Pitcairn Buys Pennsylvania House Apartments in Center City

John McFadden and Robert Miller, SVPs, and Ann Bailey, first VP in the local office of CB Richard Ellis, represented the buyer, and Greenfield spoke for itself in house. The CBRE team recently negotiated the sale of 2031 Locust St., a luxury rental, to locally based Allen Domb Real Estate for a record $227,000 a unit. Pitcairn's price for Pennsylvania House is undisclosed. On condition of anonymity, area brokers not involved in the transaction, tell GlobeSt.com, this sale was not as pricey as Domb's, but was well in excess of $150 a unit, which is, itself, well above the median price commanded here a year ago.

In the 1990s, when the city, saddled with an over-supply of aging office properties, began offering tax breaks and incentives for residential conversions, Albert M. Greenfield III converted 1500 Chestnut, where his firm's office is located, into a residential rental building. According to Pitcairn, the property was again completely renovated five years ago. Pitcairn plans to invest $3.5 million into additional renovations that will lift the building to the luxury market. The renovations will include the lobby and reach to all units, adding high-end appliances and upscale kitchens, while also adding penthouses to the mix.

Units are listed at as much as $4,000 a month for the penthouses. Rental rates for one-bedroom units range from $1,250 to $1,425 a month, while the rates for two-bedroom units are listed at from $1,770 to $1,870.

Pitcairn is no stranger to Center City. It developed Bell Atlantic Tower, 2000 Market St., 1760 Market St., and 1800 JFK Blvd. However, the 1500 Chestnut St. acquisition marks its re-entry to this market following a 10-year hiatus, and Joseph L. Fox, EVP of investments, calls it "an initial step to demonstrate our confidence in the Philadelphia real estate market." It seems significant that the re-entry begins in the multifamily market here, which is growing and thriving, rather than in the office market, where vacancy levels are increasing and the market is in flux, awaiting resolve of the potential construction of another tower by Liberty Property Trust for Comcast.

Pennsylvania House is just several blocks east of the upscale Rittenhouse Square submarket. The city is targeting this area of Chestnut Street for upgrading and redevelopment.