Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House is now leasing

We’ve been waiting for more details on the restoration of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House, a hulking abandoned theater on North Broad Street that has certainly seen better days. And while the main tenant has been hush-hush for months, it looks like the owners are actively seeking other tenants to lease out the rest of the enormous 39,2000-square-foot space.

Yesterday, just one day after the Divine Lorraine’s iconic signs lit up North Broad again down the street, CBRE put out a call that the Metropolitan Opera House was for lease. According to the brochure, up to 5,600 square feet is available on the ground floor and there’s potential for a 20,000-square-foot roof deck.

Courtesy of CBRE

Developer Eric Blumenfeld, who also owns the Divine Lorraine, the Studebaker Building, and a number of other properties along North Broad, bought the opera house in 2013. Last May, he and funder Billy Procida told potential investors that one of the “nation’s biggest concert promoters” would be the theater’s main tenant.

In October, EB Realty’s Chris Cordaro told Curbed Philly that they still couldn’t share any specific details, but that “there’s plenty going on and we’ll be making an exciting announcement formally.”

Rendering by Stokes Architecture

The brochure does state that whoever ends of leasing the rest of the building will be co-tenants with an “entertainment concept” by Avram Hornick and a catering facility by Chef’s Market. Hornick is behind the popular Philly haunts like Morgan’s Pier and Union Transfer.

The restoration is expected to cost $35 million, Blumenfeld said in May. Local architecture firm AOS Architects is leading the re-design efforts.

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