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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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