Chocolate Factory in Graduate Hospital neighborhood up for sale

The Chocolate Factory, a property that takes up a city block in Philadelphia, is on the market as a potential redevelopment opportunity.

The site at 2101 Washington Ave. has the former 240,682-square-foot Frankford Chocolate Factory occupying the site, which totals 2.3 acres. The site is bound by 21st Street to 22nd Street on Washington Avenue along to Kimball Street and is in the popular Graduate Hospital neighborhood.

It could sell from anywhere between $10 million to $15 million, said Robert Fahey, an investment broker with CBRE Inc., who is marketing it for sale. "The market will decide."

A portion of the Chocolate Factory dates back to 1865. It has stood vacant since 2006 when the chocolate company relocated. The following year, Tran Dinh Truong of New York bought the site for $5.5 million and had bold plans to construct a $100 million complex that catered to the local Vietnamese community. That project never got off the ground and Truong died in 2012 without a will and put into question the fate of his empire that he made from owning hotels in and around Times Square, according to published reports. A court is liquidating the estate and this is the only property in Philadelphia that he owned.

The site will appeal to a developer looking to convert the existing building into a mixed-use complex with residential and retail or raze the structure and start anew, Fahey said.

"It's certainly has a residential orientation," he said.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal