s not [historically] protected, and it would have been a much easier development site if we got rid of it, but we wanted to keep it a part of the neighborhood,” he said.
SALES
Quaker Valley Foods sold its 241K SF cold storage warehouse at 271 Red Lion Road to Fundamental Income for $41M, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. The wholesale food distributor then leased back the entire 40-year-old building.
***
St. Luke's Health Center, a 40K SF outpatient facility in East Stroudsburg, sold to an unnamed buyer for almost $12.7M. Marcus & Millichap’s Alan Cafiero marketed the 125 Smithfield Lane property on behalf of the seller and procured the buyer.
Located in the 120-acre Smithfield Gateway mixed-use development, the property’s tenant has invested more than $3M in the build-out, and its lease has about 13.5 years remaining, with two five-year renewal options.
LEASES
Global infrastructure provider Cirro signed a nearly 518K SF lease at the Keystone Trade Center in Fairless Hills.
Landlord NorthPoint Development was represented by Colliers' Michael and Tom Golarz, who worked alongside Mark Chubb, Mike Zerbe and Summer Coulter of KBC Advisors. Cirro was represented by Michael Lee and Drew Maffey with Lee & Associates.
***
Connector and sensor manufacturer TE Connectivity signed a 50K SF lease in the office building at 680 E. Swedesford Road in Wayne, which is owned by Ensemble Investments. The landlord is in the middle of renovating the 102K SF property. That work is expected to wrap up before the end of the year.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Skanska wrapped up its $70M construction project at Lehigh University’s 157-year-old Clayton University Center. The restoration of the Bethlehem building’s facade and interior began in December 2022 and finished last month.
FINANCING
Philadelphia-based industrial outdoor storage player Alterra IOS closed $189M in financing from Blackstone Mortgage Trust. The funding backs 49 IOS sites across 22 states, totaling approximately 235 usable acres. Justin Horowitz of Cooper Horowitz worked with Alterra IOS Venture III to market and source the financing.
***
BankUnited Inc. provided a $27.1M loan that helped KPR Centers buy Eagle Plaza at 700 Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Voorhees for $41.7M. Carly Berfas and Anthony McCoy of BankUnited were responsible for the deal.
