It's been a wild ride, but the Goldtex building at 12th & Wood is opening up for tours for the first time next Friday. The old foreclosed shoe factory and winner of Curbed's 2012 Most Embattled Construction Project was purchased by the Pestronk brothers for $5M and the pair had been intertwined in a tense standoff with local union workers ever since making the decision to rehab the structure as luxury apartments.
The battle came to a head last summer with reports of street fights, slashed tires, Latin Kings, and baseball bat-wielding men showing up at the site, but that's all not-so ancient history... for now.
According to a recent article by Hidden City, it appears that pressure from the unions has subsided, mentioning Pestronk's willingness to be more open to hiring union labor for their next project at Broad & Spruce:
"They approached us and said that if we make our next development, at Broad and Spruce, 100 percent union that they would back off us at Goldtex," said Michael Prestronk.Curbed will keep you posted on the developments of the next project at Broad & Spruce, but if the Goldtex debacle is any indicator, it should make for some entertaining headlines. For now, enjoy this photo of the Goldtex building nearing completion by
Flickr user PhiladelphiaPhotos and revel in the fact that one of the city's most notable abandoned structures has been rehabbed.
· Curbed Awards '12: Most Embattled Construction Project [Curbed Philly]
· Unions: Brothers Aren't Telling the Whole Story [Philly.com]
· Disorganized Labor: Union Violence and the Demand for Reform [Washington Times]
· Philadelphia-Area Businesses Fight Union Bullies [Washington Free Beacon]
· Goldtex Project Calls City-Wide Union Dominance in Construction Into Question
[Hidden City]
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