I think a boutique hotel and condos at this corner would be great for the city. A nice lobby with bar/restaurant and open windows to a view of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell would be a memorable experience for anyone. Especially compared to what is there now. It doesn't look like there is the slightest effort made to enhance it's exterior appearance. Crumbling planters, ugly food carts, dingy street level windows - at an important corner of the city like this? Gateway from Historic Philly to Old City?

I highly doubts that projects like this are met with anywhere near the resistance that similar projects in NYC, LA or Chicago are met with, despite those cities having millions more people. $1 stores, check-cashing stores and discount clothing stores pop up overnight in this town with nary a peep, but God forbid a boutique hotel. Let's all get together and shut it down, even though none of us lives within 5 blocks of it. What the hell?

sounds like a good idea to me. boutique hotel? they already demolished the neighbrohood to mimic the mall in DC why prevent rebuilding some of it? great for tourism.

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For those that are familiar, I'd love to see a hotel like NYC's The Hudson in the Old City/INHP area. It's by Ian Schrager and Philippe Starck. It's a hotel in the vein of Stephen Starr's restaurants, especially Pod and Morimoto. Except I'd like one with a more inviting streetfront. As Paris would say, it's hot. No reason we couldn't have something similar. Maybe not for a family friendly corner like 5th and Chestnut, but, maybe where the red-white-blue discount store or it's opposite corner counterpart are. (Does anyone love those buildings?) And with that, I've gone off-topic.
http://www.hudsonhotel.com

5 blocks? I live two blocks away from the Lafayette Bldg.

There are five hotels in the Old City area already. I'm curious as to how the developer determined that he would make significant money on another hotel. Are the rates going to be cheaper than the other hotels? Maybe he has something in mind like a Kimpton hotel, which would be cool, except those types of hotels aren't really geared toward the tourist families.

BC, I still don't think you've actually ever been to 5th and Chestnut.

I'm confused...why would the developer try to push this project through if he hadn't determined it to be cost effective? Just to be a pain in the butt?

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[quote=bluecuracao]5 blocks? I live two blocks away from the Lafayette Bldg.

QUOTE]

That's cool. But I'm sure most of the people petitioning this will live far enough away where they won't even be effected by it. For the most part, Chestnut Street is not a residential neighborhood. And for anyone who lives 2 blocks or so from the Lafayette, I would think should be more concerned about the South Street-ification of Old City rather than a dirty old office building turned upscale hotel.

That happens all the time. How many times have you seen buildings proposed, approvals obtained, and then nothing happens because they can't pull together the funds?

Getting an important approval is just a step to that needs to be taken before you waste resources on the next stage of due diligence.

i dont necessarily see this as a tourist hotel, just because of its location. given that it's going to have condos as well as a boutique hotel, i can picture this as just a very nice hotel, in a very nice location--suited to everyone, especially businesspeople in town who want to stay in someplace fresh..

in my mind it would be similar to some of the boutique hotels in SoHo, where businesspeople who dont feel like staying in the grind of midtown can enjoy a cool stay in a fun location. a lot of these hotels offer longstay options for people in town for several weeks, etc.

it's very late in london, and this post is a bit incoherent...

Regarding how many times have we seen---
Well, in the 1990s we didn't see much, but a few...and there was no real supply of funds in US Real estate, especially for Philadelphia. Why would there have been---everyone could be come a billionaire with dot.bomb stock and two weeks of REALLY hard work! Recently I haven't seen ANY proposals sink because they can't/couldn't get the funding---BUT lots of "in the know" experts are predicting such a future as now (the same ones who predicted 17 of the last 2 recessions).
I'd be interested in seeing the list of projects that can't get funding known today. (residential real estate, and not due to developer fraud).

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So much for everyone's fears of an addition:

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Last updated: July 14, 2006 11:20am
Historic Office Properties Go to MarketBy Marita Thomas


Lafayette Building
PHILADELPHIA-The New York City-based Northern Group Inc. has retained Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to market the Lafayette Building and the Architects Building. Both office buildings are unpriced, free and clear of debt and in locations where zoning would permit hotel, residential and/or mixed-use conversions.
The 11-story, 180,000-sf Lafayette Building at 433-437 Chestnut Street was built in 1907. It is located across from the Liberty Bell at Independence Mall and has park area on two sides. The property is expandable by adding stories aggregating approximately 57,000 sf on top of the existing structure.
The 24-story, 152,000-sf Architects Building at 117 S. 17th Street was built in 1931 and is the current headquarters of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects. An AIA store occupies the ground floor. “The location, one block from Rittenhouse Square, ideally positions it for a condominium or luxury hotel conversion,” says Joseph Morningstar, senior managing director in the New York office of HFF.
He and Andrew Scandalios, managing director in the same office, are heading the investment sales team. Citing a confidentiality agreement, both men declined to disclose any further details about the properties.
On condition of anonymity, a broker familiar with the buildings says that while both are nearly fully occupied, “tenants are on short-term leases. Both are definitely candidates for conversion,” he adds, “so the pending vacancies and Center City’s robust condo and hotel markets make this a very opportune time for Northern to put them on the market.” He declined to speculate on the price they might command. According to public records, the Lafayette Building was acquired in March 2000 for $7.3 million, and the Architects Building was acquired in February 1998 for $3.3 million.