The Latest Word on Market Street West
Could Market Street West really be waking up? We said it last week, and now the Inquirer’s latest article on the the Murano, the 43-story condo tower at 2101 Market, is driving the thought even further by saying it’s the living manifestation of the change.
First, though, an update on the tract of Market Street land newly acquired by Brandywine Realty Trust: we now know how much it cost. According to Inky’s Jacob Adelman, city documents show Brandywine paid up $16.6 million for the 37,000-square-foot plot. As we told you previously, the site is on the 2100 block’s southern side near the planned June 5th Memorial Park. Whatever they have planned for the spot, we’ll keep you posted.
But back to “West Market Street Rising” news: Alan J. Heavens reports the Murano, a high-rise completed back in 2008 for a total sum of $165 million, could be the true-life embodiment of “the Center City condo market’s turnaround.” From the Inquirer:
Next month, the last of the Murano’s 302 original units will go to settlement – a milestone that local real estate observers consider not only a measure of market strength but a 180-degree turnaround in the perception of the viability of that Market Street West.
“The area between 20th Street and the Schuylkill River is clearly filling in the dead zones with new residential and mixed-use projects,” said developer Carl Dranoff.
This tidbit comes nearly six years after forty of its unit went to auction, a road the Murano’s builders opted for rather than foreclose like other residential buildings. Taking that road paid off, it seems, because months later, Kevin Gillen says “the high-income segment began to recover,” leading to million-dollar properties seeing a rebound.
According to Heavens, Gillen credits “smart money” for having realized the low prices “wouldn’t stay low forever.” Eventually, what followed were other timely changes that elevated its cachet with potential tenants, among them the Schuylkill River Park renovation and expanded Trader Joe’s. You can read the rest of the Murano’s success story in the link below.
- Murano success a sign of Market Street West’s rise [Inquirer]
- Brandywine Realty Trust paid $16M for Basciano’s Market St. land [Inquirer]
