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Arts & Crafts Holdings continues to increase its footprint and influence on the Spring Arts area of Philadelphia.
The owner of several office and mixed-use buildings between Spring Garden and Callowhill streets east of Broad Street, Arts & Crafts has purchased the multifamily building at 1217 Spring Garden St. for $15.7M. Phil Sharrow and Jon Massaro of Marcus & Millichap represented both Arts & Crafts and the seller — Juniata Design Inc., according to property records — in the transaction.
The five-story, 74-unit building totals 85K SF, with 15K SF of retail spaces on the ground floor split into two spaces that are currently occupied by healthcare uses, though one occupant is vacating in the summer. It is the second multifamily building Arts & Crafts has purchased in the area, after the 30-unit 1027 Ridge Ave.
Though he maintains that Arts & Crafts has no plans to develop multifamily buildings ground-up or convert office buildings to multifamily in the area of Callowhill dubbed Spring Arts, General Partner Craig Grossman told Bisnow, "Any asset that’s located in this district is always on our radar screen."
Built around 1904 as a machine factory called Bilgram Works, 1217 Spring Garden was converted into apartments in 2003, although its exterior is still of a piece with many of the boxy former industrial buildings in the area.
“A lot of these older, former industrial buildings typically have more intrigue on the inside than on the outside," Grossman said. "They’re often fairly flat on the outside, so bringing some dimension to these buildings is important. So maybe we’ll put a marquee on the entrance of the building, maybe some planters around for a green component and some facade lighting to give it some pop at night.”
Grossman also plans to add a neon address sign like he has with most of Arts & Crafts' office buildings in the area, to indicate that they are all part of the same revival. At this early stage, Grossman has not yet made concrete plans to replace the departing retail tenant.
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