PhillyDeals: Dranoff says plans near on Broad St. project

Developer Carl Dranoff says he is a few weeks away from being able to confirm details of the "game-changing project" he imagines for South Broad Street across from the Kimmel Center.

Dranoff says he has met with city planners. He has a review scheduled with the zoning-watchers at the Washington Square West civic association, where he'll unwrap more details, this month. He has talked to lenders.

If all goes well, he plans to present the proposal publicly sometime after Dec. 8.

The Philadelphia Business Journal and the website Hidden City Philadelphia have posted purported details of the tower, citing unnamed sources. Hidden City reported that the tower would be 40 stories and include a hotel and apartments, making it the tallest building on South Broad Street. Dranoff would not confirm those details.

The builder said there was no historical restriction on knocking down the former Philadelphia International Records offices on the site, which has been damaged and empty since a 2010 fire, or a second low-rise across the narrow Cypress Street, currently braced to keep it from collapsing.

Meanwhile, Dranoff is moving forward on plans for One Ardmore Place - 121 apartments and three levels of parking - that recently won approval from the Lower Merion commissioners, as part of their suburban-retail-renewal project.

Dranoff's Military Park proposal for Newark, N.J., has been awarded $33 million in state Economic Development Association Urban Hub tax credits.

His proposed high-rise west of Fitler Square and south of his earlier factory-loft conversions faces an appeal by residents. He is also still selling condos at Ten Rittenhouse, where investors include Comcast chief executive Brian L. Roberts, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.