Renovation Plans Afoot for Vacant Warehouse Next to Ben Franklin Bridge
The long-vacant warehouse in question. | Image via LoopNet
Hold your horses, Old City-ites. The warehouse in question is located on the other side of the Delaware River. But like several Old City properties, this Camden one comes with some history: situated across from Campbell’s Field and about a block from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the building, constructed in the late 1800s, is a former Ruby Match factory that later went on to become a Campbell’s Soup storage facility. So what’s it up to now?
Well, after being vacant for ages, the historic warehouse is in for a makeover of Laney Boggs-level proportions. The Inquirer’s Allison Steele reports Philadelphia-based real estate firm Athenian Razak has plans to transform it into a sleek office building with 71,000 square feet of ground floor retail, a conversion they say will involve a roof replacement, mezzanine addition, some 100 new windows, and the creation of two floor levels.
According to Steele, Athenian Razak Director of Project Development Christopher Strom says the project could likely amount to $20 million. Here are the leasing deets, per the Inquirer:
Athenian and Colliers International, the leasing agent, hope to rent the finished space to an anchor tenant that could put up to 400 employees in the building. The parcel is close to the River Line, Strom said, making it desirable to companies with young staff members who prefer public transportation.
“The people who are going to lead the companies of the future are in their late 20s now,” said Strom, Athenian’s director of project development. “So, you need to accommodate their living patterns.”
Among the potential occupants of the building’s upcoming retail space are a restaurant and community garden “or some other outdoor venue.” Construction, Steele writes, could start before the year’s end once financing is in place.
