Title: Divine Lorraine Redevelopment
Project: 126 Rental Apartments, ground floor restaurants, 6 schools with shared amenities, structured parking and 76ers Training Facility
Architect: ??
Developer: EB Realty
Location: 599 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA
Floors: 10
Height: 125 ft
Site plan
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/h...pe=hp_featured
The Divine Lorraine as it sits today
http://somethingfortheeyes.com/2011/...orraine-hotel/
While not the tallest building, only sitting at 125 feet, the Divine Lorraine is a legend in Philadelphia. As one of the first highrises in the city, constructed somewhere around 1894 and designed by Willis G. Hale, the building was once an apartment building for the wealthy elite in Philadelphia. Sometime around 1900, the Lorraine was bought and converted into an upscale Hotel by the Metropolitan Hotel Company. Later, the Hotel became the first racially integrated Hotel in Philadelphia.
Today, the building sits abandoned, slowly being destroyed by intruders and the elements.
There may however, be hope for the Divine Lorraine. Philadelphia developer and big time player in the redevelopment on North Broad Street, Eric Blumenfeld, is attempting to seal a $44 million deal to purchase the building and the empty lots behind it and convert the building itself into 126 rental apartments with ground floor restaurants.
Developer Eric Blumenfeld perched atop the Divine Lorraine
"If North Broad Street is all about connecting the dots," he said, "this is the logical next dot."
To the south, he has a clear view of two nearby old factories in the 600 block of North Broad that he has already converted into loft apartments.
To the north, he can see the cranes rising over new projects on the campus of Temple University.
"Think about what is happening on North Broad Street," Blumenfeld said. "This could be transformational. We're only halfway there."
Video of Blumenfeld in the Divine Lorriane
http://www.philly.com/philly/video/167374205.html
Link to Article
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...is_Divine.html
History of the Divine Lorraine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Lorraine_Hotel