Property at 15th and Chestnut streets up for sale, could fetch $10M

A building along the Chestnut Street retail corridor in Center City that houses Modell’s has come up for sale and some speculate it could trade for as much as $10 million.

The two-story, 25,855-square-foot building is fully leased by the sporting goods store. The lease expires January 2017 and while there are options to extend the lease, there is an opportunity for a new owner to find another tenant or even consider it as a potential redevelopment opportunity. The site is zoned CMX-5, which allows for very dense mixed-use development.

“1528 Chestnut Street is rare value-add opportunity on one of the best retail blocks in Center City,” said Jim Galbally, a broker with Jones Lang LaSalle who has been retained to sell the building.

The property is a narrow and rectangular. It has 38 feet fronting Chestnut Street and extends all the way back to Sansom Street.

Chestnut Street has become a hotbed of investor and developer interest and rents on retail space along the strip has been growing. The street has also gotten the attention of retailers who have been shut out of Walnut Street or can’t find large enough blocks of space to accommodate their needs.

At one point, Today’s Man occupied the property but that store closed in 2000 and remained vacant until 2006 when Loehmann’s, a discount designer, took over the space finally backfilling it after it stood vacant for six years. In 2008, Loehmann’s closed up and paved the way for Modell’s to move in.

The property is owned by Alex Adjmi, a New York real estate investor.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal