Thursday, November 21, 2019

47-story Luxury Tower Planned at Broad and Spruce St

In the heart of the city, new 47-story skyscraper with luxury condominiums and amenities is set to go up at the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets, overlooking the Kimmel Center. 

The tower, named Arthaus, is being developed by Carl Dranoff, who had previously planned to construct a 45-story SLS International Hotel & Residences on the site. 

The hotel plan was downsized last year, and then scrapped entirely, in favor of the new, solely residential, Arthaus building.

The $275 million tower will include 108 condominiums ranging from 1,600 to nearly 5,500 square feet, along with 151 parking spaces.

The building’s luxury amenities will include a 75-foot pool, a dining salon which will feature celebrity chefs doing demonstrations, and a sky garden with a greenhouse.

The Arthaus name is inspired by the Bauhaus—an architecture movement founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 that helped shape modern design and architecture for decades to come.

About the Arthaus design, “excess was replaced by beauty that will also meet the needs and desires of real people.” 

They point to the tiered facade of the primarily glass building, which is aesthetically pleasing and which, “gives every unit its own corner, with two full exterior walls of breathtaking views.”

Carl Dranoff said it was the goal of his team and architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox to bring a vertical tower that would be a sort of landmark for the Avenue of the Arts. 

The upper levels look like steps going to the sky, while the lower levels feature brick and clay tiles that relate to the Kimmel Center across the Street.

The condominium units, which start at two bedrooms, feature floor-to-ceiling glass, terraces, kitchens with marble backsplashes and a marble waterfall countertop. 
The largest unit stretches over two stories with four bedrooms, five baths, a private elevator, and a massive terrace. 

The bottom floors will have four units a piece, with that number decreasing as you move up the building. 

The units will cost around $1,200 to $1,500 per square foot, with the largest unit costing as much as $8.2 million and the smallest as low as $1.9 million. 

When factoring in the location, the luxury nature of the units, and the amenities, it’s a bargain compared to similar New York condos, the developer says.


The tower is a far cry from the earlier plans for the site, which has been empty for years but once held Philadelphia International Records. 

It wasn’t until late last year that Dranoff announced he was scrapping the hotel portion of the project entirely, after only receiving $1.4 million of the $19 million he needed from a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to complete the hotel portion. 

This time the money they did secure from RACP grants, amounting to about $2.4 million, will go toward a restaurant on the first floor of the building.




The Arthaus tower is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2021.