Posted Sep 12, 2023, 4:19 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Philadelphia
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EQT Exeter's new 327-unit apartment building sign of West Philadelphia development push
Quote:
As a way to launch a fundraising campaign, West Catholic Preparatory High School sold its parking lot at 4519 Chestnut St. in 2021. The school chose to sell to Radnor-based EQT Exeter, a real estate firm with a history of working with churches and nonprofits to develop on land previously owned by those groups.
Two years later, EQT Exeter has opened The Clark, a six-story, 327-apartment building on the northeast corner of 46th and Chestnut streets. The first residents moved in during the last week of July and the building is now about 25% leased. The land and the development combined to cost $80 million.
The Clark, spanning 239,000 square feet, serves as another example of University City’s development boom spilling into other neighborhoods and moving farther west.
“The parking lots were, I would say, underdeveloped as University City continues to expand and West Philadelphia continues to be a more and more desirable place to live,” EQT Exeter Regional Investment Officer Gianni Parente said.
EQT Exeter was under contract to buy the land in March 2021 and closed the sale with a building permit the following December. EQT Exeter secured the full 10-year tax abatement before it was scaled back at the start of 2022. The site is also in a federal Qualified Opportunity Zone, meaning the project benefited from additional tax breaks.
In between the Spruce Hill and Walnut Hill neighborhoods, the site is part of an area of West Philadelphia that is experiencing more large-scale development on the heels of continued growth at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Boston-based Quaker Lane Capital is proposing a 12-story, 350-unit building at 4011-19 Market St. At 46th and Market, Iron Stone Real Estate Partners plans to build 1,200 apartments across six buildings.
“We are trying to be as sensitive as possible,” Parente said. “There are overarching big concerns in West Philly for the existing community and the continued growth of the greater Philadelphia economy. We’re not going to solve that problem.”
Parente said The Clark has 33 affordable housing units dedicated for renters earning up to 60% of the area median income.
EQT Exeter has offered apartments to residents who previously lived at University City Townhomes, an affordable housing complex that didn’t extend its contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It’s also offered apartments and some of the 92 parking spaces to teachers at West Catholic. The building also has six electric vehicle charging stations.
There’s no dedicated commercial space in the building but EQT Exeter is hoping to find a coffee cart operator to rent out a portion of an outdoor patio.
The first floor includes a 24/7 concierge, a 2,000-square-foot fitness center, a 650-square-foot package room and a pool table. There’s coworking space for residents and private rooms that can be used for video conference calls. A 1,000-square-foot lounge is on the roof.
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Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...partments.html
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