Post Brothers Moves Another Blatstein Project Forward, This Time At South Broad And Washington
Post Brothers is once again growing its considerable development pipeline by taking over a project started by Bart Blatstein.
An affiliate of Blatstein's company, Tower Investments, transferred the title for the block-long property at the corner of South Broad Street and Washington Avenue to an affiliate of Post Brothers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Post Brothers and Blatstein are 50-50 owners of the site, with Post Brothers taking on the responsibility of arranging for construction financing and leading the development in exchange for its equity share, rather than any cash payment.
The site, which spans more than four acres, has already begun construction work under the new ownership structure after languishing for nearly a decade, the Inquirer reports. For years, the site was tied up in litigation between the property's former owner and Blatstein, but since the latter finally closed on the acquisition in 2017, no activity had taken place until he released a revamped design in 2020.
Post Brothers is using Blatstein's recent design, which calls for several towers between nine and 13 stories on top of a retail platform that includes a Giant supermarket and underground parking, the Inquirer reports. Projected to cost $305M, the complex is slated to deliver 1,487 apartments upon completion, currently expected to take about two years.
A similar deal has been struck between Post and Blatstein for the parcel immediately to the east, at 1225-46 Washington Ave., where permits were pulled for an 11-story building with 375 apartments, the Inquirer reports. City records indicate that Post obtained a $52M mortgage from New York-based Terra Property Trust for the two lots.
Post is already well into construction of another project it took over from Blatstein in Northern Liberties, the neighborhood he guided to its current status as a highly desired, high-priced residential neighborhood. Piazza Terminal was to be Blatstein's swan song in NoLibs, but he sold his stake in the property to Post in 2019 before any work had taken place on what was then an empty lot. Like the Broad and Washington project, Piazza Terminal is made up of several mid-rise apartment towers above ground-floor retail and close proximity to a subway line.
Blatstein has been far from idle, however. After purchasing the former Showboat Casino in Atlantic City in 2016, he redeveloped it into a non-gambling hotel. On Wednesday, he broke ground on a $100M water park next door to the Showboat building, the Associated Press reports.
Neither Blatstein nor Post Brothers President Matt Pestronk responded to requests for comment.
