Local Realtors Throw Doors Open to 70+ Houses This Saturday Afternoon

Four of the 70-odd properties you can tour this Saturday afternoon, clockwise from top left: 1601 Locust Street (The Lanesborough), Unit PH1; 706 South Front Street; 1901 JFK Boulevard (Kennedy House), Unit 1515; and 256 South Third Street. / Waynesborough photo by Oskar Mikols, OM Media, via Compass Real Estate; all other images via Bright MLS and the real estate brokerages handling each property (Keller Williams Realty, top and bottom right; Compass, bottom left)

You love looking at fabulous houses. I know this because you’re reading this article right now.

So here’s a suggestion for something to do this Saturday afternoon: Go see 70 of them, up close and personal.

You will be able to do this in one afternoon thanks to “Open House Philly,” the first-ever joint open house tour sponsored by local realtors. Agents from nine local brokerages specializing in Center City properties — Allan Domb Real Estate, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Bryant & Wilde Realtors, Coldwell Banker Realty, Compass, Dranoff Properties Realty, Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty, Keller Williams Philly and Keller Williams Philadelphia — are getting together to showcase the wide variety of housing options available to buyers in the heart of the city.

1803 Catharine Street, Graduate Hospital / Bright MLS image via Keller Williams Realty

From noon to 5 p.m., participants will be able to view more than 70 houses and condos in all price ranges in an area ranging from Vine to Montrose streets between the rivers. A list of the properties and their open house hours can be found on the “Open House Philly” website.

The seeds for this event were planted in the head of Marianne Harris, vice president for sales and marketing at Dranoff Properties, as she dealt with realtors who would drop by the Dranoff office with clients interested in buying units in the Arthaus and other Dranoff developments.

“I’ve been in this industry for over 45 years now,” she says. “So I know a lot of these brokers and have a lot of conversations with them. Through the summer, we were all talking about how we have such a diversity of housing product in stock and price ranges in Philadelphia.

1123 Rodman Street, Washington Square West / Bright MLS image via Keller Williams Realty

“We go from little historic homes in the low $200s up to $15 million,” she continues. “We thought it would be a good idea to have a showcase of homes where buyers and people who are thinking about Philadelphia would have the opportunity to come and see all kinds of homes, from little historic homes on Elfreth’s Alley to bigger townhomes on Pine and Delancey to all the different kinds of condo buildings that are in the city.”

Then, at summer’s end, Restaurant Week rolled around again, and that gave Harris an idea: The real estate community can come together to showcase its wares the way the restaurants let diners sample their fare.

And with that, “Open House Philly” was born.

Because there are so many properties participating across a wide area, trolley shuttles will run along Spruce and Pine streets from 2nd to 24th streets to ferry buyers and voyeurs alike to the various properties.

But even with the shuttles, you should still wear comfortable walking shoes if you plan to go gawk at houses this Saturday, as the participating properties are located as far north as Vine Street and as far south as Montrose.

261 South 22nd Street, Rittenhouse Square / Bright MLS image via Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty

However, if you want to see condos, you won’t have to walk as much — several buildings have multiple units participating in the event. These include the Arthaus, the Estates at Parc Rittenhouse, the Lanesborough, the Packard, the Phoenix, the Ritz-Carlton, the Western Union Building and the William Penn House.

Not all the properties will be open for all five hours, so you should check the list of properties to plan your tour. Some will be open from noon to 2:30 p.m. and others from 2:30 to 5 p.m. All the units in the Arthaus and one in the Victory Building will be open from noon to 5 p.m.

The event is totally free to attend, including the trolley shuttles. Between now and Friday, this channel will feature some of the participating properties to give you an idea of the spectrum of housing choices available right now.