Tower Investments Inc. took a step closer this morning to converting the State Office Building at Broad and Spring Garden streets into an apartment building with first-floor retail shops. City Council's Committee on Rules gave the OK for a zoning change that is expected to also get the nod next week from the City Planning Commission.
Developer Bart Blatstein told the committee the area, with the Philadelphia School District just to the south and the Community College of Philadelphia just to the west, is hurting for shopping areas. "They is very, very little retail," he said. "North Philadelphia needs a huge amount of retail to service the community."
One thing the area isn't lacking is parking. The building already has 127 underground spaces, a parking lot across the street and is served by a very busy Broad Street subway station. Blatstein said car-sharing programs are also creating less need for parking.
Tower placed the winning bid in January, $25.2 million, to take over the 19-story building. Blatstein said the conversion plan will take about 18 months from when the state finishes moving out. He also plans to build another tower on the property closer to North 15th Street within five years. The existing building will have about 290 apartments while the new building will have about 185 apartments. Blatstein said an 800-square-foot apartment will rent for $1,200.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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