PHILADELPHIA-The zoning board has granted approval for a 50-story, 294-unit residential condominium at 1441 Chestnut St., potentially ending a five-year legal battle over what would become of the entire Center City block that was blighted by the 1991 Meridian building fire. The developer is Ardmore-based Mariner Commercial Properties, headed by Tim Mahoney and local philanthropist Brook Lenfest.

Locally based Arden Group, which owns the Ritz-Carlton hotel adjacent to the Meridian site and a portion of the Meridian site next to 1441 Chestnut, unveiled plans this August for a 44-story, approximately 280-unit condo, named Residences at the Ritz-Carlton. Initial talks between the two developers about partnering in a single project broke down and Arden, headed by Craig Spencer, challenged zoning variances provided to Mariner.

Mahoney called the zoning board's decision "levelheaded. The Meridian site is far too important to…be sitting vacant for no good reason. I'm hoping my neighbor will not appeal this decision," Mahoney tells GlobeSt.com. "I'm cautiously optimistic that there will be no further appeals and we can break ground within 12 months for completion over 27 months." A call to Spencer was not returned by deadline.

Mahoney says a construction cost of between $200 million and $250 million "is the best guess we can do now with construction costs rising every hour." The tower will target "the top of the market," he says, with one-bedroom units of about 1,100 sf, two-bedroom layouts of just under 2,000 sf and "penthouses that could go to half-floors of 5,000 sf. Per-sf pricing will be in excess of $700 per sf."

Of competition from the current and planned condo boom here, Mahoney says, "We have a unique location. Our market is primarily people moving in from the suburbs who want Center City, high-end condos and Center City residents looking to trade up. I see only two or three buildings that are at our level--the neighboring Ritz product and 10 Rittenhouse Square." He says the location may also appeal to corporate buyers that want a residence.