Pulse: Chatter: Real Estate: Bart’s Big Bet

Blatstein leads the makeover of Northern Liberties into an enclave of chic urbanity with an Old City cocktail scene…

When Bart Blatstein recently announced his $25 million purchase of the 299,000-square-foot snow fort of a high-rise at the corner of Broad and Spring Garden, observers arched an eyebrow. While Blatstein has led the makeover of Northern Liberties into an enclave of chic urbanity with an oh-so-Old City cocktail scene, the fledgling North Broad “renaissance” is a major wager. Two headaches the developer won’t have this time are pesky neighbor lawsuits and blogosphere grumblings from Blatstein-bashing Northern Libertarians. But that still leaves the building itself, a vaguely East Berlin-circa-1978 behemoth. Blatstein will have to make the project not just residential-friendly (he’s dickering over whether to go apartment or condo), but chic. While it’s possible he’s in a bit of North Broad denial, we can’t help but surrender to some of the hype. It is only three and a half blocks to Osteria and the Calderwoods’ new gallery — a trek we can make even in our best Louboutins.