PHILADELPHIA — A building along an ever burgeoning Chestnut Street in Center City has traded hands and will likely remain an office building for now.
The 15-story, 90,000-square-foot structure at 1201 Chestnut St. was sold for $8.6 million by a private Bala Cynwyd partnership to a Center City-based partnership going under the name of the address. The building was constructed in the 1920s and is roughly 90 percent occupied. Mazzoni Center, a health center serving the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, serves as its largest tenant occupying three floors.
The building had been up for sale not too long ago only to have the owner decide to pull it off the market, said Josh Nadel, of Mallin Panchelli Nadel, who arranged the sale with A Margolis Realty Co, another Center City brokerage. It ended up selling off the market anyway.
The new owner has ideas for the building, Nadel said. The first, and likely, option is the keep it as an office building and upgrade it, he said. Like many other Class B Center City buildings, it’s a candidate for a conversion into apartments.
Regardless, that area along Chestnut Street is gaining momentum. Girard Square, a developable site bordered by Chestnut and Market Street is under lease and plans are being drawn up. Nearby, the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Thomas Jefferson University are expanding while Tony Goldman, a New York developer, has energized that area.
“Without going a block radius, there’s a lot going on,” Nadel said.
The fine print
Devine and Powers Communications Group leased 4,250 square feet at 10 Penn Center, Philadelphia. Grubb & Ellis represented the landlord while Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant … Storage Facilities bought 604 Lincoln Highway, a 46,000-square-foot former grocery outlet in Fairless Hills, for $2.1 million. Benenson Capital Partners, a New York private real estate operating company, was the seller. The buyer plans to redevelop the building, which has been vacant for 10 years, into a storage facility. CB Richard Ellis arranged the sale.
Natalie Kostelni, Reporter
Philadelphia Business Journal
