The owner of the Jewelry Trades Building on Jewelers Row
is following the lead of Toll Bros. down the street, with potential plans for a
condo or apartment project on its property, as well.
PRDC Properties LLC secured a zoning permit last week to
top the six-story 1930s building, home to dozens of metals workshops and
gemstone studios, with another six floors of dwelling units, according to a
notice from the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections.
There are no immediate plans for any such construction,
the company said.
The plan submitted by PRDC calls for 54 residential units
at 740 Sansom St., on Jewelers Row’s southwest corner. It follows efforts by
Horsham-based Toll to demolish several properties to the east for a new
115-unit, 29-story condo tower.
PRDC said in an emailed statement that it moved to obtain
permits for the residential overbuild in light of the public reaction to Toll
Bros.' plan, which has been slammed by historic preservationists and by tenants
of the buildings targeted for demolition.
Toll's plan has prompted "considerable uncertainty
in terms of potential restrictions on future development,” PRDC said.
“We consider it our responsibility to protect our tenants
and our asset from any agenda-driven limitations that city agencies may seek to
impose on Jewelers Row and the surrounding area," the company said. “It
was incumbent upon us to take preemptive steps to obtain zoning approvals for
the kinds of activities we anticipate may be subject to such limitations,
irrespective of any present plans to pursue development at this time.”
Recent projects by PRDC, whose own offices are in the
Jewelry Trades Building, include the conversion of the former TransAtlantic
building at 430 Fairmount Ave. into apartments and the rehabilitation of the
fire-damaged former Lincoln Apartments at 1222 Locust St. The company is owned
by former Building Industry Association of Philadelphia president David
Perlman.
PRDC acquired the Jewelry Trades Building, also known as
the Neff Building, in 2011 in a deal that involved a loan from the Philadelphia
Industrial Development Corp., which continues to hold title to the property
until the financing is repaid.
The building has been a regional center for jewelry
production for more than 80 years and now accommodates more than 42 watchmakers,
diamond cutters, ring casters, and other tradespeople, according to its
website.
The zoning permit obtained by PRDC leaves those uses of
the building intact, with only the six-story addition at the top being
designated for residences.
"It's a cornerstone, an anchor, of Jewelers
Row," Hy Goldberg, head of the Jewelers Row Business Association and owner
of the Safian & Rudolph jewelry store, said of the building.
At least one jeweler with a workshop in a structure eyed
for demolition by Toll has relocated into the Jewelry Trades Building, Goldberg
said.
Though he had no direct knowledge of PRDC's plan for the
building, he said he supported the idea of an added residential component that
retained the existing businesses below.
"It brings more people to the area," Goldberg
said. "It makes it more of a 24-hour street instead of a 9-to-5
street."
Paul Steinke, who has been leading opposition to Toll's
condo proposal as executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater
Philadelphia, said he is encouraged by PRDC's plan to build atop the building,
rather than replacing it.
"It could be a positive addition to the city because
it does seem like they're incorporating preservation into their plans," he
said.
The Toll Bros.’ plan appears not to have progressed since
Jan. 30, when L&I requested more information from the company to support
its application for a zoning permit for the project.
In that application, Toll requested permission to combine
its development site with surrounding lots for the purposes of calculating how
large a building it can construct through a zoning concept known as “unity of
use.”
Toll has two months from the date of L&I’s request,
or until March 31, to respond or request an extension. It also has the option
of filing a new zoning application for the site.
Source: Philly.com
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