The embattled building at 46th and Market streets finally has a path forward.
The city of Philadelphia has selected local developer Iron Stone Real Estate Partners to redevelop the 325K SF building, vacant for decades, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Iron Stone will partner with Public Health Management Corp. to convert the complex into offices, mainly of the medical kind. PHMC will also occupy a sizable portion of the project.
The 92-year-old neoclassical building long occupied by Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. was once set to be the future headquarters for the Philadelphia Police Department before the city changed course and tabbed the former Inquirer headquarters in Center City for that purpose. Bart Blatstein will be leading that $280M redevelopment.
Iron Stone's conversion is estimated to cost $80M, but it has not disclosed the price it paid the city for the building and the land on which it sits. The city paid a combined $52M to purchase and begin renovating the building itself, the Inquirer reports.
PHMC is planning on using its space for medical, dental, vision and mental health offices. For the remaining space, PHMC and Iron Stone are reportedly in talks with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and coworking upstart Kismet to fill some of the remaining space.
As for the area around the building, Iron Stone is reportedly planning to build an indoor/outdoor dining and recreation space resembling the Porch structure outside 30th Street Station. Along with the possibility of further office buildings on the grounds, it represents an opportunity to activate the area surrounding the 46th Street SEPTA stop.
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