W Hotel Philadelphia Coming To 1441 Chestnut Street
W Hotel Philadelphia Coming To 1441 Chestnut Street
In a somewhat surprising twist, Philly.com reports that the parking located at 1441 Chestnut Street will soon become Philadelphia’s first W Hotel! Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring/Summer 2013 and the hotel could open by summer 2014.
Some interesting facts about the new W Hotel Philadelphia:
1. Buyers of The Residences at The Ritz Carlton (particularly on low floors facing South) are not happy.
2. The 1/2 acre parking lot, at 1441 Chestnut St., had previously been designated for a $420 million Waldorf-Astoria Hotel with luxury condominiums similar to The Residences at the Ritz Carlton.
3. The W brand is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., whose website recently mentioned a Philadelphia W opening by 2015.
4. The lot is fully zoned to develop 800,000 square feet on 58 stories.
“The 1441 Chestnut St. location is the latest example of a site that has gone through a few iterations because of the economy and tight lending. The site has been vacant since the fire-ruined One Meridian Plaza was leveled in 1999. In October 2008, developer Timothy J. Mahoney III, chief executive officer of Mariner Commercial Properties Inc., of Ardmore, announced plans to convert the site into a 58-story Waldorf-Astoria operated by Hilton Hotels Corp. The project was to include upscale retail, a signature restaurant, seven floors of valet parking, and a spa, as well as 136 condos, starting at $1 million.”
W Hotel Philadelphia Coming To 1441 Chestnut Street
The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton stands on the former site of the 38-story One Meridian Plaza. In February 1991 One Meridian Plaza was badly damaged by a fire that destroyed eight floors and killed three firefighters. Because of ligation over what to do with the burned skyscraper, it sat vacant for eight years until it was demolished in 1999. In 2000 the Arden Group settled with One Meridian Plaza’s owners E/R Partners to pay more than US$13 million for the site. In 1999 Arden sued E/R Partners for backing out of a deal Arden said it had made with the site owners. E/R Partners had wanted to sell the site to Liberty Property Trust for a higher amount. Arden had already bought the adjacent Two Mellon Plaza in 1993. Damaged and vacant since the One Meridian Plaza fire, Two Mellon Plaza was converted into a Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2000. Also adjacent to the south side of the One Meridian Plaza site is 1441 Chestnut Street. Mariner Commercial Properties bought the property which contained the site of several three-story shops and the eighteen-story Morris Building, all damaged and vacant due to the One Meridian Plaza fire. The buildings were demolished in 2000. The north side of the One Meridian plaza site faces Philadelphia City Hall across the street. While the One Meridian Plaza site waited for development Arden converted it into an underground parking garage.
Looking for a new headquarters Comcast asked Arden Group and Mariner Commercial Properties to work together and combine the properties into one building. The two developers briefly held discussions about combining the two sites, but by 2001 no agreement was reached and both developers had decided to move on with their own towers. As they sought to build competing condominium towers, the relationship between the two developers soon turned into a feud between the firm’s lead partners, Craig Spencer of Arden Group and Tim Mahoney of Mariner Commercial Properties. In 2003 Mahoney received permission from the City Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a 50-story residential tower at the 1441 Chestnut Street site. At the zoning hearing Spencer attempted to block approval by saying the building was too tall and that it would damage his site by blocking views and casting shadows. He also said the tower was “snubbing his nose at the traditional zone of respect around City Hall.” Spencer filed a lawsuit to block construction of the building and a Court of Common Pleas ruled that the Zoning Board erred in approving 1441 Chestnut Street.Mariner appealed the ruling.
In 2004 Spencer and Mahoney announced that the feud was over and that plans for their towers would move forward. Spencer announced that Arden would build a 740 feet (230 m), 57-story luxury condominium tower called The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton. The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton would be more than 100 feet (30 m) taller than the skyscraper Spencer criticized as too tall in 2003. Spencer said “To develop a world-class building, you need to get people high up in the air.” However the feud quickly restarted as Mahoney criticized the design of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton’s lower floors. The bulky floors were designed to contain a grand ballroom, health club, and 540-car parking garage. Mahoney says the design would unnecessarily lower the values of the condominiums on 21 of the lower floors of his building.[10] Further redesigns to both buildings prevented any condominiums from facing a garage. However the feud continued with lively arguments to block each other plans in courtrooms and Philadelphia city agencies. Chairman of the zoning board, David L. Auspitz, called the feud the “Super Bowl of zoning battles”.
In July 2005, Spencer announced a redesign of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton shrinking the building from 57 floors to 44 floors. Among the facilities removed in the redesign were the ballroom and some of the parking. Afraid the high-rise would miss the city’s hot condominium market, the redesign sidestepped the legal challenges because it would not need special approval by the Zoning Board to exceed a certain height. Mahoney vowed to continue fighting the building saying “If [Spencer] needs so much as a curb-cut permit, we’re going to block it.” In March 2009, Mahoney and Spencer reached an agreement that ended all legal challenges between the buildings. Now at 48 stories, The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton was far enough from Mahoney’s 1441 Chestnut Street that 1441 Chestnut Street had views of Philadelphia City Hall, while the 58-story 1441 Chestnut Street upper portion was redesigned in a way that allowed views on the south side of The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton. (Source: Wikipedia)
Looking forward to seeing the W Hotel Philadelphia!
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Frank L. DeFazio, Esquire
Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors – Society Hill
530 Walnut Street, Suite 260
Philadelphia, PA 19106
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