E A S E M E N T S
After eight years of negotiations, the Preservation
Alliance and the owners of the Bellevue (200 South
Broad Street, Philadelphia) concluded the year 2007
by successfully completing a preservation easement which
will protect the landmark structure in perpetuity. In addition
to the exterior, the easement is notable in that it also protects
many of the publicly accessible interior spaces.
The Bellevue Stratford opened in 1904 and quickly
became Philadelphia’s leading hotel. It was designed in the
French Renaissance style by architects G.W. and W.D.
Hewitt, but it also contains elements of the Colonial,
Italian and Greek styles in interior spaces. The building
underwent major renovations in 1980 and 1989 and today
is a successful mix consisting of the Park Hyatt hotel, highend
specialty shops, offices, restaurants, banquet facilities,
and a busy food court.
(On May 1, the Ballroom at the Bellevue will be the site
of the Preservation Alliance’s Fifteenth-Annual Preservation
Achievement Awards Luncheon.)
By donating the easement the owners, Bellevue
Associates, can benefit from a charitable-gift tax deduction.
All tax-deductible easement donations require that the
exterior of a building be protected, but in the case of the
Bellevue the owners wished to additionally protect significant
historic interior spaces including the main and hotel
lobbies, the ballroom and its lobby and grand staircase,
and, on the nineteenth floor, the magnificent Barrymore and
Founders dining rooms and the Rose Garden Room
(which was originally an open-air rooftop garden). All
these spaces are accessible to the public.
With the addition of the Bellevue, much of the commercial
architecture along South Broad Street in Center
City is protected by easements including the Land Title
Building, 1401 Walnut (originally the Manufacturers’
Club), the Atlantic Building, and 215 S. Broad (originally
the Hotel Walter).
At the end of last year, property owners also donated
preservation easements to the Alliance on three other historic
properties: Quarters M-7 in the Navy Yard, 1215
Locust Street, and 929 Clinton Street.
Part of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Historic District,
Quarters M-7 was built in 1917 to house Marine officers. It
was designed by the prominent Philadelphia firm of Rankin,
Kellogg and Crane in the Georgian Revival style.The building
is currently being converted to offices by P & A Associates,
which has previously developed other historic buildings in the
revitalized Navy Yard.
1215 Locust Street was originally designed as a semidetached
dwelling by noted architect Frank Miles Day. It was
later converted to a hotel, then restored as a single dwelling
in 1974 by the University of Pennsylvania, and recently converted
to distinctive condominium units by architects (and
developers) David and Ligia Slovic. The notable Renaissance
Revival-styled façade features orange Roman brickwork,
marble panels, terra-cotta bas-relief ornamentation, leadedglass
windows, and a deeply overhanging wooden cornice.
Also recently converted to condominium units is 929
Clinton Street, which, like many of its neighbors, is a wellpreserved
Georgian/Federal brick townhouse in the Clinton
Street National Register Historic District. Two blocks of
Clinton Street were originally developed in 1835-1850 as a
fashionable residential area, and the quiet, street-lined
neighborhood remains such today. Including 929 Clinton
Street, six properties in this historic district are protected by
Alliance preservation easements.
(For more information on how to donate preservation
easement to the Alliance go to the “Programs” page at
www.preservationalliance.com or contact Randy Cotton
at 215.546.1146 x 2 for a free easement booklet.)

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