Family Court Building Will Become a Kimpton Hotel

The Inquirer reports that the Family Court Building at 18th and Vine will become a Kimpton Hotel. The historic building, which is on the Register of Historic Places, will need to be preserved throughout the conversion: not only is the exterior designated as historic, many interior elements are too.

Kimpton Hotels already operate two luxury hotels in Philly: the Hotel Monaco, and the Hotel Palomar, both of which have been well received additions to the Philly hotel scene. Perhaps their other successes in the Philly market played a role in the city's choice to award them the chance to redevelop the hotel, which was the subject of a Request for Proposals that went out in 2012.

Two other teams sought to redevelop the building (the Inquirer reports that one team included Carl Dranoff, and that the other included Ken Goldberg). A source says that one of the other contenders for the right to redevelop the Family Court building was the Fairmount Hotel, a San Fransisco based luxury hotel. The source also said that while Kimpton reuses most of its brand names in multiple cities (there are several Hotel Monacos and Hotel Palomars), the hotel in the Family Court building will have a brand name all to itself.
· Luxury Hotel to replace Family Court [The Inquirer]