Philly factory site eyed by Trump in failed casino bid to be auctioned

The former manufacturing complex in the city's Nicetown-Tioga section where Donald Trump wanted to build a Philadelphia casino is set to go to auction.

Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co. plans to take bids on Oct. 4 for the properties that make up the 25 remaining unredeveloped acres of the Budd Co. plant clustered north of West Hunting Park Avenue, between Wissahickon Avenue and Fox Street, the auctioneer said in a release Thursday.

The properties are owned by an affiliate of Norristown-based automobile dealer Dean T. Cafiero's Car Vision Inc., according to records filed with the city.

Workers at the Budd Co. complex, constructed between 1917 and 1988, manufactured heavy industrial products including auto parts, airplane bodies and rail cars.

A few years after the plant closed in 2003, an investment group involving Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. proposed a $350 million casino, called TrumpStreet, on a section of the complex, but the project failed to win a state gaming license.

A section of the former plant property has since been redeveloped into the Salvation Army's Kroc Center, which serves the surrounding area with fitness classes and other community programming. Another building at the site serves as the headquarters for the Temple University Health System.

The remainder of the site, which is going to auction in October, has been divided into five parcels. Potential buyers can bid on any one of the sections or bundle multiple parcels into a package bid, Max Spann said in the release.

The parcel sizes range from less than an acre to more than 10 acres, the auctioneer said. The buildings on the parcels range from 5,600 square feet to 681,480 square feet.