Check out this article from today's Inquirer:

Heavyweight to go condo

By Henry J. Holcomb

Inquirer Staff Writer

Sam Switzenbaum quietly started work last week on turning a massive structure built during World War II to store Army tanks and heavy artillery into what he calls "a new concept in urban living."

Residents will drive up ramps and park close to their condos. It will be like pulling into the garage of a suburban home - no lugging groceries across parking lots and up elevators - Switzenbaum said on a recent tour. There will be a one-acre garden on the roof, with views of the Schuylkill, the Center City skyline, and University City.

The building, at 734 Schuylkill Ave., is a visible landmark from the Schuylkill Expressway, near South Street at the edge of Center City.

Switzenbaum's approach to the conversion is different from those taken with similar buildings. When Carl Dranoff converted two large factory buildings to apartments - the Left Bank in University City and Victor Lofts on the Camden waterfront - he carved a garden courtyard out of the center of each, creating more windows.

But Switzenbaum decided that would run up the cost of his South Bridge condos.

So he hired Robert Venturi of the Philadelphia architectural firm Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, of Philadelphia, to come up with a new concept.

Working with engineers specializing in parking garages, they decided to take advantage of floors strong enough to support heavy artillery, and create parking in the core area. Each condo will have its own storeroom, ranging from 150 to 200 square feet, adjacent to living space.

Switzenbaum bought the six-story, 760,000-square-foot building this year for $13 million from the Philadelphia School District, and joined the city's residential building boom.

With an abundance of former factories and office buildings vacant or underutilized, City Council passed a 10-year property-tax abatement in 1998 on conversions. It was later extended to new construction.

Since then, more than 8,200 units have been added, and 3,574 are under construction, according to the Center City District, a municipal-services and economic-development agency.

The red-brick building Switzenbaum bought had been used for vocational education and administrative offices. The last operations were moved out of the building during the summer to the new school administration building at 440 N. Broad St.

Switzenbaum won approval from the City Zoning Board of Adjustment last week to convert the building to residential, retail and commercial uses. He plans 215 residential units - some two-story townhouses on the roof - with high-tech amenities, a health club with indoor pool, and social rooms. There will be 375 parking spaces available for purchase by residents, and 6,000 square feet of street-level retail to serve residents of the building and the nearby Toll Bros. Naval Square housing development.

There will also be about 35,000 square feet available for back-office commercial space.

The building is within walking distance of major universities, hospitals, and the office towers of Center City. Switzenbaum said his units will be priced at about $400 a square foot, about half the price brokers say top condos fetch on Rittenhouse Square.

Switzenbaum, 65, is the veteran developer who put the Hilton Hotel atop a parking garage at 11th and Arch Streets next to the Convention Center. He has been involved with the ownership, management and development of more than 10,000 apartment units over the last two decades.

He has homes on the Chesapeake Bay, in Royal Oak, Md., and in Fitler Square, Center City.

Schuylkill Avenue, site of his new project, has a faded industrial feel today, but that will be softened by landscaping and the Toll Bros. development, Switzenbaum said.

The site is on the Schuylkill River Park, so residents will be able to "take a beautiful walk along the river to the Philadelphia Museum of Art," Switzenbaum said, or get on the bike trail that runs to Valley Forge.

Contact staff writer Henry J. Holcomb at 215-854-2614 or hholcomb@phillynews.com.

About $400 a foot, means > $400. Add $25k (at least) for parking. You can keep it, Ill go to Marine Club

But the Marine Club is not right on the water and the bike path.

Buts its right on the Broad St line...which has made it one of the most successful apt buildings in Philly for many many years

Well, considering its original purpose it might just be more than a little bit sturdy. Isn't it more cost-effective and green to recycle the original building materials in place?

There's no compelling reason to spend time, money and energy to demolish and truck away the debris. You'd then be spending a fortune on new concrete and steel, the costs of which has been going through the roof over the past couple years. You'd be spending boku bucks to replace the present building with one that would by force of economics be relatively flimsy comapared to its predecessor.

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“I am indeed well aware of the history of Conventional (sic) Hall, both globally and locally, and can assure you that we are carefully exploring avenues for its future.” -- Penn President Amy Gutmann 5 days before demolition began.

This place will be about 200 yard walk from the R1/R2/R3 University City station. In fact the station is just off the edge of the site plan over the South St Bridge.

I may sell my house and buy a condo there. ;-)

also, if you are a loft fan this is a cool place to live. (assuming that the units will have high ceilings and exposed elements)

Well...yes and no. It may be a short trip as the crow flies, but you have to walk up Schuylkill Ave. to 27th (?) and South, then back across the bridge to get there. Would take a bit of effort, and wouldn't be the most beautiful walk in the world.

Ultimately it'd be great to see pedestrian access from the newly expanded river path, so you could exit this building, walk a short distance up the path, go up some stairs to the bridge, and continue westward. That probably will happen eventually.

I'm with malloy. I'd rather be three minutes form the broad st subway than the R1/R2/R3 stops. the only useful one being the R1 to me unless I worked off the R2/R3.

still, demolishing this bld woudl be a huge undertaking as it was built so sturdy. While not particularly aesthetically pleasing on the inside, having your own parking spot and storage space is pretty cool. it's like having a condo with a garage and basement.

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I think the idea is cool as well as the involvement of V.S.B.... maybe this will take the pressure off the drive to build that monstrosity on Wash Sq Park (akak Dilworth)


BTW as a new BV homeonwer who has a garage - I do say that the conveience of going out and using the car is rather enticing - its the best of both worlds. Center City living with access via walking to almost everything and a car to do the run to Ikea etc if necessary.

The other day we did a 10min run to get Burmese.. yummy