As you look down from the ninth floor of what is now
known as "The Curtis," a canopy of trees hides all but the tower of
Independence Hall, just a few feet below the clock.
It was a three-season view of history for more than a
century of office workers, from employees of Curtis Publishing Co. to federal
government workers in more recent times.
Soon, the almost floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking
Independence Square, and the space surrounding them, will be someone's spacious
new apartment.
That apartment will be one of 57 carved from 90,000
square feet of unoccupied office space on the second through 11th floors of the
Beaux Arts-style building at Sixth and Walnut Streets - the first phase of what
architect David Schultz calls "a growing project" to create a
"central hub" for the Washington Square neighborhood of Center City.
"First phase" means that more apartments will
be created as office space becomes available, "phased development of about
five years," he said, starting this summer.
There could be 90 units when all is said and done.
"It will be like coming home to a great hotel,"
said Schultz, co-founder with Susan Davidson of DAS Architects, which is known
for Le Bec Fin, the award-winning Granary Apartments, and Cathedral Kitchen's
new CK Cafe in Camden.
Unlike the " 'in-your-face' of uptown, which is not
a bad thing," said Davidson, the Washington Square neighborhood is "a
special, civilized part of town" that will attract empty-nesters "who
don't want to be in the central business district."
Davidson was part of the team that renovated the Curtis
Center in 1990.
The 12-story, 885,000-square-foot building was purchased
in June 2014 for $125 million in cash by Keystone Property Group of Bala Cynwyd
and Mack-Cali Realty of Edison, N.J., from Apollo Global Management L.L.C. of
New York, which had paid $94 million for it in 2006.
DAS's floor plans for the Residences at the Curtis range
from studios to 2,000-square-foot, two-story units with three bedrooms, three
baths and terraces, Schultz said.
He anticipates that the larger units will be chosen by
suburban empty-nesters unwilling to give up the space they have become used to.
That trend exists in the for-sale, luxury high-rise condominium market, with
units averaging 3,000 square feet as buyers buy two adjoining condos and break
through for space.
At Residences at the Curtis, the views will be primarily
south and east, Schultz said, and the number of apartments on each floor will
vary because of construction requirements and "historic conditions."
The east side of the ninth and 10th floors will be
three-bedroom duplexes with staircases, Davidson said.
"These were executive offices at the highest-end -
unique areas that, when originally renovated, everything was covered up,"
she said.
An amenities space of about 9,500 square feet will be
created for residents on the 11th floor and will include a fitness center, a
yoga studio, virtual golf, a private screening room, and a catering kitchen, as
well as lounge and meeting space, all overlooking the atrium, Schultz said.
The lobby of Cyrus K. Curtis' publishing headquarters,
with its Louis Comfort Tiffany mural of Maxfield Parrish's Dream Garden, will
be, in Davidson's words, "respected and clean," and remain open to
the public.
Restaurants are proposed for two corners of the lobby.
The building "will remain mixed use," Schultz said, with retail and
first-floor offices.
The northeast staircase will be removed, and two
elevators for residents will be installed in a dedicated lobby with a 24-hour
reception desk that will wrap itself around the northeast corner, he said.
Architectural features will be restored and incorporated
into the design of the apartments, which will have spa-like bathrooms in a
design Schultz calls "modern classic."
Once finished, the apartments will be managed by
Roseland, Mack-Cali's multifamily subsidiary.
Source: Philly.com
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