Blatstein officially buys Broad and Washington lot for big development

Last week, Bart Blatstein officially became the new owner of the northeast corner of South Broad Street and Washington Avenue, nearly giving him the go ahead to proceed with a big mixed-use development at 1001 S. Broad Street.

Philadelphia Business Journal first reported that the developer settled a lawsuit with the owner, NH Philadelphia Properties, which had sued Blatstein in 2016 over his legal claim to the property. Although Blatstein did not own the northeast corner at the time, he had started the design, development, and zoning processes with the city to build a 195,000-square-foot mixed-use project on the site.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A settlement was reached between the two parties, allowing Blatstein to close on the sale for an estimated $20 million. Two neighbors have filed an appeal regarding the developer’s zoning win, but Blatstein’s lawyer says he’s “confident we’ll overcome that.”

Last year, prior to the lawsuit, the plans called for 944 apartments in a 32-story tower, plus a retail “village” located above a parking garage. According to the report, the plan now is to build 1,000 apartments and 160,000-square-feet of retail.

There’s no construction timeline on the project as of yet. When it does break ground, it will be neighbors to another mixed-use, mid-rise development called Lincoln Square across the street. Lincoln Square has been on the rise since early 2017.

• With litigation settled, Blatstein buys site at South Broad and Washington [PBJ]