Roosevelt Apartments Up for Sale at $10M

PHILADELPHIA-A locally based limited partnership has placed Roosevelt Apartments up for sale at an asking price of $10 million. The nine-story building at 2216-22 Walnut St. was completed in the 1920s and has undergone a series of renovations since then, including, most recently, new kitchens, carpeting, lighting and upgrades to the common areas.

It contains 99 units, primarily studio and one-bedroom layouts along with a single 3,500-sf penthouse on the top floor with outdoor decks on all sides. Jonathan Stavin, VP, and Ann Bailey, first VP, in the local office of CB Richard Ellis, are marketing the property along with John McFadden and Robert Miller, SVPs in CBRE's Wayne office.

"We certainly don't want to leave out condo converters as possible buyers," Bailey tells GlobeSt.com, "but, given the size of the units and the strong student demographics of the current tenants, maybe this is more likely to be an income-generating investment for a buyer." Studios range from about 375 sf to 400 sf, she says, and one-bedrooms are between 550 sf and 595 sf. Current rental rates for these apartments range between about $695 and $925 a month. The penthouse is currently occupied by one of the owner/partners and "is under-rented," she says. "Its projected rental rate is $6,000 a month.

"The property's current occupancy is at the mid- to high-90% level," Bailey says, "but there will be some graduate-student turnover. It has proven to be ideal for graduate students," she explains, "because it's just blocks from Rittenhouse Square and Fitler Square for those who want Center City, but also by the bridge that leads to Penn (University of Pennsylvania)."

"It's the first apartment property of its size that has come to market in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood in nearly a year," adds Stavin. "The booming condominium conversion market and tremendous population growth in Center City over the past five years has combined to make pure rental apartments a scarce commodity."