New Owner of Public Ledger Building Anticipates Luring in “Cool Tenants”

The Inky reports the building at 6th and Chestnut was acquired last Thursday.

Public Ledger building, Photo by Beyond My Ken via Wikipedia

Public Ledger building, Photo by Beyond My Ken via Wikipedia

Whether now or later, the Independence Mall area seems destined for “hot neighborhood” status. What with new constructions and building redevelopments germinating in the quarter, the latest area real estate purchase drives our hopes even further: Carlyle Development Group has bought the Public Ledger building at 6th and Chestnut for $58 million.

According to the Inquirer’s Jacob Adelman, the New York-based investor acquired the ole’ P.B., listed for sale last year, this past Thursday and plans to revamp it with “open floor plans and other contemporary touches.” Adelman also provides this gem of a quote from Carlyle CEO Abdi Mahamedi that pretty much anticipates our hopes coming true if executed properly:

“We want to make it an environment with cool tenants,” Mahamedi said. “You cannot have cool tenants if you do not have cool retail.”

Mahamedi says he hopes having select retail tenants in the 534,000-square-foot high-rise will drive  “high-end office users to the building’s upper stories and enliven the surrounding streets.”

Currently, the property is “about 88 percent leased,” which means Carlyle’s redevelopment plans will take up to five years, as some of the present tenants may “have time on their lease.”