Thaddeus Stevens School 'Moving Forward' on North Broad

Revitalizing The Divine Lorraine Hotel and Metropolitan Opera House are not the only projects that Eric Blumenfeld has in the pipeline in his efforts to transform North Broad Street. EB Realty Management Corp. (EBRM) is "moving forward" with plans to convert the large Thaddeus Stevens School at Broad and Spring Garden Street into 56 "spacious boutique loft-style" apartments, according to EBRM's Chris Cordaro. It is being dubbed the Mural Arts Building due to the vibrant "Common Threads" mural on the Broad Street facade of the building. The attached vacant lot that fronts Broad Street, which used to house the incredible Lu Lu Temple back in the day, is set to remain as a parking facility. Cordaro mentioned that they were under contract to purchase the building and are planning to utilize historic tax credits in order to allow them to "actualize the historic integrity of the building." Thaddeus Stevens School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and was sold in 2005 to Synterra. According to Cordaro, they are currently in second phase of a two-part process to gain the historic tax credits, which is important as they look to incorporate the existing chalkboards and restore the oak cabinetry from the classrooms into the conversion to apartment units. "It's a very unique build," said Cordaro. That's especially due to the school having wide corridors — over 12 feet wide — that would give future residents plenty of space to operate. Domus Construction will be in charge of the build and Richard Sauder will be the architect on the project. Cordaro didn't give any indication of a planned retail/arts space, as mentioned in an awesome article from Plan Philly back in 2012. Another bummer, there is no set timeline for the project as of yet.
· Eric Blumenfeld Coverage [Curbed Philly]
· Developer dreams on an artsy future for old school at Spring Garden and Broad [Plan Philly]