Morning Headlines: Changes For Carl Dranoff’s Proposed One Riverside Project
Rendering of One Riverside. Photo credit: Dranoff Properties.
Months after getting an urban-friendly redesign, Carl Dranoff’s One Riverside project is getting another change: 88 condos, prices varying in the range of $700,000 to $4 million. Dranoff made the announcement yesterday during a dinner for real estate agents, according to the Inquirer’s Alan J. Heavens.
Originally, the proposed 22-story tower, which will cost over $100 million, was slated to have 147 luxury rentals. This plan was scrapped when the developer realized demand for condo ownership outweighed a desire for rentals, something he discovered when 10 Rittenhouse proved disappointing for tenants looking for “new and larger condominiums.”
Another developer trying to meet the condo demand is Tom Scannapieco. His 500 Walnut project, which is aiming for a spring groundbreaking, will include 40 condo units in a 26-story tower overlooking Independence Hall (the site is on 5th and Walnut). Heavens writes that pre-sales on that project’s units “are in the multimillions of dollars.”
The condo craze also shows up from an economic perspective. From the Inquirer:
Economist Kevin Gillen said market indicators suggest that “now looks like a great time for multifamily development to shift from rentals to owner-occupied condos.”
Rents had experienced exceptional growth since the housing downturn and subsequent recession, Gillen said, as house and condo prices fell.
“Now that housing is recovering and rents have peaked out, the cost of owning is practically equivalent to renting, and also offers the additional benefits of home equity and asset appreciation,” he said.
Among One Riverside’s planned condos, two of which will be penthouses, there will also be 110 underground parking spaces, a private park. and north-facing units with views of the Art Museum.
Dranoff Properties’ sale and marketing director said groundbreaking could take place early next year, but that it all depended on “permit issuance,” which is often “hard to predict.”
• One Riverside’s luxury units will be condos, not rentals [Inquirer]
In other news…
• Philly Gets a Stunning Remake for City Hall’s Front Yard [Next City]
• Drexel looking for master developer for its Innovation Neighborhood [Business Journal]
• Conshohocken council approves $10.5 million bid for borough hall, offices [Times Herald]
• Work under way on NoLibs mixed-use project [Philly Living]
• Officials to break ground on The Promenade; luxury apartments, retail stores to rise at former Acme site in Newtown Township [Bucks Local]
